Nat Turner's Influence On Slavery

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Nat Turner has an unbelievable life story that portrays his exponential amount of courage and his willingness to fight for anything that he believed in. With his courage in mind, many other slave rebellions occurred after the massacre led by Nat Turner. Throughout his whole entire life, Nat Turner was looked upon as a leader, and using his influence, he had a huge impact on slavery. “He was said to have described events that occurred before he was born, leading several of his relatives to believe that he was a prophet.” (“Nat Turner”) Nat Turner gained his strong hatred for slavery from his mother, who was born free in Africa. (“Nat Turner’s Rebellion”) He knew how to contain his strong feelings until the time was right, this would make …show more content…

He grew up in Southampton County, Virginia, where slavery was a very common. (“Nat Turner”) Freedom was something Nat and his family sought out for throughout their lives. “His mother had considered murdering him at birth to prevent him from suffering the misery of slavery.” (“Nat Turner”) This goes to show the tremendous toll slavery had on many families; a mother could kill her baby to give them a better life. Nat’s “owner,” Benjamin Turner, gave him the opportunity to learn how to read and write. (“Nat Turner’s Rebellion”) It became apparent from a young age that Nat was a very intelligent child. As he grew older, Nat Turner became more involved in religion, which he often practiced with his fellow slaves. (“Nat Turner’s Rebellion”) Because of his studying of the Bible, Nat Turner was well aware of the gap between the way Christians were supposed to act compared to the way the whites acted in Southampton. Turner often asked himself, “How could these slaveowners call themselves Christians when their conduct was so contrary to the teachings of the Bible?” (“Nat Turner”) When Turner was only twenty-one, he attempted to form a resistance by escaping, and he was successful for about a month. He returned because he believed it was his duty to. (“Nat Turner”) Benjamin Turner died a year later, and with the death of Benjamin went Nat’s ability to hold back his plans of rebellion. (“Nat