What Happened
On November 11, 1831, Nat Turner was hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia, less than two weeks after his capture. In August he had led an uprising that grew to 60 or 70 enslaved people. A militia crushed it, and at least 18 Black participants were executed. In the weeks after, white mobs killed scores of Black people who had nothing to do with the revolt.
Why It Matters
Virginia answered rebellion with tighter control: new laws barred teaching enslaved people to read and restricted Black preaching and assembly. The state briefly debated ending slavery in 1832, then chose to entrench it. Turner's revolt is often told as violence. It was resistance to a system that was itself violence every day.
Read More
Our essay Slavery by Another Name places Turner alongside the systems that replaced slavery.
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