Summary of Nat Turner’s Rebellion by Herbert Aptheker
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Herbert Aptheker’s Nat Turner’s Rebellion provides a detailed account of the 1831 slave uprising led by Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner, a deeply religious enslaved man who believed he was divinely chosen, organized and led the revolt, which became one of the most significant and violent slave rebellions in American history.
The rebellion resulted in the deaths of approximately 60 white individuals, including women and children, and sparked widespread fear among slaveholders in the South. Turner and his followers aimed to inspire a broader uprising but were quickly suppressed by local militias and armed residents. Turner was eventually captured, tried, and executed.
Aptheker examines the social, economic, and political factors contributing to the revolt, emphasizing the systemic brutality of slavery and the resistance it engendered. The book also explores how Turner’s rebellion influenced antebellum society, intensifying the divide between abolitionist and pro-slavery factions. Aptheker’s work underscores Turner’s role as both a symbol of resistance and a figure of complex moral debate.
My Thoughts
Nat Turner has interested me for a long time. To be fully honest, had I been a slave in Southampton County in 1831, I believe I would have joined Turner’s rebellion. I know I would have been willing to risk my life to fight for my liberty and the liberty of my people. As bad as slavery is, I would have been willing to die to strike a hard blow against slavery.
That being said, I had a hard time reading about the murdering of more than 10 children. The murdering of the slave owners and their wives, whether people like it or not, was necessary. Also, the brutality of slave owners could only be challenged with brutality. As we all now know, slavery was never going to end without lots of killing. But the killing of children was, in my mind, a step too far. It’s important to maintain your own morals. Killing those who brutalize and enslave you seems justified. That’s especially true in a society like that in Southhampton County in 1831 where black people were property. Still, killing children is something I simply can’t support.
Even though I don’t agree with the killing of children, there is no question that Nat Turner and his conspirators (by creating fear in the slave owners) helped excelerate the end of slavery.
One of the things that made this particular book something I wanted to read was the reprinting of Turner’s confessions. Allowing for the reality that at least some of what Turner supposedly confessed is false, I believe the document reported to be his confessions does help us understand a bit of Turner’s mindset and his reasons for leading the rebellion.
After having read the book, I still believe more Americans should understand, as best we can, the conditions and events that resulted in Nat Turner’s rebellion and should think critically about its rightful place in history. The idea that Nat Turner is in most circles (especially white circles) is considered a murderer while Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and a host of additional slave owners are venerated is wrong. Whether you like it or not, Nat Turner did more to stand for a just society than did anyone considered a founding father. Unlike them, Nat Turner believed in the ideals of liberty and equality. Those values were what he was fighting for when he led his rebellion.
Before you get upset with me for downgrading the so-called founding fathers, I ask you to think about the brutality condoned and facilitated by people like Jefferson and Washington. If we were being honest, and if we were willing to hold them and their acts to the standards Turner has always been judged by, they would be seen by most in a bad light too. The difference between them and Turner, though, is they were actively, brutally oppressing people. Turner, on the other hand, was fighting for freedom.