Nat Turner | |
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![]() Discovery of Nat Turner by William Henry Shelton | |
Born | |
Died | November 11, 1831 Jerusalem, Virginia, U.S. | (aged 31)
Known for | Nat Turner's slave rebellion |
Criminal charges | Conspiring to rebel and making insurrection |
Criminal penalty | Execution by hanging |
Nat Turner (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an enslaved African-American carpenter and preacher who led a four-day rebellion of both enslaved and free Black people in Southampton County, Virginia in August 1831.
Nat Turner's Rebellion resulted in the death of approximately sixty White men, women, and children before state militias suppressed the uprising. Turner was captured in October 1831 and was executed after a trial in November. Before his execution, he told his story to attorney Thomas Ruffin Grey, who published The Confessions of Nat Turner in November 1831.
In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included Nat Turner on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. He has been depicted in films, literature, and plays, as well as many scholarly works.