Nat Turner

Nathaniel Turner led the most significant slave rebellion in American history on August 21, 1831, in Southampton County, Virginia. Over two days, Turner and a group of enslaved people killed approximately 55 to 65 white people — the largest number of white fatalities caused by a slave revolt in the antebellum South. The rebellion terrified the slaveholding class and led to a massive, brutal crackdown on both enslaved and free Black people across the region.

Born into slavery on October 2, 1800, in Southampton County, Turner was deeply religious and highly literate — abilities that set him apart among enslaved people. He experienced visions that he interpreted as divine instructions to fight against slavery. He waited for a sign: a solar eclipse on February 12, 1831, convinced him the time had come.

The rebellion began before dawn and moved from plantation to plantation. Turner eluded capture for over two months before being found, tried, and executed on November 11, 1831. His rebellion had consequences that extended far beyond Virginia: Southern states passed harsh new laws restricting the movement, education, and assembly of both enslaved and free Black people. Turner's actions remain controversial — he is simultaneously a freedom fighter and a figure associated with terrible violence — but his revolt demonstrated that enslaved people would resist their bondage with whatever means were available to them.