Town Hall Meeting (Nat Turner)

 Hello, my name is Nat Turner. I was born a slave on October 2nd, 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia. I was born property of a small plantation owner in a very rural part of Virginia. My mother was an African Native, who passed on her true hatred of slavery on to me because she had known better. I was taught to read at a young age by my master’s son and was immediately sent to religious training. This was how slaveholders justified slavery. They preached that they were saving our souls by baptizing us into their faith. 

Learning about religion and God began to light a fire in me. I started to feel that I was called upon by Heavenly Father to lead His children out of bondage and towards freedom. I couldn't understand how the Christian slave owners, who swore by their religious beliefs, could be so negligent to the true message of The Bible. What God would want his children to be owned.  A spirit had called to me and said “seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you”. This is why I believed He sent me, this was why I led the most well known insurrection of this time. 

I had waited for a sign. I attempted to leave and begin but later returned to bondage and awaited His guidance. After I was sold to Joseph Travis in Jerusalem, Virginia, I knew my time for strike was approaching. My plan was to get armory and weapons from the county seat and start a march through Jerusalem. That night myself and 7 men murder Joseph Travis and his family in their sleep along with 60 white people. We collected 75 other enslaved men to join our march but we were stopped by an armed militia of 3,000 white men.

 I was able to show everyone how miserable the slaves were as well as put an end to that myth that us slaves are “contented to their lot or too servile to mount an armed revolt”. I was caught after six weeks of hiding and later hung on November 11, 1831 along with 16 of my followers. Before I was hanged, I had confessed to my actions and said, “I am here loaded with chains, and willing to suffer the fate that awaits me”. For many years after, black churches all over the country discussed my rebellion. When they refer to Jerusalem they reference not only the Bible, but to the time now known as “Nat’s fray, or Nat’s War”. “The place where the rebel slave met his death”.