Nat Turner: Villainous Actions Of A Hero
It is hypocritical to call someone a villain when they rebel against the unjust that the person calling the villain a villain is causing? Many believe that it is, especially because it was an atrocious act that went on for years compared to the rebellion. The concept of abolitionists and demand of ending slavery was not a new one during the early years of the U. S, especially not during Nat Turners years. This as well, applies to the idea of rebellions from slaves to their masters or any other whites. In further context, Nat Turner is a hero, although his actions are seen as villainous actions, he did it out of justice and to stop the oppression of blacks. To understand a little bit behind Nat Turner's rebellion we have to first know who he was and his beliefs.
Turner was a slave that was born in Virginia on October 2nd, 1800 during this century, slavery was still something that existed and as years progressed, the debate and issues behind it, arose. Nat Turner was a man who was profoundly dedicated to his Christian convictions and claimed that god was sending him messages and signals to rebel. During the following time period, Turners religious commitment had a tendency to approach devotion, and he would constantly claim that he was chosen by God to lead his people out of slavery. “When was in his twenties, Turner was a spiritual leader among his fellow slaves, and many people, including his mother and grandmother, believed that he had been chosen by God to do great things. People would often call him “The Prophet. ”
Around 1820, he had a series of visions through which he believed God was commanding him to prepare himself for a great battle against evil. During the religious revivals of the Second Great Awakening, many Americans from all walks of life experienced visions or believed that God spoke directly to them, and Nat Turner’s belief that God had destined him for a special purpose reflected the religious fervor of his time. But the purpose for which he believed God had chosen him was extraordinary. In February 1831, a solar eclipse seemed to Turner to be the sign he was waiting for, and he began preparations for an insurrection. On August 13, the sun appeared blue-green in the sky, and Turner and his friends took this as the final sign. ” When the rebellion was in action, Nat Turner knew what he was doing, and his actions were justified as he was fighting against an irrational institution.
Knowing a little bit about Nat Turner, it changes the view of his rebellion and the type of person he is. The event itself was a plan of months and full patience from the slaves, abolitionists and Turner himself. “His plan was to capture the armory at the county seat, Jerusalem, and, having gathered many recruits, to press on to the Dismal Swamp, 30 miles (48 km) to the east, where capture would be difficult. On the night of August 21, together with seven fellow slaves in whom he had put his trust, he launched a campaign of total annihilation, murdering Travis and his family in their sleep and then setting forth on a bloody march toward Jerusalem. In two days and nights about 60 white people were ruthlessly slain. This made Turner’s rebellion known to be by far the most successful violent slave rebellion as it stoked panic all over the slave-holding South. After Turner and his rebels were accidentally founded, Turner was sent to be executed but not only did he and the rebels suffer.
The rebellion resulted in the brutal lynching’s of hundreds of African Americans, most of whom were not associated with Turner or his cause. ” This also caused for the government to further enforce fugitive slave laws making it harder for slaves to be free in the north or to have the chance to be free. So how did Turner change history and why is he a hero? As I researched a little bit more about him, a lot of his rebellion was appearing to be a more heroic act than a villainous one. To start off, we know that Nat Turner was profoundly against slavery and wanted to set free of his people while punishing those that had made them suffer since the beginning. Nat Turner physically fought against an unjustified act, slavery. He and the rebels went house to house to free the oppressed blacks, who had lived their whole lives working of minimal more than constrained work, lashed and beaten, torment, raped, and murder. This is heroic as they sought after not only their own freedom, but to take down the entire system of slavery and set free African Americans from white tyranny. According to the dictionary, the word hero means one who shows great courage and the word heroic means the characteristics of bravery.
How does this tie with Nat Turner? Nat Turner falls into the category of a hero and although many will disagree because families were killed, Turner and the rebels had risked his life to do this, Turner showed signs of bravery since it takes courage to fight. In addition, he was not only a hero but as well as a leader. He managed to gather a large crowd and successfully managed to be on the move for a couple of days without getting caught. Nat’s impact during this time period was so great that it sent a general sense of paranoia throughout much of the southern United States.
Turner’s ultimate goal in leading his insurrection was to instill fear across the southern states as they were afraid that Turner’s rebellion had encouraged his fellow slaves to revolt against their masters. In addition, after his incident someone even wrote a book about him naming it “The Confessions of Nat Turner” which was fairly vague when it came to Turners responses to the questions.
