On this day in Southampton County, Virginia, an enslaved carpenter and preacher, Nat Turner, led a four-day, anti-slavery rebellion which resulted in the deaths of 55 white men, women and children before being suppressed by state militias. At the same time, 120 black men, women, and children, many of whom were not involved in the revolt, were killed by soldiers and local mobs in retaliation. Nicknamed “The Prophet”, Turner was motivated by the strong conviction, inspired by religious beliefs and visions, that he must organise his fellow slaves against enslavement. He spent almost a decade building up support for his cause before organising the only effective, sustained slave rebellion in US history; a rebellion that would serve as a source of inspiration for later abolitionist organisers and rebels. Turner initially eluded capture and went into hiding, but was eventually found, put on trial and hanged.
