Nat Turner's Rebellion Research Paper

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One of the most memorable periods in the course of American history is the Civil War. The Civil War was not the work of a single day, however, but the accumulation of several incidents that lead to increased tension and challenged the morality of slavery. An important event that lead to the questioning of slavery was the Southampton Insurrection, also known as Nat Turner’s Rebellion. This slave revolt was significant because it shattered the illusion that slaves were content with their horrid conditions, no matter how kind the master supposedly was, and questioned whether slavery was truly righteous under the eyes of Christian God. Nat Turner’s Rebellion took place in Southampton County, Virginia in 1831. Nat Turner was a black enslaved man …show more content…

Because of that, he was known as a prophet to other enslaved people, who looked up to and respected him. According to him, God believed slavery was a sin and sent him signals about rising up. He dubbed an eclipse in February of 1831 as the long awaited sign from God to lead his people out of chains and rebel. The rebellion did not start immediately in February. Rather, Nat steadily collected followers, both free black men and slaves, and weapons. They collected knives, axes, and blunt objects instead of firearms because they were easier to obtain and would give less warning to the white men they were attacking. The violence was scheduled to start on July 4th, but Nat fell ill, and the uprising was delayed until August 21st. An atmospheric phenomenon on August 13th, during which the sun appeared green, further encouraged Nat to rebel, believing it another sign from God that the time was finally right. On August 21st, Nat and six other slaves killed their master and his family, stealing money, weapons and horses. As they rode through the county, they killed other plantation owners, freed slaves, collected other men and attacked any whites who came into their