Nat Turner’s Rebellion was a violent slave uprising in August 1831 in Southampton County, Virginia, led by an enslaved preacher named Nat Turner, in which dozens of enslaved people killed around 55–65 white residents before the revolt was crushed.

Quick Scoop: What It Was

  • Nat Turner’s Rebellion (also called the Southampton Insurrection) was a planned and coordinated revolt of enslaved African Americans against slaveholding whites in rural Virginia.
  • It unfolded over about two days, from the night of August 21 to August 23, 1831, making it the deadliest slave revolt for white people in U.S. history.

How It Started

  • Nat Turner was an enslaved man and deeply religious preacher who believed he received visions and signs from God instructing him to lead his people to freedom.
  • After interpreting a solar eclipse in February 1831 as a divine sign, Turner quietly organized a small core group of trusted enslaved men and prepared for an uprising.

What Happened During The Rebellion

  • On the night of August 21, 1831, Turner and a handful of followers killed the white family that enslaved him, then moved from plantation to plantation, killing white men, women, and children and gathering additional Black participants.
  • The rebel force grew to more than 70 enslaved and free Black people and killed about 55–65 white people before state militia and local armed whites defeated them near the town of Jerusalem (now Courtland) on August 23.

Aftermath And Violence In Return

  • In the days and weeks after the revolt, white militias and mobs killed an estimated 100 or more Black people—many of whom had not taken part in the rebellion—as revenge and to terrorize the Black population.
  • Turner evaded capture for more than a month but was arrested in late October, tried, and hanged on November 11, 1831; dozens of other enslaved people were also executed after hurried trials.

Why It Mattered

  • Southern lawmakers responded by passing harsh new laws that banned teaching enslaved and many free Black people to read, restricted Black gatherings and religious meetings, and tightened overall control of enslaved communities.
  • The rebellion terrified white slaveholders, hardened pro‑slavery attitudes in the South, and intensified national debates over slavery, while later generations of Black activists viewed Turner’s revolt as a symbol of resistance to an overwhelmingly brutal system.

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