History Atlas

How The Past Is Known
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Historical Figure

Nat Turner

Also Known As Nat
Reformers and Civil Rights Activists

Nat Turner (1800-1831) was an enslaved American preacher and carpenter who led a rebellion of enslaved and free Black people in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831. Believing himself divinely chosen to lead his people out of bondage, he organized a small group that killed dozens of white residents over roughly two days before being suppressed by state and local militia; Turner himself evaded capture for over two months before being caught, tried and executed. The rebellion, one of the largest and most violent slave uprisings in United States history, provoked a wave of harsh new restrictions on both enslaved and free Black people across the South and intensified national conflict over slavery in the decades before the Civil War.

Facts
Birth Year
1800 1
Death Year
1831 1
Role
Enslaved preacher and leader of an 1831 rebellion against slavery 1
Birth Date
1800-10-02 1
Death Date
1831-11-11 1
Birthplace
Southampton County, Virginia, United States 1
Death Place
Jerusalem, Virginia (present-day Courtland, Virginia), United States 1
Role
Role (category)
Religious Figure 1
Role (category)
Civil Rights / Social Leader 1
Classification
Gender
Male 1
FAQs

What happened to Nat Turner after his rebellion was put down?

He was captured, tried and hanged on November 11, 1831.

After his revolt was violently suppressed by local whites and the Virginia state militia, Nat Turner went into hiding but was eventually captured, tried, and hanged. Britannica gives his death as November 11, 1831, at Jerusalem, Virginia, when he was 31 years old.
Connections

In Era

Source Wikipedia: Nat Turner
In the Other Atlases

Originated In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Source Wikidata: Nat Turner
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Nat Turner
Wikipedia
  • Lead paragraph, lifespan clause
    Nat Turner (October 2, 1800 - November 11, 1831) was an enslaved Black carpenter and preacher who led a four-day rebellion of both slave and free Black people in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831.
  • Early life section, birth clause
    Turner was born into slavery on October 2, 1800, in Southampton County, Virginia.
  • Trial and execution section, execution clause
    Turner was hanged on Friday, November 11, 1831, in Jerusalem.
  • Lead paragraph, occupation clause
    was an enslaved Black carpenter and preacher who led a four-day rebellion of both slave and free Black people in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831.
  • Early life section, naming clause
    Even when grown, the young man was known simply as Nat, but after the 1831 rebellion, he was widely referred to as Nat Turner.
  • Nat Turner: Gender
    Believing himself divinely chosen to lead his people out of bondage, he organized a small group that killed dozens of white residents over roughly two days before being suppressed by state and local militia; Turner himself evaded capture for over two months before being caught, tried and executed.
  • Wikipedia biography, role/occupation stated in lead section (w-bbfill-history3-0927)
  • In Era: The Late Modern Period, lead paragraph, lifespan
    Nat Turner (October 2, 1800 - November 11, 1831) was an enslaved Black carpenter and preacher who led a four-day rebellion of both slave and free Black people in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831.
View the Source
Wikidata: Nat Turner
Wikidata Q329730, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source

Take a Related Quiz

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.