What do you think?
Rate this book
The Confessions of Nat Turner (Annotated): With an Introduction by Xander Price
Nat Turner was an African American slave who lead a rebellion of slaves and 'free blacks' in Southampton County Virginia in 1831. The rebellion was brief but bloody, and resulted in the deaths of over 50 white people - deemed all the more shocking at the time as they were mostly from the rich landowning class.
The state's response to the rebellion was swift and brutal, ultimately capturing and executing all of the rebels, but also unleashing mobs and militias who killed over 200 members of the local black population.
Following the rebellion Virginia and other Southern states brought in even more repressive policies, such as the prohibition of education for slaves and restricted rights of assembly. Nat Turner's rebellion has gained infamy due to the violence and bloodshed of both the rebellion and the aftermath that followed.
The events were recorded by Thomas R. Gray who served as the attorney for Nat Turner's defence. This ebook contains a contemporary analytical introduction by Xander Price.
The events of Nat Turner's Rebellion have been made into a major motion picture called 'The Birth of a Nation' which has already won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and is due for release in late 2016.
The state's response to the rebellion was swift and brutal, ultimately capturing and executing all of the rebels, but also unleashing mobs and militias who killed over 200 members of the local black population.
Following the rebellion Virginia and other Southern states brought in even more repressive policies, such as the prohibition of education for slaves and restricted rights of assembly. Nat Turner's rebellion has gained infamy due to the violence and bloodshed of both the rebellion and the aftermath that followed.
The events were recorded by Thomas R. Gray who served as the attorney for Nat Turner's defence. This ebook contains a contemporary analytical introduction by Xander Price.
The events of Nat Turner's Rebellion have been made into a major motion picture called 'The Birth of a Nation' which has already won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and is due for release in late 2016.
26 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 28, 2016
6 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 6, 2024
Good read. Lots of depressing detail. 4.2 stars
June 15, 2019
Read this document as a download from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A very important account of a momentous historical event.
June 30, 2019
(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
After listening to a couple of books on Nat Turner I wanted to listen to what is supposedly Nat Turner's account. I did not learn much here that I hadn't heard in the other books. The big debate of course is still with us: How much, if any of this, is actually Nat Turner's account?
After listening to a couple of books on Nat Turner I wanted to listen to what is supposedly Nat Turner's account. I did not learn much here that I hadn't heard in the other books. The big debate of course is still with us: How much, if any of this, is actually Nat Turner's account?
March 9, 2025
A reprint of the 1831 pamphlet written by the lawyer that represented Nat Turner who was tried and convicted as the leader of a slave uprising in Virginia.
A good reference for what little we know about Turner.
A good reference for what little we know about Turner.
June 8, 2020
Its a ficitional account of Nat Turner's confession and it shows. I give it 3 stars because I like the narrators voice.
February 3, 2016
The book is based on Turner's confessions and there are a good number of names attesting to that fact in the opening of the book.
The author talks about Turner's state of mind.
Turner starts by saying that his parents thought he was bound for greatness of some kind.
He learned to read and write and was considered something of a neighborhood wonder. He had been told he was bound for greatness and now he apparently began to believe that he was. He escaped for thirty days but came back after having had a vision. He saw white and black spirits engaged in battle.
He has another vision. He then talks about how he and his cohorts met and how they murdered his master and his master's family. He describes how his group got bigger and how they carried out further murders, killing men, women and children alike. He says it 'twas my object to carry terror and devastation wherever we went.'
His killing spree suffered a setback as groups of whites, who had someone found out what was going on, apparently, gathered, armed, and fired upon Turner's group. Turner had planned to attack a town called Jerusalem but that doesn't work out. Gradually his group disperses and he took to hiding for six weeks until discovered.
Then there is a copy of the court's ruling and the death sentence passed upon Turner.
There is also a list of those murdered.
The author talks about Turner's state of mind.
Turner starts by saying that his parents thought he was bound for greatness of some kind.
He learned to read and write and was considered something of a neighborhood wonder. He had been told he was bound for greatness and now he apparently began to believe that he was. He escaped for thirty days but came back after having had a vision. He saw white and black spirits engaged in battle.
He has another vision. He then talks about how he and his cohorts met and how they murdered his master and his master's family. He describes how his group got bigger and how they carried out further murders, killing men, women and children alike. He says it 'twas my object to carry terror and devastation wherever we went.'
His killing spree suffered a setback as groups of whites, who had someone found out what was going on, apparently, gathered, armed, and fired upon Turner's group. Turner had planned to attack a town called Jerusalem but that doesn't work out. Gradually his group disperses and he took to hiding for six weeks until discovered.
Then there is a copy of the court's ruling and the death sentence passed upon Turner.
There is also a list of those murdered.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews