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or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at into History.com. It's the night of August 21st, 1831 in Southampton County, Virginia.

30-year-old enslaved carpenter Nathaniel Nat Turner makes his way through the woods toward

a farmhouse, a hatchet held low by his side.

Nat pauses at the tree line, holding up a hand to signal the six men following him to halt as well.

Nat listens carefully for any sign that there's someone awake.

Being caught out at night wouldn't end well.

Nat and his companions would be punished severely.

But Nat thinks that tonight's mission is worth a risk.

He's going to gain his freedom and he's going to do it by force.

An almost full moon lights up. and he's going to do it by force.

An almost full moon lights up the yard as Nat hustles to the door.

Takes a deep breath to steal his nerves before entering the dark house. Ahead of him,

Nat can just see the outline of the stairs. He beckons his men forward and they creep

silently up the steps. At the top, Nat pauses outside a bedroom and points his companions toward other doors further down the hall.

Then, Nat pushes open the bedroom door and sees Nat's ensl Joseph Travis, asleep in bed.

Nat is here to make sure he never wakes up.

So standing over the sleeping man,

Nat raises his hatchet above his head and brings it down hard. It chops again and again until

he's sure the man is dead. As soon as this grisly work is done, Nat carries his dripping hatchet

...