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Turner, Nat, 1800-1831, American slave,
leader of the Southampton Insurrection (1831), b. Southampton co., Va.
Deeply religious from childhood, Turner was a natural preacher and possessed
some influence among local slaves. Believing himself divinely appointed to
lead fellow slaves to freedom, he plotted a revolt with a small band
(approximately 60) of followers. After killing the family of Turner's owner,
the band ravaged the neighborhood, killing a total of 55 white people. The
revolt was soon crushed, however, and 13 slaves and 3 free blacks were
hanged immediately. Turner himself escaped to the woods, but he was captured
six weeks later and hanged. The abortive uprising, by far the most serious
in the history of slavery in the United States, led to more stringent slave
laws in the South and an end there to the organized abolition movement.
source: http://www.historychannel.com/perl/print_book.pl?ID=35150 |