Research Paper on "Nat Turner's Rebellion it Is Impossible"

Research Paper 3 pages (1078 words) Sources: 1

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Nat Turner's Rebellion

It is impossible to completely understand Nat Turner's rebellion from a modern perspective. Even knowing that conditions were generally unfavorable to slaves, even in homes where their owners were considered kind or benevolent, one who has not lived in bondage cannot truly understand the living situations for slaves. In 1831, Southampton County, Virginia, was fairly representative of a normal slave-holding county. It was a collection of farms, plantations, and small villages, where people were relatively spread-out, but not disconnected from their neighbors. However, they were largely disconnected from the outside world; while whites in Southampton would gather to discuss local events, the county did not even have its own newspaper. Southampton was not considered a particularly affluent county, but it had a planter class, and even had some landowners with sufficient slaves to be considered aristocrats. However, Southampton was not considered an affluent area, and even its wealthier inhabitants were not considered to be among Virginia's elite. Two-thirds of the whites in the county were slave-owners, though the average number of slaves per slave owning family was 10 or 11 slaves; not the vast number of slaves many today traditionally associate with slavery. However, that pattern of slave ownership reflected reality much better than visions of Tara, with many small landowners working alongside their slaves. This is not to suggest that the slaves lived the same lifestyle as their masters, but to dispel the myth that most slaves lived on large plantations. Southampton also had one of the largest populations of free colored people in Virginia. White Virginians believed that they were benevolent to their slaves, and slaves in Southampton did have more freedoms than slaves further south. They could gather for religious and social purposes, and travel to see relatives or friends. Moreover, there had been very few incidents of rebellion among slaves, so that the whites could convince themselves that things were peaceful beneath the calm surface, as well as above it (See generally Oates, pp. 1-4).

Nat Turner was a product of Southampton, but he was not considered typical, either by other slaves or by whites in the area. That is not to suggest that Turner was seen as a threat, just an observation that he was viewed differently from other slaves. He was considered very intelligent, while most slaves were not considered intelligent, and he could read and write. What really set Turner apart from most slaves was his hyper-religiosity. Turner's first masters had been Methodists, who, like many Methodists in the south rejected the church's views that slavery was inappropriate and believed in giving slaves a Christian education to prepare them for their next life. They strongly encouraged Nat's religious leanings, as did his grandmother, who did most of his rearing. At a relatively young age, Nat began having religious visions, and, though he had successfully run away at one point in time, he actually had a vision that told him to return to his master, and he did so. It is also important to note that Nat's mother had not been raised in the institution of slavery, but was a first-generation slave, who had once known some type of freedom.

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