Nat Turner
Nathaniel "Nat" Turner (born October 2, 1800 in Southampton , Virginia , † November 11, 1831 executed in Jerusalem, Virginia) was an American slave who led a slave revolt in 1831 .
Life
youth
Nathaniel Turner was born on Benjamin Turner's plantation to a slave . His mother and grandmother had been abducted from Africa to America, which made him deeply hatred of slavery .
The son of the owner of the plantation taught him a deep Christian faith.
Turner became more and more convinced that God had chosen him to lead his people out of slavery (1825). He worked as a preacher among the slaves of the plantation and was called "the Prophet ". In 1831, after Benjamin Turner's death, Nat Turner was sold to Joseph Travis (Travers?).
Slave revolt
In February 1831 he interpreted a solar eclipse as a sign from God who called him to begin liberation. On August 21st, Nat and seven other slaves killed their owners. The group was joined by other slaves and free blacks who went from settlement to settlement with knives, axes and hoes and killed white people there. Fifty-five whites fell victim to the uprising before a militia managed to put it down. In retaliation, more than a hundred innocent slaves were killed.
Turner escaped but was captured six weeks later on October 30, 1831. During his imprisonment, Thomas R. Gray wrote the life of Turner. It was published in newspapers as The Confessions of Nat Turner . Turner's failed uprising led to further murders of slaves and even tougher sanctions for disobedience. Nat Turner was hanged in Jerusalem, Southampton County , Virginia, on November 11, 1831 , and his body was left to doctors who beheaded, peeled, and quartered him.
Today's effects
The life of Nathaniel Turner came back into conversation in 1967 with the publication of the novel The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron , which is based in part on Gray's notes. Although the book was heavily criticized in the United States in the 1960s, it became a bestseller. The American historian and social critic Styron raised questions about Turner, black history and "the words of the prophet" (the "sambo") through the publication. The public discussion, which was also followed by white authors, led to an outcry from the white population. Due to the changes at the end of the 1960s, Turner was considered a symbol of the black power movement and liberation .
In literature and in film
Reef The Lost Cauze, an underground rapper from Philadelphia, wrote a song about Nat Turner. It can be heard on the album A Vicious Cycle . Kyle Baker also published his graphic novel Nat Turner in 2008 , which won numerous awards in 2006, for example B. Story of the Year and Best Artist of the Glyph Awards or Best Reality-Based Work of the Eisner Awards . In addition, the slave revolt under Turner is also dealt with in the 9th part of the TV series " Roots " from 1977. In the first episode "Wild Youth" of the first season of the series Torches in the Storm , Nat Turner is casually mentioned by Tillet Main to justify crackdown on slaves against his son Orry .
- Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property is a Charles Burnett film released in 2003.
- The Letter Writer by Ann Rinaldi is a historical novel set during the Turner uprising
- Turner appears as a character in the following novels:
- The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 1: The Witnesses: A Novel (2011) by Sharon E Foster
- L'Ange noir by Catherine Hermary-Vieille.
- Up Jumps the Devil, by Michael Poore.
- The film The Birth of a Nation is a biographical drama about Nat Turner, which premiered on January 25, 2016 at the Sundance Film Festival .
Commemoration
- In 2002, the author and Afrocentrist Molefi Kete Asante listed Nat Turner in his list of the 100 greatest African Americans.
- In 2009, Newark 's largest park in the city was named Nat Turner Park .
literature
- Kenneth S. Greenberg (Ed.): Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory. Oxford University, Oxford 2003, ISBN 0-19-513404-4 .
- Terry Bisson, John Davenport: Nat Turner: Slave Revolt Leader. Chelsea House, Philadelphia 2005, ISBN 0-7910-8167-2 .
- Turner, Nat . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 27 : Tonalite - Vesuvius . London 1911, p. 479 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
Web links
- The Confessions of Nat Turner (English)
- Southampton Slave Rebellion (English)
- Nat Turner (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephen B. Oates : The Fires of Jubilee. Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion. Harper & Row, New York 1975, ISBN 0-06-091670-2 .
- ↑ William Sidney Dewry: The Southampton Insurrection . 1870
- ↑ Kyle Baker: Nat Turner . Harry N. Abrams, New York 2008
- ↑ Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (2003) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ First pictures from the Sundance premiere The Birth of A Nation . Blogbusters.
- ^ Molefi Kete Asante: 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia . Prometheus Books, Amherst NY 2002, ISBN 1-57392-963-8 .
- ^ The Trust for Public Land Celebrates Groundbreaking at Nat Turner Park . Pr-inside.com. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Turner, Nat |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Turner, Nathaniel (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American revolutionary |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 2, 1800 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Southampton , Virginia |
DATE OF DEATH | November 11, 1831 |
Place of death | Jerusalem, Virginia |