Topic > The Last Slave Rebellion by Nat Turner

Nat Turner was born on October 2, 1800 in Southampton County, Virginia. In August 1831, Nat and six other enslaved men were involved in a violent killing spree in Southampton County. As they ventured from farm to farm, they massacred every white individual they encountered and recruited new recruits from among the slave population. This riot lasted about twenty-four hours and it is estimated that fifty-seven to sixty whites were murdered. The white population retaliated by executing not only the slaves involved in the execution of the uprising, but also random blacks in the region. Nat Turner remained on the run for the nine weeks following the rebellion. On October 31, 1831, Turner was captured by Benjamin Phipps according to a receipt given to Mr. Phipps. The Richmond Enquirer in making the first public announcement, said that "Nat displayed no kind of enterprise in his attempt to escape, nor any degree of courage in resisting his captor." Turner was taken to Jerusalem and tried on November 5, he was quickly found guilty and sentenced to hang on Friday, November 11, 1831, twelve days after he was captured. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay After the riot in Southampton County, communities and state assemblies throughout the South considered using new, harsher confinements against oppressed and free African Americans. Residents regularly appealed to legislative bodies as they debated fixes to existing black codes. While the Black Codes already existed, Southern white communities felt that Black rights and access were still too lenient after that uprising took place. Some appellants argued for increasingly stringent laws; others dissented from the progress towards more noteworthy limitations of the free and subjugated dark occupants. In the months following the revolt, updated slave codes were passed in various Southern states, including Virginia. Governor Floyd and other prominent Virginians unequivocally emphasized their belief that black ministers were responsible for inciting the state's slaves to be rowdy and riot. Thus, the first two laws in the new black codes passed by the Virginia General Assembly in March 1832 restricted the activities of enslaved and freed black evangelists. On December 6, 1831, the citizens of Northampton County, Virginia sent out a plea calling for the expulsion of free African Americans in their area. In March 1832 their request was granted. The General Assembly passed a bill that would expel several free black individuals from the state and transport them to Liberia. This article will outline the general response to Nat Turner's last slave rebellion in the United States and share the stricter laws that soon followed slaves and free blacks across the country. Governor John Floyd, governor of Virginia, believed that the people most involved in stirring up the riot were the black ministers. Floyd recounts: "They had acquired a great influence on the minds of their companions and had infused all their opinions which had prepared them for the development of the final project." There were also some reasons to believe, plans throughout the eastern counties; and they have been the channels through which incendiary papers and pamphlets, brought here by agents and emissaries of other States, have been circulated among our slaves. He endeavored to share why these black preachers must be silenced, "because, full of ignorance, they were incapable of inculcating anything but notions of the wildest superstition, preparing itthus tools in the hands of cunning agitators, to destroy the public tranquility." Governor Floyd recommended that the laws be revised so that blacks in the state can no longer gain power so that a similar incident will not be repeated. He agreed that, despite the fact that this revolt had been organized by slaves, that free blacks provided a much more encouraging field for the tasks of the component of destruction of the North, while they had opened up ever-widening prospects for them Floyd referred to free blacks as to “that class of the community, whom our laws have hitherto treated with indulgent kindness,” and to whom numerous instances of concern for their welfare have denoted the progress of legislation that the slave kept by law in chains by his master can effect such decimation, how much easier would it be for free blacks to influence people with greater calamities? Floyd was alluding to the way in which free blacks had been hostile to any measure intended to remove them from the State and raised the question of whether the last advantage the State might offer them would probably be to impose an annual cash flow to help them move to another piece of land.6 When the idea of ​​moving all blacks was being discussed and many people were trying to pass a law banning the population, moving all blacks away would be considered extremely difficult. This brought into play the best way to deal with them now, since they couldn't just get rid of them. Since some of the farmers had lost sheep to the various dogs owned by slaves and blacks, calls came that the raising of dogs and pigs by blacks be made illegal. Culpepper filed a plea asking for a new law that would not allow any slave or free blacks to be bound as apprentices to become familiar with any trade. Charles City and New Kent outlawed the practice of employing blacks rather than slaves or freemen to be millers. The question of what should be done with blacks was one of the most important questions presented to the legislature. William O. Goode, of Mecklenburg County, wished to protect the interests of the slaves. He proceeded that on 11 January the select committee of trustees appointed to consider dedications relating to slaves, free blacks and the Southampton Rising be cleared of all petitions. Goode later said he had no right to legislate slavery. Thomas Jefferson Randolph, of Albemarle County, intended to introduce a bill to the state that all children born after July 4, 1840, would be the property of the commons until the age of twenty-one for males and eighteen for females. Once that year arrived they would be hired up to the amount equal to the cost of moving them out of the United States. The warning issued by some of these people is noteworthy. The Richmond Enquirer, the leading source for sharing his thoughts in the state, communicated in a factual article that the evil of slavery was disturbing and called for clear measures to be taken quickly because settling the issue for future peoples had brought region to sadness. The ladies of Fluvanna County said, “We cannot hide from ourselves that an evil is among us, which threatens to outstrip the growth and eclipse the splendor of our national blessings.” One named Brodnax, declared that the time had come "When men were found shutting their doors and opening them in the morning to receive their servants to light fires, with pistols in their hands."shows that a couple of individuals in the legislature wanted outright nullification, the majority, however, needed to work out a plan of slow liberation, and others, believing that slaves could be bound by serious laws, attempted to limit expulsion of free blacks. The citizens of Hanover wanted to impose a tax on slaves and free blacks to raise resources to extradite the black population. The regrettable improvement, in any case, was that no one knew exactly what he wanted, no one approached the legislative body with a well-developed agreement to cure the violence of the past, and every man seemed to be governed in his business by his local advantages instead of by those of the state. The discussion proved invaluable to abolitionists about what to do with the black community. During his comments, Brodnax said the certainty of the general population seemed to no longer exist. “Under such circumstances, life becomes a burden and it is better to seek a home in some distant kingdom and leave the tombs of our fathers than to endure such a precarious condition.” Brodnax knew something had to be done, and while nothing has been established, an eradication plan has already been drawn up. It is important to consider all solution levels because the system may be slightly modified. It was not possible to reach an agreement on the elimination of slavery, the issue of the expulsion of free blacks was another matter. Numerous people were reluctant to talk about slavery where they were not themselves, but they did not object to the state's dismissal of free blacks. However, there were other people who considered it a political exploit. The Southampton Revolt was not organized by free blacks but rather by slaves. Only two of Southampton County's many free blacks took part in the rebellion, and these two had slave wives. Many residents also agree with a reporter from the Richmond Enquirer in Hanover, who speaking in favor of free blacks called attention to the great value they had for the community, and the governor who raised the issue in his annual message of the respectability of the black evacuation, said that the laws of the State had hitherto treated free blacks with "kindness and solicitude for their welfare." On January 27, 1832, a bill was proposed for the removal of blacks from the state. Again, in February there was a report of the removal of free blacks for the benefit of the state of Virginia. Soon afterward Mr. Moore presented an idea that made similar progress and called on Virginia's senators and representatives in Congress to pass this idea of ​​getting rid of free blacks in the legislature. However, this bill was postponed, and if such a bill had been passed, a body of people consisting of the governor, treasurer and members of the council would have to decide where these blacks would also be transferred and to what authority would be charged with do it. deportation. Another effort to address the black population was to strengthen the black codes into a set of stricter, more supervised black laws. The bill's provisions stipulated that slaves and free blacks should not conduct religious activities or attend meetings held at night by white preachers unless permission was granted by their owners. From then on no free black should be able to purchase ownership of a slave, other than a spouse or children. Further punishment was provided for persons who composed or printed anything proposed to instigate another black riot. The state had already passed a law prohibiting.