Nat Turner Rebellion Research Paper

Twenty nine years, seven months, and twenty two days before the Civil War, the bloodiest slave revolt in U.S. history occurred. Nat Turner’s slave revolt happened on August twenty first, 1831. The revolt targeted slave owners and their families, with casualties coming to upwards of 55 white people. The aftermath of the revolt led to the deaths of more than 119 black people, only 19 of whom were executed after a trial. Despite this, Nat Turner is one of the lesser known abolitionist figures in history, however, he has been described as having one of the largest impacts. This is due to how he destroyed the myth that slaves were either too content in their positions or too servile to revolt, he became a quasi martyr after his death in abolitionist circles, and he created a sense of fear that pervaded the south leading up to the civil war. Nat Turner was born

This sense of fear caused many slave states to increase the amount of laws that restricted the rights of slaves. This is evidenced by the Gilder Lerhman stating, “Nat Turner’s rebellion led to the passage of a series of new laws. The Virginia legislature actually debated ending slavery, but chose instead to impose additional restrictions and harsher penalties on the activities of both enslaved and free African Americans. Other slave states followed suit, restricting the rights of free and enslaved blacks to gather in groups, travel, preach, and learn to read and write.” This shows that Nat Turner’s revolt caused a number of new laws to be passed around the country that led to the restriction of rights for both free and enslaved black people out of fear of another revolt. This is also evidenced by NCpedia stating, “The images from Nat Turner’s Rebellion -- of armed black men roaming the countryside slaying white men, women, and children -- haunted white southerners and showed slave owners how vulnerable they