Nat Turner Confession Essay

During their 'March of Destruction,'; things began to get out of hand. Though he was willing to go to extreme measures to gain his freedom, the events that ended up taking place ended up becoming a massacre. Due to Nat's rebellion, 60 whites and 200 blacks died. Though Nat did in fact partake in the killings, the author makes it out to seem as if in the end, Nat did not really want this to become a bloodbath. Although he thought that it was getting out of hand, he stood idly by, watching the massacre take place. In the end, a total of 50 stood trial, and 21, including Nat Turner were hung for the rebellion.

Now that we, the reader kind of have an idea of what kind of person Nat turner is we can get into what kind of mindset Oates had when writing the book. This book is written in Oates POV and how he envisions the south. Oates visions the south as sort of hypocrites. The white slave owners in Virginia think that the slaves were happy and were not treated bad, in fact the white slave owners in Virginia were proud of its slave population. Even though Oates had never personally been to the South he had heard stories and this was how he was able to portray his insight

Nat Turner was born a slave in Richmond, Virginia in 1831. In this narrative Nate Turner recounts his version of events and later recorded during his revolt in Southampton County, Virginia in 1831. The revolt lasted two days but Nate was not captured until six weeks after. He was then tried for insurrection. Thomas Ruffin Gray was said to be the lawyer who questioned Nate as his trial. Gray questions his state of mind, why he led the revolt and whether he felt mistaken in doing so. Gray also documents Nate’s confession as he explains in detail his personal struggles and the visions he encountered prior going through with the revolt. He also describes the people, places and the slaves that assisted him. No one was spared men, women and children were murdered with hand tools.

Intentionally his mother had planned to kill Nat, she did not want to see her son growing up a slave no child deserves that life nobody does. Now, Nat wasn't your typical child at a young age he would speak of events that happened before he was even born his parents knew he was special everybody did. Once he was given a book from one of the other slaves and I do dear remind you reading and learning was a privilege not given to slaves but Nat knew how to read yet nobody had taught him. Even his master Benjamin Turner came to realization that Nat was special even saying to his friends that “he would never be of service to anyone as a slave”. Now years went by and Nat life started to change dramatically, for one his father had escaped to the north not to be heard of again a year went by when Nat’s master had past away and left the plantation to his eldest son Samuel turner. Samuel made the slaves work very hard and was a very religious individual even telling the slaves it's God’s work so they become more obedient. Americans would use christianity as justification, because at the time slaveholders were uneasy about the whole slave

The Fires of Jubilee, by Stephen B. Oates, tells an account of Nat Turner’s rebellion. Beginning with Nat’s early life and finally ending with the legacy his execution left the world, Oates paints a historical rending of those fateful days. The Confessions of Nat Turner by Thomas R. Gray and approved by Nat himself is among Oates’ chief sources. Oates is known as a reputable historian through his other works, and has strong credentials however, in the case of The Fires of Jubilee there are some limitations. It is, therefore, worth analyzing Oates’ interpretation for reliability. In doing so one sees that The Fires of Jubilee, because of its weak use of citations, failure to alert the audience of assumed details and the way in which

Oates begins the book with a thorough biography of Turner. He makes a real effort to show what could lead a man to commit the actions he did. Nat was born on October 17, 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia. His mother, Nancy, was brought to America in 1795. The man who purchased her was Benjamin Turner, a wealthy tidewater planter. Nancy married a slave whose name is not known, and gave birth to Nat. Interestingly, she tried to kill Nat rather than see him grow up to be a slave. I find this to be an incredible and very powerful piece of information. If that doesn’t illustrate how emotionally and physically devastating it was to be enslaved, then I don’t know what could. By the time he was four or five years old, people started to realize that there was something very special about Nat. He could recall things that had happened before he was born. Nat 's parents were very proud of him and discovered strange marking on his head and back. African legend held that a male with such markings would grow up to be a leader. His intelligence earned him the respect and admiration of other slaves as well. One time he was given a book by another slave, and was able to decipher

Nat Turner's Rebellion is known as one of most effective and bloodiest rebellions in American history. In two days there were approximately 55-65 people who were killed by the uprising of slaves. Turner hid out in a swamp area for about two months. He was found by a hunter and surrendered peacefully. This raised tensions because a slave lashing out at his owner showed that salvery needed to come to an end, or there would be more.

The story of Nat Turner’s rebellion, that took place in Southampton, Virginia, on August 22, 1831, is somewhat of a lost event. This is because this particular stand was not the most successful at first, but it resulted in the later years as an rewarding rebellion. Nat Turner’s rebellion affected racism and slavery, by being a leader, by being influential, and by showing bravery. All three of these things must be used in order to have a successful rebellion in this situation especially.

Turner accompanied by the indentured servants and African Americans murdered their owners and then went on to murder sixty other whites in Jerusalem within two days. They were quickly captured. However, similar to the strengthening of the Virginia Slave codes after Bacons rebellion, Turner’s revolt also led to the strengthening of these slave codes in most southern states. They limited education, the movement, and the assembly of slaves. Speaking against slavery also became illegal.

Nat Turner rebellion took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831. Turner’s intention was to move through the countryside, household to household, killing as many whites as possible. He did not care whether they were a man or women, child or adult. Turner was quoted as saying that “indiscriminate slaughter was not their intention after they obtained a foothold, and was resorted to in the first instance to strike terror and alarm. Women and children would afterwards have been spared, and men too who ceased to resist.”

The Confessions of Nat Turner is written

Published as the definitive account of the insurrection and its motivation, the "confession" remains shrouded in controversy. Thomas Gray, a lawyer, released the account, claiming that Turner had dictated the confessions to him and that there was little to no variation from the prisoner's actual testimony. However, as a slaveholder mired in financial difficulty, Gray likely saw tremendous profit and propaganda potential in satiating the public's thirst for knowledge about such an enigmatic figure. In addition, literary critics have consistently pointed to discrepancies in Turner's language and tone throughout the document. They suggest that Turner and Gray's agendas conflict consistently in the text and thus create the ambiguity that has characterized the document for over a century and a

Nat Turner’s rebellion was one of the largest slave rebellions in the United States. Nat turner was born into slavery in the year of 1800 in Southampton, Virginia. People on the plantation believed he was a prophet and chosen by God to lead them to great things. He knew of stories that were told before he was alive and his grandmother and mother knew then that he was special and sent from God.

Nathaniel who also went by the alias “Nat” Turner was an African American slave who led the only effective and sustained slave rebellion in U.S. history. A mutiny was planned but rescheduled for August 21, 1831, when

He had began to see more signs and he had gotten more visions from God. He interpreted them as if he need to attack his enemies with their own weapons. He had a few close trusted friends that he shared his visions with. He shared the visions with them and only them. They would also help him in his revolt. Turner and his close trusted friend met daily to come up with plans for his secret revolt. They came up with a list of about twenty other blacks to help with the revolt. He told his master about his revolt once, and because he told him, he was beaten for it.