Summary Of The Fires Of Jubilee

The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion, by Stephen B. Oates, is the captivating story of the dramatic events that took place in 1831 in Southampton, VA. Oates depicts a tragic and sad tale about a man named Nat Turner who was born into slavery and his fight for freedom. Ironically, Turner's willingness to do just about anything, even murder, to gain his freedom leads to his own death. The title of this book, The Fires of Jubilee, provokes the reader to truly understand the idea that there is mayhem, trouble, and chaos brewing in the month of August. This narrative was one that kept me on my toes for almost the entire time that I was reading it and was also very riveting. Oates has written 16 books during his career, is an expert

His parents would often brag to the other slaves about their so. He had innate scars and bumps on his chest and head, which in African custom meant that he was bound to be a leader. Stephen Oates portrays Nat Turner as a precocious child who supposedly taught himself how to read and write. Him being a highly intelligent person amazed many his master Ben Turner and the other slaves as well. Nat also surprised his mother when he told her about an event that happened before he was born. When she asked him how he knew about what happened he replied that somehow he just knew. Nat knew, deep down inside, that he was important and special in the fight for freedom for all slaves. Many of the other slaves and whites also made Nat feel different by saying that he "would never be of any service to anyone as a slave." A statement that, even at a young age, gave Nat the belief that he could one day be free man. Nat knew he was different. Even though it was considered shameful for slaves to not drink on holidays, Nat never got drunk, much less even drank period. He was also very determined individual, willing to go to tremendous lengths to obtain his freedom, even if it meant killing people in cold

Although he was prepared to go to extreme lengths to obtain his freedom, the outcome ended up becoming a massacre. Due to Nat s rebellion, two hundred blacks and sixty whites were killed. Nat however did in fact not take part in the killings. Oates makes it appear as if in the end, Nat did not want this to become a bloodbath. Even though he thought things were getting out of control, he stood by, idly watching the massacre that was taking place. In the end, fifty people stood trial, and twenty-one of them including Nat Turner were hung for the historic rebellion. William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp, both who believed that blacks had as much to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as whites enjoyed, published the Liberator in Boston, after the death of Nat Turner and the rebellion, demanding that slaves be emancipated and freed. Although it cannot be said with fact it is often thought that this was the one major outcome that sparked the beginning freeing of slaves everywhere in the United States, but is without a doubt a very important facet in opening the eyes of the American people and their concept of