Nat Turner's Rebellion - Timeline Event

Nat Turner

08-21-1831 - 08-23-1831

Nat Turner, a Baptist convert who preached to both whites and blacks, led the deadliest slave rebellion in United States history. In a religious vision he experienced in May 1828, Turner felt a call to combat the "Serpent" of slavery. After receiving confirmation of that calling during a solar eclipse in 1831, Turner and several co-conspirators killed between 55 and 65 whites over a couple of days in August before being dispersed by local militia. As many as 200 innocent blacks were killed in retaliation for the revolt; Turner himself was hanged, beheaded, skinned, and quartered.

In response to the rebellion, Southern whites, fearful of further uprisings, enacted tighter regulations on blacks, including laws barring unsupervised assemblies and banning formal education. Northern abolitionists pointed to the rebellion as proof that Southern depictions of racial harmony were fabrications hiding the horrors of slavery.

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