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In American history, there are few people as controversial or consequential as Nat Turner, who was simply one of millions of slaves in the South before the Civil Battle but finally led the nation's most notorious slave uprising. In August 1831, Turner led a rebellion that terrorized Virginia for many days, killing a large number of whites and freeing slaves as his music group relocated from plantation to plantation. The Richmond Enquirer reported, "A fanatic preacher by the name of Nat Turner (Gen. Nat Turner) who was simply taught to learn and write, and allowed to go about preaching in the united states, was at the bottom of the infernal brigandage. He was artful, impudent and vindicative, without the cause or provocation, that might be allocated." Even following the uprising was put down, Turner evaded capture for a few months, and after he was captured, his "confessions" were taken down and posted before he was carried out. Virginia would put a total of 56 slaves to fatality for the uprising. The repercussions of Nat Turner's rebellion across the South cannot be overstated. Worries imposed by the uprising led state governments across the South to enforce even tougher rules on slaves; since Turner have been taught to learn and write, state governments forbade slaves from being shown to learn or assemble, and in the aftermath, whites also treated blacks even worse, with an estimated 200 blacks being wiped out in an outbreak of assault. But while Turner was demonized by whites and organised out as a stereotype of just what a typical slave might do if given the chance, he was lionized among other slaves and free blacks as providing an example "when the first should be previous and the previous should be first." The polarization helped harden views on both edges, paving the way for future occurrences like John Brown's attempted rebellion at Harpers Ferry in 1859. American Legends: The Life of Nat Turner examines the life of one of America's most famous slaves.
