Nat Turner

Nat Turner was born into slavery in Southampton County, Virginia, where he learned to read and write and became deeply devoted to religion. Convinced by visions that he was chosen by God to lead his people out of bondage, Turner organized an armed uprising of enslaved and free Black people in August 1831.

The rebellion lasted several days and struck profound fear into the Southern plantocracy. Although captured, tried, and executed in November 1831, Turner's defiance fundamentally transformed debates over slavery and became an enduring symbol of armed resistance against human bondage.