Knowra Nat Turner's Rebellion Nat Turner's Rebellion An 1831 slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia, led by Nat Turner. White militias and mobs killed dozens of Black people in the revolt’s aftermath.
Nat Turner : An enslaved preacher who led the 1831 revolt in Southampton County, Virginia. His leadership and religious convictions shaped the revolt’s plans and actions.
Second Great Awakening : A wave of Protestant religious revival in the United States from the late eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. Its religious culture forms part of the setting for Turner’s prophetic Christianity.
Virginia legislative debate of 1831–1832 : A debate in Virginia’s legislature over slavery and gradual emancipation after Turner’s revolt. Lawmakers considered emancipation, but the debate ended without ending slavery.
The Confessions of Nat Turner : A 1967 novel by William Styron imagining Nat Turner’s life and revolt. The novel’s portrayal prompted debate about who can narrate Turner’s life.
Southampton County, Virginia : A county in southeastern Virginia, site of Nat Turner’s 1831 revolt. Its farms, roads, and dispersed enslaved population formed the revolt’s setting.
Black Christianity in the United States : Christian traditions and institutions developed by Black people in the United States. Turner interpreted biblical revelation within a Black religious world shaped by enslavement.
Virginia slave laws : Virginia statutes that regulated enslaved people and upheld the institution of slavery. After the revolt, Virginia tightened restrictions on Black education, assembly, and religious preaching.
Black Power : A political movement emphasizing Black self-determination, pride, and collective power. Some later interpretations reclaimed Turner as a symbol of resistance.
Enslaved people in the United States : People held in bondage under laws and practices that denied them freedom in the United States. The revolt arose within the coercive system of slavery they endured.
Slave patrol : Armed groups that policed enslaved people and enforced slave laws in the American South. Patrols embodied the surveillance and coercion that Turner’s revolt challenged.
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