Nat Turner was an enslaved African American who led what was called the “Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion” where slaves and free blacks who were located in Southampton County, Virginia. This rebellion took place on August 21, 1831, and as a result at least fifty-five whites were murdered. All of those who took part in this rebellion were to be executed, including Nat Turner. While Nat Turner was awaiting execution he was interviewed for two months by a man named Thomas Ruffin Gray, a wealthy lawyer and slave owner himself. Thomas Gray’s purpose for writing “The Confessions of Nat Turner” was to put what Nat Turner said into writing and for it to be published. Thomas Grey narrates in first person with hopes that it would imitate Turner’s own voice
He was living with a white man named Mr. Joseph Travis. Turner claims he was a good man to him, and he could not complain of the way he was treated by Mr. Travis. (pg. 12.). Yet he still decided that it was his duty among others to take this man’s life who treated him respectively. Turner killed Mr. Travis, and his family of 5 except for an infant who was in its cradle and they had not known about it. (pg. 12.).
After killing several other white family slave owners, Turner and his crew were approached by 18 men who appeared to be under the rule of Captain Alexander P. Peete. When he realized who he was dealing with he tried to get his men to run, but some were shot as a result of trying to escape when they had been caught. Most of the white families had fled so there was no one left for them to murder. (pg. 16.)
Turner went through all of this because he claims it was the Lord’s calling for him. I believe there was something mentally wrong with Turner because of this. He must have been so fed up with how slaves were being treated he had these irrational thoughts about killing these people, including his own owner who had done no harm upon him. Back then slavery was the norm, but no I do not see it as the slaves had to accept that. I see it as the white men and women should either one, have seen it coming and to be prepared, or two not own slaves
He kept saying that it had to do with what he felt the Lord wanted him to do for his fellow slave friends, but I do not feel like he was completely right in the head and I feel like he needed to do what he did for his own well-being. He obviously thought he was serving the Lord by doing so, but when you think about it logically you cannot declare someone right in the mind after something like this. Committing horrendous murders as an act to show the Lord how you think you have to serve him is completely contradictory. He could have used the whole “Lord’s will” as an excuse for his wrongful actions, but why else would he have any reason to kill these people if they had not done him
The class and regional tension separated African-American leaders of that period. A black prosecutor named Scipio Africanis Jones, tried to set free the twelve black men’s who were imprisoned. After the days of the massacres, a self-proclaimed group of foremost white citizens allotted a report. The committee demanded that Robert Hill, the union organizer, was an external protestor who had deceived native blacks into organizing an insurgency. The Negros were told to stay out of Elaine, by the wicked white men and deceitful leaders of their own race who were abusing them for their personal achievements. The black farmers that were muddled in the original firing had been consulting to work out the facts that involved the massacre of white ranchers and the eliminating the white’s possessions. Thus, the firing and the fatal riots that trailed were esteemed involvements that saved the lives of numerous white citizens, although at the outlay of many black
The Fires of Jubilee, by Stephen B. Oates, tells an account of Nat Turner’s rebellion. Beginning with Nat’s early life and finally ending with the legacy his execution left the world, Oates paints a historical rending of those fateful days. The Confessions of Nat Turner by Thomas R. Gray and approved by Nat himself is among Oates’ chief sources. Oates is known as a reputable historian through his other works, and has strong credentials however, in the case of The Fires of Jubilee there are some limitations. It is, therefore, worth analyzing Oates’ interpretation for reliability. In doing so one sees that The Fires of Jubilee, because of its weak use of citations, failure to alert the audience of assumed details and the way in which Oates handles the chief source Confessions, quickly begins to shift from a decently steadfast description to an untrustworthy and unreliable account.
After careful consideration, I have decided to use the books dedicated to David Walker’s Appeal and The Confessions of Nat Turner and compare their similarities and differences. It is interesting to see how writings which has the same purpose of liberating enslaved Black people can be interpreted so differently, especially in the matter of who was reading them. Akin to how White people reacted to Turner’s Rebellion, which actually had promising results while most would see the immediate backlashes and to which I intend to explain more. As most would put emphasis on the Confession itself, I assume, I decided to focus more on the reactions and related documents regarding the Rebellion.
In all, I was captivated and moved by the story. Though this really did not change my interest in history, I really did enjoy reading it and would really recommend it to anyone who wants to get a total grasp of how horrible slavery was. Stephen Oates has a way of writing that transforms the reader into the actual rebellion and allows one to see and feel the circumstances of Nat Turner's insurrection and the consequences of it to the South. I can tell that Oates performed rigorous study to present an accurate portrayal of Nat Turners' story. His many insights and uses of secondary sources were quite evident and his use of examples and storytelling is quite impressive. Though it seems as if he leaves little to the imagination, I couldn't help but think of what and could have happened if some of the events leading up to the capture of Nat Turner had been changed.
The book fires of jubilee is a book by Stephen B. Oates about a man who the name Nat Turner who experienced quite enough freedom when he was a kid and learned valuing it very much. He use...
Joe Turner serves more as a representation than an actual character. He represents the racist Southern white men. He would illegally kidnap free and runaway slaves, making them work in spots along the river where labor was needed. “You around here sprinkling salt all over the place.got pennies lined up across the threshold.all that heebie-jeebie stuff. And you go down there to the church and wanna come home and sprinkle salt all over the place”, “Look at him.
Although The Confessions of Nat Turner is supposedly the words of Turner himself, we have no way to confirm that Gray did not show the information in order to gain greater benefit from it. It is known that the interviewer, Thomas R. Gray, was struggling financially. It is possible that he embellished the story in order to make the reading more dramatic; or it is also possible that Gray harbored feelings against Turner because of racial hatred of the time or because of the murders themselves, and that this hatred influenced the way he portrayed Turner's confession. Thomas R. Gray, during the time of the interview, was a man of thirty-one years of age and was not very successful in his practice as a lawyer and a farmer. Gradually having to sell off his land bit by bit and many of his slaves, Gray tried to find other occupations that might pay higher than his current job.
After a long fought case, Tom Robinson was found guilty and was sent to the local jail. Tom knew he wasn't supposed to be their and tried to escape. He was shot and killed as he seeked freedom. Mr. Underwood, a newspaper writer, compared,"...Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds..." (Lee 241). There was no reason to kill Tome, he didn't harm anyone or caused any trouble. Tom was guilty because of race and the fact that whites rule this era. In this time period, the 1930's, segregation was a huge problem for colored people. It was obvious he didn't rape or do any harm to Mayella Ewell. Tom was just judge on the beliefs of all colored people being criminals and cowards. After Mayella won the court case, her father, Bob Ewell was after Jem and Scout to punish their father for defending Tom Robinson. As Scout and Jem make their way home one night, they were attacked by Bob. Lucky, Boo Radley protected the child and murdered Bob. After Scout realized Boo saved their lives, she stated, "...our neighbors image blurred with my sudden tears" (Lee 270). At that moment Scout knew she had mistaken Boo Radley her entire life. The children aren't to blame though, Maycomb judged Boo as an evil and crazy person based on uncertain stories. Boo Radley accepted the fact that many believed he was psycho, forcing to keep his life on
Emmett Till is a fourteen year old was brutally murdered by racists. Fourteen year old Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi on August 20, 1955( source 3). Emmett got polio at the age of 5 and a slight stutter remained with him. Right before he left, Mamie, Emmett Till’s mother, gave him a ring with the initials “L.T.” engraved on it. When Emmett arrived in Money, he was bragging that he has a white girlfriend , so his friends dared him to ask the white cashier, Carolyn Bryant, for a date. Four days later, on August 28, Roy, Carolyn’s husband, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, took Emmett and murdered him( source 3). Roy heard of the lewd advances he made and was enraged. On August 28, Toy and Milam went to Emmett’s uncle’s
“If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the new stand side by side...when the glories of the old can be compensated by the rich possibilities of the new era? This time...is a very good one.”
This is a report on the book Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion, written by Stephen B. Oates. The story is about a slave revolt that happened in 1831 and the person who led it, Nat Turner. It tells of his life, the area and time in which he lived, and of the bloody revolt as well as the bloodier repercussions after it was suppressed.
Nat Turners rebellion was not only influential to African American slaves resisting slavery, but it was also one of the factors that lead Virginia to secession. There were many key factors that influenced Virginia’s secession from the union during the civil war. One of these key factors was the population of Virginia struggled with different views on slavery. Some of the state’s population wanted to end slavery and some wanted to keep the slavery system in Virginia. Some people did not support the secession of Virginia because they wanted to abolish slavery. Some of the people that wanted to abolish slavery believed it was immoral, however a majority of the people that wanted to abolish slavery did it because they feared the consequences of
The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass can be referred to as a memoir and writing about the abolitionist movement of the life of a former slave, Fredrick Douglass. It is a highly regarded as the most famous piece of writing done by a former slave. Fredrick Douglass (1818-1895) was a social reformer, statesman, orator and writer in the United States. Douglass believed in the equality of every individual of different races, gender or immigrants.
Nat Turner was an African American slave who influenced the slave culture to believe in the positives in order to improve their lifestyle. He influenced his fellow slaves by rebelling and fighting against slavery. The results for Nat Turner did not turn out how he wanted, until after his life was gone. His influences changed the future of the United States and the future of African Americans.
Biography The English painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was one of the greatest romantic interpreters of nature in the history of Western art and is still unrivaled in the virtuosity of his painting of light. The son of a barber, J. M. W. Turner was born on April 23, 1775, in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London. After an illness he was sent to school at Brentford, where his uncle was a butcher. From this period dates Turner's lifelong attachment to the Thames and its scenery. His father is said to have sold Turner's boyhood drawings and copies of engravings at 1 to 3 shillings at his shop, and this may have influenced his decision to have the boy educated as a painter.