This week in 1831

“It’s in God’s hands now.”

— Nat Turner, convicted of murder, hanging, Virginia.
Executed November 11, 1831

Born a Virginian slave in 1800, Turner witnessed a solar eclipse, which he took as a sign from God that he should strike out against slavery. From childhood Turner believed he was “intended for some great purpose.” In 1831 in Southampton, Virginia, he led one of the largest U.S. slave uprisings, in which more than fifty-five whites and two hundred slaves died. Turner hid in the woods for more than two months after the revolt but was hanged, beheaded and skinned two weeks after his capture. Reportedly, fifty-five slaves were executed by the state in retribution for the revolt.