American History Tellers - Rebellion in the Early Republic - Nat Turner’s Rebellion | 6

Episode Date: April 22, 2020

In February 1831, a solar eclipse caused the skies to darken over the isolated backwater of Southampton County, Virginia. An enslaved man and self-proclaimed prophet named Nat Turner saw it as a sign from God that it was time to rise up against slavery.In the early morning hours of August 22, 1831, Turner and a small group of fellow slaves emerged from the woods armed with axes. They marched on the farm of Turner’s owner, where they struck the first fatal blows of their revolt. Over the next 48 hours, the rebels roved from farm to farm, killing dozens and sowing panic throughout the white community.Nat Turner’s Rebellion was the bloodiest slave revolt in American history. It sparked widespread hysteria and deadly reprisals, further propelling the nation down the path to civil war.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's October 1821. It's just after daybreak at Samuel Turner's plantation in Southampton County, Virginia. All around you, the fields are white with cotton, ready to harvest. You bend down to a plant and carefully separate the cotton fiber from the bowl, trying to avoid its sharp edges. There are dozens, even hundreds of bowls on this plant,

and hundreds of plants stretching all the way to the tree line. You whisper to the man working on the row next to you, What I wouldn't give to be far away from here. Nat should have taken us with him. He's a lucky man. It's been a month since another slave named Nat escaped the plantation after the overseer flogged him. You heard anything? Nah, he's long gone by now. If the patrols had caught him, we'd have heard about it. You pause for a moment to stretch your cramping muscles.

Suddenly, a movement 20 yards away catches your eye. Someone is emerging from the trees. Well, I must be dreaming. What? That's Nat right there. But before the other man can answer, you're already on the move. Running, keeping low, knowing that the overseer could spot you at any moment. You stop at the edge of the field a few yards from Nat.

He looks ragged and exhausted, but strangely serene. What in God's name are you doing back here? The Holy Spirit appeared to me and said that I should return to the service of my earthly master. You shake your head in disbelief. Are you crazy? What kind of slave returns to their master? Nat stares up at the sky and closes his eyes. For he who knoweth his master's will and doeth it not shall be beaten with many stripes, and thus I have chastened you. You're used to Nat quoting the gospel, and his words are as puzzling as ever. You glance over your shoulder for the overseer.

You'll be punished within an inch of your life. If you have any sense at all, you'll just take off right now. It's too late. The Overseer has spotted Nat. He's running toward the trees. You back away quickly and return to your row, hoping he'll be too busy with Nat to punish you. You watch as the Overseer grabs Nat roughly and hauls him away. That Nat has always been strange, but something in his steady voice keeps ringing in your ears.

He came back, by his own choice, to this wretched place, and only God knows why. Just then, you make your own choice, your own silent vow to seize your chance to escape this bondage, no matter what. And when you do, you won't be coming back. Anthony Anderson. Tabitha Brown. Tony Hawk. Oh, my God. Buy it now. Stream free on Freebie and Prime Video. Kill List is a true story of how I ended up in a race against time to warn those whose lives were in danger.

Follow Kill List wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Kill List and more Exhibit C true crime shows like Morbid early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. In 1821, a 21-year-old enslaved man named Nat Turner escaped his plantation in Southampton County, Virginia. But after just 30 days away, he returned, stunning his fellow slaves still laboring under harsh conditions. Turner would go on to launch the bloodiest slave revolt in American history. Deeply religious and enigmatic, Turner's goal was to free Southampton's slaves.

He would eventually recruit a small group of rebels and sweep through nearby farms and plantations, unleashing carnage on white residents and prompting a violent response from slave owners and white authorities. In just 48 hours, Turner shattered the popular notion that enslaved men and women were at peace with their fates. His rebellion struck at the core of the Southern social order and changed the future of slavery, shaping the destiny of both Black and white Americans for years to come. This is Episode 6, Nat Turner's Rebellion. By the early 1800s, slavery's grip on the South was growing stronger, and it was fast becoming a defining issue in the expanding nation's politics.

Virginia was home to the largest number of enslaved people in the United States, but the practice was deeply contested there. After a failed rebellion led by a slave named Gabriel at the turn of the century, state leaders imposed stricter rules on black residents, both free and enslaved, and they drew up new laws to bolster slavery's reach. Meanwhile, a boom in cotton planting drove slavery's growth. The crop had become increasingly profitable since the invention of the cotton gin in the 1790s. The new technology streamlined production, leading to a sharp rise in the demand for slave labor. As the United States acquired new land in the South and West,

much of it was turned into cotton plantations. Between 1800 and 1830, the population of enslaved Americans more than doubled, from about 900,000 to more than 2 million. The federal government outlawed the slave trade from Africa in 1808, but the domestic slave trade flourished. Slave owners in the Tobacco Belt in the East made huge profits by selling their slaves to the cotton plantations in the new territories and states in the Southwest. Enslaved families were torn apart as tens of thousands of slaves were forced to march West. This westward spread of slavery sparked heated political debate as new states entering the Union raised fears about the balance of power between free and

slaveholding states. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 maintained that balance of power temporarily, but regional divisions over slavery would only intensify in the years to come. And as slavery became more entrenched in the South, slaveholders found new ways to defend the practice. Not only did they argue that the economy depended on slavery, but they suggested that bondage was in the best interests of enslaved people. They drew on pseudoscience to make the case that Black people were innately inferior to white people. Others convinced themselves that enslaved people were content with their lot. Virginians argued that slavery in their state was far more lenient than it was in the harsh cotton plantations in the New Southwest. They saw themselves as enlightened, benevolent masters

who were helping enslaved people by Christianizing them. Politicians, plantation owners, and other whites relied on literal readings of Bible passages to justify slavery. They argued that God sanctioned the master-slave relationship, using this pretense to continue the brutal practice of forced labor that was the bedrock of the Southern economy and social order. Enslaved men and women received Christian teaching that put emphasis on subservience. Still, in the years following the Haitian Revolution and Gabriel's Rebellion, enslaved people continued to resist their oppressors, sometimes through outright revolt. In 1811, hundreds of slaves rose up on the German coast in Louisiana, killing two people before they were stopped by white militias. And in 1822, a freedman named Denmark Veazey was executed after planning a failed rebellion

against slave owners and other white people in Charleston, South Carolina. This spirit of rebellion was not extinguished by Christian teachings. Some slaves instead saw in the Bible a call to resist their enslavement. Nat Turner was one of them. Turner was born in Southampton County, Virginia, in October 1800, eight days before Gabriel was hanged for plotting his slave revolt in Richmond. Southampton County was a remote agricultural backwater near the North Carolina border. Sixty percent of the residents there were black, a majority of them enslaved.

When Turner was a child, his father ran away from their plantation and never returned, proving to young Nat that escape was possible. His mother and grandmother told Turner that he was intended for some great purpose, and he was taught to read and write, and he became deeply religious. He isolated himself from others, devoting his free time to fasting and praying. By the time Turner reached his early 20s, he was about five and a half feet tall, broad-shouldered, with a face and neck scarred with injuries he'd received while working the fields. He'd also come to see himself as a prophet. He claimed to have visions, and he

believed he received messages from God through signs in nature. In 1821, Turner himself ran away from his plantation. But after 30 days spent hiding in the woods, he returned, shocking the other slaves at the plantation. Disobedient slaves faced harsh punishments, whippings, beatings, confinement, or sale to distant lands. But Turner claimed a spirit had told him to return to the service of his earthly master, a statement that mystified his fellow slaves. He would later write that others found fault and murmured against me, saying that if they had my sense, they would not serve any master in the world. It wouldn't be the last time Turner's judgment was considered strange.

Some even questioned his sanity. Sometime after his return, Turner married an enslaved woman on a neighboring plantation. But he continued to isolate himself and devote his time to religious reflection. As reclusive and enigmatic as he was, Turner was also highly intelligent and charismatic. These traits, along with his deep sense of purpose and his unwillingness to submit to the status quo, would make him a natural rebel leader. In 1822, the next year, Turner's master died, and he was sold to another Southampton plantation owner, Thomas Moore. It was on Moore's plantation that Turner had his second vision three years later. He claimed he saw drops of blood on the corn as if it were dew from heaven. He believed this was a sign that the great day of judgment was at hand. Turner continued to deepen his religious thinking throughout the late 1820s.

He even gained his first follower, a white man named Etheldred T. Brantley. Brantley was drawn to Turner's message about the approaching end of days and claimed Turner cured an illness he was struggling with. The two men petitioned a local church to baptize them. The church denied them, likely wanting to discourage Turner from styling himself as a prophet. So Turner took matters into his own hands. He baptized himself and Brantley in a pond deep in the forest before a crowd of mocking spectators. Turner's growing sense of his own destiny was increasingly at odds with his status as a slave.

He saw himself as a prophet, but he remained the property of a white man, and he witnessed fellow slaves suffer constant humiliation and violence. This paradox set the stage for Turner's third vision in May 1828. This time, he believed, God instructed him to fight his enslavement. Turner heard a loud noise descending from the heavens, and a spirit told him to wait for a divine sign. That signal would be a warning that, according to Turner, I should arise and prepare myself and slay my enemies with their own weapons. Meanwhile, Turner was becoming bolder and more outspoken in his challenge to slavery.

That same year, Turner was whipped by his master, Thomas More, for daring to say that blacks ought to be free and promising that they would be free one day or another. When More died in 1830, Turner moved to the home of Joseph Travis, the new husband of More's widow. Travis was a more lenient master than More had been, but Turner was still waiting for the sign from God he'd been promised. Then, on February 12, 1831, almost three years after his third vision, a solar eclipse caused the skies to darken over Southampton County. Americans from New England

to New Orleans were captivated, but Turner saw it as an omen, the signal he'd been waiting for, a call for him to rise up. Turner wasn't a popular figure in his community. He avoided mixing with others, preferring to wrap himself in solitary religious reflection. But he did have a few close confidants, and after the eclipse, he called together the four men he trusted most. Hark, Henry, Nelson, and Sam. Hark was a slave on the Travis farm alongside Turner and served as his right-hand man. The others were slaves on neighboring plantations. The five men left their plantations and gathered

in the woods, where Turner informed them that the eclipse was a sign from God that Turner should start a slave revolt. The men agreed to launch their rebellion on the 4th of July. It was a fitting date not only as the anniversary of America's independence, but because some slaves would be given the day off, allowing them to mobilize in secret. But in the coming months, the men struggled to agree on a firm plan. Every time someone suggested a course of action, another man found a reason to object. The uncertainty rattled Turner, who later said that it affected my mind to such a degree that I fell sick. July 4th came and went. But a few weeks later, a final sign appeared that strengthened Turner's resolve.

On August 13th, an atmospheric disturbance gave the sun a bluish-green tint that caused excitement and alarm throughout the eastern United States. Turner saw a black sunspot that he believed was proof from God that his rebellion would succeed. He was determined not to wait any longer. Though Turner had not decided on a precise plan, the enslaved men and women of Southampton began whispering of revolt. Imagine it's late in the evening of August 1831. You're walking back to your master's house in Southampton County, Virginia, exhausted after a long day of cooking, cleaning, and doing your mistress's bidding. You're approaching the cabins on the perimeter of the farm when you see a man quietly creep inside one of them.

You recognize him from the county over and wonder what he could be doing here at this time of night. You know this could only spell trouble, but your curiosity gets the better of you. You walk up to the cabin and duck under the window to listen in. If the black people come, we'll join together and kill the white people. You're stunned by this statement, but it's not the first time you've heard rebellious talk against whites.

You peer in the tiny window to see a handful of men gathered in the corner of the room speaking in hushed tones. I'm sick and tired of it. It's time we got revenge. My master cropped my ears. Well, I'll crop his ears before the year's out. That's right. Just as you crane your neck to get a better view, you trip on your skirt and lose your balance, knocking over a metal pail beside you. Shh, shh. Who's there? The man exits the cabin, sees you on the ground, and grabs you by your elbow and yanks you inside. The men are all glaring at you. You've just heard a secret.

And if you tell the white people, they'll think you're in on it. They'll shoot you or worse. Your eyes widen in fear. I swear, I won't tell anybody. The man raises an eyebrow. How can we know we can trust you? You're not the first man I've heard talk like this. I've never told a soul before. The man looks at his friends, then shakes his head. Then you get out of here, quickly now. If you tell anyone, they'll be hell to pay. You don't waste any time before slipping out of the cabin. Your hand trembles as you close the door.

You walk back to the main house wondering, if these men succeed, maybe you could live free. If they fail, they'll surely be killed. You glance back at the cabin and shiver in the night breeze. If they're determined to act, you're terrified for these men's lives. And your own. Though word was spreading, only Turner's inner circle knew exactly what was planned for Southampton County.

On Sunday, August 21st, Turner's four confidants met with two new men, Jack and Will, who the conspirators had recruited without Turner's knowledge. The men gathered in the woods at Cabin Pond that morning, preparing a pig to eat and drinking apple brandy. Turner joined the group in the afternoon and was surprised to see the new recruits. He trusted Jack, who was Hark's brother-in-law, but he asked why the other man, Will, was there. Will responded that his life was worth no more than others and his liberty as dear to him. He vowed that he would obtain liberty or die trying. This was enough to make Turner trust him,

and Turner's band now numbered six. The men agreed to begin the revolt that night at Joseph Travis's farm, where both Nat Turner and his co-conspirator Hark lived. And they made an extreme choice, declaring that neither age nor sex was to be spared once the violence began. Turner knew this meant many people, including women and children, could die.

But he and others like him had been brutalized, divided from their families, and exploited for profit for generations. He felt the divine signs had finally made it clear that he had to act, and violence was the only thing that could bring real and lasting change. In joining Turner's plot to strike back against Southampton's slave owners, these men were taking an enormous risk. They were poorly armed and badly outnumbered. They knew the odds, but still stepped out into the night,

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Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorizes Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats and crucifixes. Even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today. The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror. So when we look in the mirror, the only thing we see is our own monstrous abilities. From the host and producer of American History Tellers and History Daily

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Join Wondery Plus and The Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. On the night of August 21st, 1831, Nat Turner and six of his allies set off to launch their revolt in Southampton, Virginia. Turner had kept the plot small by design, deciding against recruiting more followers in the days and weeks leading up to the rebellion. He knew that past slave rebellions had failed due to slaves tipping off whites. By keeping his circle small, Turner hoped to lessen the chance that someone would alert white authorities, the very thing that had doomed Gabriel's rebellion 30 years earlier. And when Turner did launch his rebellion, the secrecy proved critical.

White slave owners were caught entirely by surprise. The men decided to begin at the home of Turner's master, then march on to seize Southampton's county seat, Jerusalem, killing any whites they found along the way. Turner's edict not to spare women and children wasn't just about revenge. He hoped that such a dramatic show of force against whites would inspire other slaves to join the rebellion. The rebels hoped to gather recruits as they went along in their killing spree. Eventually, Turner planned to spare white women, children, and men who did not resist. But first, they needed enough recruits to have a chance at victory. The men carried the advantage of secrecy, but they were vastly outnumbered.

At about two o'clock in the morning of August 22nd, Turner and his six allies emerged from the woods wielding axes and hatchets. but they were vastly outnumbered. At about two o'clock in the morning of August 22nd, Turner and his six allies emerged from the woods wielding axes and hatchets. They set off for the home of Joseph Travis, Turner's master. The group improvised as they went along. After reaching the Travis house, they considered hacking the door open with an axe, but decided stealth would be a better tactic. Turner climbed through the second-story window of the house to open the front door. Turner and Will crept upstairs to where Joseph Travis and his wife were sleeping. Turner swung his hatchet, striking the first blow of the rebellion. But all he did was wake Travis. Will stepped in and delivered the fatal blow. By the time the

rebels left the house, they had killed Travis, his wife, their six-year-old boy, and a young apprentice hired to work on the farm. The rebels seized guns from the Travis home and put feathers in their caps and red sashes around their waists. Then Turner led them to the barn outside and marched them through a series of military drills. Turner was transforming his small band into an army. Dawn was approaching, and finally the rebels saddled horses from the barn and prepared to head out to neighboring farms. Just as they were leaving, they remembered that the Travis's baby had been left untouched. Will and Henry returned and killed the infant. The men traveled to two more farms, killing a man and a woman. They failed to recruit any

slaves at the first farm, but gained a few followers at the second. As the sun rose in the sky, the rebels, who now numbered about a dozen, arrived at the farm of Nat Turner's first owner, the widow Elizabeth Turner. Will killed the frightened woman with his axe. Nat Turner swung at her sister with his dull sword, but failed to deliver a fatal blow. Will stepped in again and killed the woman instead. By the time they left, they had gained two more followers. The rebels then divided. The main force rode on horseback to the home of another widow named Catherine Whitehead, whom they killed, along with her son, four daughters, and infant grandson. Catherine's daughter, Margaret, was the

only person Turner personally killed during the rebellion. But the rebels had forgotten that one daughter remained. Young Harriet Whitehead was still inside, hiding beneath a mattress. They soon realized their mistake and doubled back. Imagine it's just after sunrise on August 22nd, 1831, at the Whitehead Plantation in Southampton County, Virginia. You're in an upstairs bedroom, in absolute shock. The mistress is dead. So are her son, her daughters, her grandson. You've spent your whole life enslaved to the Whitehead family. Now there's nothing left of it. You bend down beside the bed, where you've hidden young Harriet

Whitehead between the frame and the mattress. Shh! Don't you make a sound. In your decades with the Whiteheads, you've seen more violence against slaves than you care to think about. Your own children were torn away from you, along with their mother. But if justice is to be done, it's not going to be through killing this little girl. Through the window, you can see the men riding off down the lane, away from the house. This is your moment to act. You lift up the mattress to find Harriet cowering, her eyes squeezed shut. Come along now, come on.

She says nothing. She's clearly too stunned to speak. You grab a blanket and wrap her up, lifting her in your arms and carrying her down the stairs. Shh, shh, shh. Now I'm going to get you out of here. You slip out the back door and run off to the woods by the house as fast as your old legs can carry you. You try not to think about the carnage you've just witnessed. You've wanted your freedom your whole life, but you know the whites will get their revenge for this. You set Harriet down at the edge

of the forest. All right, now you have to keep keep going on your own, as fast as you can. I'll come back with food. The little girl stares up at you in fear. But she follows your orders and stumbles off deeper into the woods. You turn around and emerge from the trees, and your heart drops. Two rebels have doubled back. Hey, you there. You approach them nervously.

Yes, what is it? I know this family. Where's the other girl? I think you're mistaken. They're all dead. But I think I heard a couple of other slaves here talk about joining you. They went that way. You point in the direction away from the woods. The man narrows his gaze. Is that so? What about you, old man? Will you join us? Me? I'm too old for that. I'd just slow you down. The man looks you up and down and shrugs. You're probably right. But just you wait. You'll be free soon enough. The men ride off, and you finally exhale. You don't know what the future has in store now that nearly the whole Whitehead family is dead.

But freedom? That is too much to believe. Early in the morning of August 22nd, an elderly enslaved man named Hubbard carried Harriet Whitehead to shelter in the woods, where she hid from the rebels. Only one slave at the Whitehead farm joined Nat Turner. Most of the others fled the scene. Southampton's enslaved community was divided in the response to Nat Turner's rebellion. Some, like Hubbard, came to the aid of their white owners. Others fled.

Some eagerly joined Turner's army, while others were more reluctant and later said they were threatened into joining. The rebels did not recruit women, children, or older men. But they struggled to win over men of fighting age, too. Half of the rebel ranks came from just four farms. Some potential recruits may have been repulsed by the violence, while others may have deemed it just a fool's errand that would only end in their death. But the rebels continued on from the Whitehead plantation to raid more farms.

Turner placed his best-armed men at the front to strike terror into the hearts of Southampton's whites. He brought up the rear of the party and often only arrived at a farm after the killing was over. Some Southampton whites received words of the rebellion and fled their homes in fear. Still, the rebels continued to haphazardly move

from one farm to the next, finding victims and gaining a few more recruits and weapons along the way. Some of the rebels took valuables from empty homes. They had yet to encounter any real resistance. It had only been a few hours since his rebellion started, but already Nat Turner was striking at the foundations of Southern society. Few slaves had ever carried out such an effective and sustained revolt. Already the rebellion was revealing, in startling clarity, the instability at the root of the supposedly tranquil agricultural South and

the acquiescence of their enslaved populations. Later in the morning, the rebels arrived at a plantation where a local teacher and ten schoolchildren were hiding out. The rebels killed all of them. It was the bloodiest episode of hiding out. The rebels killed all of them. It was the bloodiest episode of the revolt. The rebels then continued riding east, toward the county seat of Jerusalem, where Turner hoped to procure arms and ammunition. By midday, the rebel ranks numbered between 50 and 60.

Meanwhile, the Southampton white population had sounded the alarm. Women and children flooded into village centers. Men were preparing a defense. They would retaliate near Jerusalem, at a place called Parker's Field, aiming to blunt the advance of Nat Turner's rebellion. Alexander Peet, a local magistrate and slaveholder, commanded a militia of 18 men. They had been following the rebels' trail since the massacre of the schoolchildren and rushed ahead to Parker's Field. When the rebels' trail since the massacre of the schoolchildren, and rushed ahead to Parker's Field. When the rebels approached the gate of the farm, they were stunned to see the militia there.

A few fled. Pete ordered his men to hold their fire until they came within 30 yards of the rebels, but one of his men ignored the order and discharged his weapon. Turner then ordered the rebels to charge. They managed to knock down a handful of militiamen. Some of the whites retreated in panic. The rebels were advancing and the militia was outnumbered. But moments later, Turner saw that white reinforcements were approaching. The rebels became disorganized and retreated amid militia gunfire, carrying their wounded with them. After the defeat at Parker's Field, Turner still

planned to march on the county seat, but he knew he needed to gain more followers first. But as he and his men roamed the countryside, they continued to struggle to find new recruits. So the rebels spent the night in the woods near one of the largest plantations in the area. There were 40 young enslaved men there, but Turner and his men were only able to convince four to join them. The next morning, the rebels woke and pressed on, but they were thwarted by armed whites at every turn. Their numbers continued to dwindle as some were killed and others fled. Eventually, Turner was left with just two allies. He told them to gather the remaining rebels to Cabin Pond, where he and his collaborators had first launched the revolt. There, they would

plan their next moves. Turner waited alone in the woods. The other men would never arrive. Over the course of two days, Nat Turner and his rebels had beaten, beheaded, and shot to death some 55 people. The countryside was in disarray, but White Southampton was about to get its revenge. In November 1991, media tycoon Robert Maxwell mysteriously vanished from his luxury yacht in the Canary Islands. But it wasn't just his body that would come to the surface in the days that followed. It soon emerged that Robert's business was on the brink of collapse,

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Imagine it's late August 1831, near the border of Southampton County, Virginia. It's early in the evening, and you and your younger brother are hoeing weeds in the small field outside your cabin. It's not much, but it's your own. You were freed after the death of your master a few years back. This is monotonous work, but you don't mind so much anymore. Nowadays, you savor the ability to tend to your own crops with your own labor. You pause to wipe the sweat off your brow as your brother turns to you. It'll be dark soon. Should we call it a day?

Yeah, best get inside, especially with the militias roaming the area. I don't want to take any chances being confused for a rebel slave. Your brother shakes his head and smirks. Always the cautious one, aren't you? You should thank me. Where would we be if I let that hot head of yours call the shots? Your brother is about to respond to you when you drop your hoe to the ground and hold your hand to quiet him. You've just seen something out of the corner of your eye. Hair of unfamiliar white men are galloping towards you.

You notice they're armed with pistols. Quickly, they approach. You there, is this Southampton County? Your brother furrows his brow. These men are clearly not from around here. Well, yes, sir. You've just crossed the line by that tree. Is that so? And what are you doing now? You and your brother exchange a confused glance. Why, we live here, sir. You should be afraid for your lives. We'll teach all you rebel slaves a lesson. You'll think twice before you ever take up arms against white people again. You take your brother's arm. Come on, let's get out of here. But your brother ignores you, calls up to the

mounted white men. We don't have anything to do with that plot. We're no slaves. We're freedmen. You implore your brother. Shh, stay quiet. But it is too late. The men are dismounting their horses. So what?

You all the same to us. Your brother takes a step back, but they grab his arms and pin them behind his back. Let me go. No, you're coming with us. So be smart now. You can make this easy or you can make this hard. You want to do something. It's your brother they're taking away. But you're paralyzed. Your stomach drops as you watch the men carry him off, hound and gagged. You burn this image into your mind, uncertain if you'll ever see him again. In the days after Turner launched his revolt,

white militias moved quickly to restore control of Southampton County. As whites fled their farms and gathered in towns and villages, militias quickly mustered their forces. They soon captured most of the rebels, all except Nat Turner, who eluded authorities. In the climate of fear created by the rebellion, white vigilantes and armed mobs took violent revenge on Southampton blacks, killing dozens, many who were innocent, and had nothing to do with the uprising. Some of the enslaved men and women were tortured for information. Vengeful whites maimed and beheaded suspected rebels and supporters.

One Virginia newspaper argued that the acts of revenge were as barbaric as the atrocities of the rebels. But many whites argued that this harsh retribution was justified. Others pushed for restraint. Once it became clear that the threat to Southampton was over, a trio of prominent militia leaders called for an end to the indiscriminate killings. They recognized that enslaved men and women would be important witnesses in upcoming trials, and what's more, they were valuable property. The health of the community's economy was at stake.

On August 28th, a week after the rebellion started, militia leader Richard Epps issued an order urging his troops and the citizens of Southampton to abstain from violence to any personal property. Militia leaders took suspected rebels into custody, and even jailed blacks who had nothing to do with the rebellion to keep them out of harm's way. These measures were effective, and reprisals in Southampton County declined, but not before as many as 40 black people were killed by vigilante groups and militias. Much later, historical accounts would put that number, probably incorrectly, as high as 200. But the violence also spread beyond Virginia.

As hundreds of Southampton residents fled to Murfreesboro, North Carolina, 20 miles to the south, news of the insurrection caused mass panic. A white mob shot a black man walking down the street, mounting his head on a post, and threw his body into a gully. That same day, white men killed an enslaved driver after his mistress complained that he had behaved imprudently. A wave of hysteria spread throughout the South as rumors of new slave revolts reached places as far away as Mississippi and Alabama. Armed patrols roamed many Southern communities. One South Carolinian described, a dark and growing evil at our doors. Authorities in Charleston raised a special cavalry force to protect the city. Back in Southampton, officials tried suspected rebels in court throughout the

month of September. Forty-five slaves and five freedmen were charged in connection with the revolt. Of these, eighteen were hanged and fourteen were transported out of the state. By limiting their use of the death penalty, authorities avoided paying out hefty sums to compensate slave owners for their lost property. But even as these trials continued, there was one man who still evaded authorities. In mid-September, almost four weeks since the uprising, the Virginia governor announced a $500 reward for Nat Turner's safe capture. Turner had remained hidden in Southampton the whole time,

sneaking provisions from nearby farms at night. Then, on October 30th, a farmer found him hiding in a cave. He was barefoot and emaciated. The farmer raised his gun, and Turner threw down his sword and surrendered. The next day, he was taken to Jerusalem before a crowd of onlookers and jailed. As Turner awaited trial, he was interviewed by a slave-owning lawyer named Thomas R. Gray. Gray had served as the court-appointed counsel for several of Turner's followers who'd been tried in September. In his conversations with Gray, Turner revealed the religious inspiration for his rebellion. Gray asked Turner, Do you not find yourself mistaken now? But Turner was steady in his beliefs, responding,

was not Christ crucified? I am here loaded with chains and willing to suffer the fate that awaits me. Gray published an account of the interview titled The Confessions of Nat Turner. The pamphlet sold tens of thousands of copies. Turner's intimate personal reflections and vivid descriptions of the killings

helped make him infamous. On November 5th, Turner was brought to trial before a panel of ten judges. Local newspapers remarked at Turner's composure during the trial. Six days later, he was brought before the gallows. He was given the chance to address the crowd, but refused. His voice remained firm as he told the executioner that he was ready. Moments later, Turner was hanged. In the aftermath of the rebellion,

Virginians were divided on how to respond. Some argued that the best way to avoid further slave violence was to eradicate slavery. Hundreds of white Virginians sent petitions to the state government calling for abolition or the removal of slaves from the state. In the western part of Virginia, where anti-slavery sentiment was strongest, whites held public rallies in support of emancipation. So for the first time since Gabriel launched his failed revolt decades earlier, Virginia lawmakers considered ending

slavery in the state. In early 1832, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, the grandson of Thomas Jefferson and a delegate to the State General Assembly, put forth a plan to gradually free slaves and settle them in the new African nation of Liberia. Randolph argued that slavery would end one way or another, whether by the actions of lawmakers or the bloody scenes of Southampton and San Domingo. But most lawmakers believed that emancipation and resettlement would be too costly and difficult to implement. After weeks of heated debates, the state voted to retain slavery. Lawmakers instead passed brutal laws that made life harder for black Virginians, free or enslaved. They strengthened white patrols and militias and made it nearly impossible for

slaves to learn to read and write, attend religious meetings, or become preachers. Whites cracked down on black churches and put them under the supervision of white ministers. In 1832, Thomas Dew, a professor at Virginia's College of William and Mary, wrote an influential essay on the state abolition debates, in which he defended slavery as an institution established by God that benefited master and slave alike. Dew warned that black and white Americans could never live together in peace. His arguments became the foundation of pro-slavery ideology in the years leading up to the Civil War.

In the 1830s and 40s, white Southerners stopped bothering to justify slavery as a necessary evil and overwhelmingly defended it as a positive good. They blamed anti-slavery activists in the North for stirring slave revolts. But as much as Southerners argued that slaves benefited from bondage, they were haunted by the idea that another Nat Turner could rise up against them. So more states followed Virginia and established white patrols and malicious and harsh laws to control the lives of enslaved people. Nat Turner was a complex, mysterious figure, and he left a divided legacy. For some, he was a hero,

a brave man willing to do anything to fight for his freedom, no matter the cost. For others, Turner was a villain inciting incredible violence. His uprising left a path of bloodshed unlike anything white or black Southerners had ever seen. The violent response revealed just how much the establishment was determined to defend not only their wealth, but their system of racial control. And while pro-slavery advocates were more determined than ever to protect slavery, the rebellion also strengthened the convictions of Northern abolitionists. In the years to come, the North and South grew more and more polarized. Ultimately, Nat Turner's desperate and bloody revolt inflamed tensions that would only be

resolved on the battlefield 30 years later as the nation erupted in civil war. Next on American History Tellers, I speak with Edward J. Larson, a historian and legal scholar at Pepperdine University. We'll discuss how the early American rebellions were resolved and what this era of our nation's history can teach us about how the government handles pushback from citizens today. From Wondery, this is American History Tellers. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free

on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship, sound design by me, Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Sound design by Derek Behrens. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Dorian Marina. Executive produced by Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marshall Louis. Created by Hernan Lopez for Wondery.

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