Rebellion in the Early Republic - Nat Turner’s Rebellion | 6

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2020

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In February 1831, a solar eclipse caused the skies to darken over the isolated backwater of Southampton County, Virginia. An enslaved man and self-proclaimed prophet named Nat Turner saw it as a sign from God that it was time to rise up against slavery.

In the early morning hours of August 22, 1831, Turner and a small group of fellow slaves emerged from the woods armed with axes. They marched on the farm of Turner’s owner, where they struck the first fatal blows of their revolt. Over the next 48 hours, the rebels roved from farm to farm, killing dozens and sowing panic throughout the white community.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion was the bloodiest slave revolt in American history. It sparked widespread hysteria and deadly reprisals, further propelling the nation down the path to civil war.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music,
0:05.6	download the app today.
0:09.6	Imagine it's October 1821.
0:21.7	It's just after daybreak at Samuel Turner's Plantation in Southampton County, Virginia.
0:26.9	All around you the fields are white with cotton ready to harvest.
0:30.6	You bend down to a plant and carefully separate the cotton fiber from the bowl, trying to
0:34.6	avoid its sharp edges.
0:36.5	There are dozens, even hundreds of bowls on this plant, and hundreds of plants stretching
0:40.6	all the way to the tree line.
0:42.4	You whisper to the man working on the row next to you, what I wouldn't give to be far
0:46.0	away from here.
0:47.0	Nat should have taken us with him.
0:49.0	He's a lucky man.
0:50.0	It's been a month since another slave named Nat escaped the plantation after the overseer
0:55.5	flagged him.
0:56.5	You heard anything?
0:57.5	Nah, he's long gone by now.
0:59.5	If the patrols had caught him we'd have heard about it.
1:02.7	He paused for a moment to stretch your cramping muscles.
1:05.7	Suddenly, a movement 20 yards away catches your eye.
1:09.6	Someone is emerging from the trees.
1:11.0	Well, I must be dreaming.
	...

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