Nat Turner- Afro-American rebel

Nat Turner was a slave who led a rebellion on February 12, 1831. His rebellion started with only about 50 slaves, yet of all the slave rebellions, his prompted the most fear in the eyes of southern whites. If one group of slaves could foment a bloody rebellion, what would happen if more slaves took up such a fight?

Nat started out as a preacher. The time he chose for his rebellion was coordinated with a sign he believed came from God.

In this time of black pride, when we just had Martin Luther King Day and now it is inauguration day for the first Afro-American President, I chose to remember a black rebel from our rich history, here in the USA.

From Wikipedia:

By early 1828, Nat was convinced that he "was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty.” While working in his owner's fields on May 12, Turner "heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent, for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first." Nat was convinced that God had given him the task of "slay[ing] my enemies with their own weapons." Nat "communicated the great work laid out for me to do, to four in whom I had the greatest confidence" – his fellow slaves Henry, Hark, Nelson and Sam.

Beginning in February 1831, Turner came to believe that certain atmospheric conditions were to be interpreted as a sign that he should begin preparing for a rebellion against the slave owners.

Nat started with a few trusted fellow slaves. The rebels traveled from house to house, freeing slaves and killing all the white people they found. The rebels ultimately included more than 50 enslaved and free blacks.

Because the rebels did not want to alert anyone to their presence as they carried out their attacks, they initially used knives, hatchets, axes, and blunt instruments instead of firearms. Nat called on his group to "kill all whites." The rebellion did not discriminate by age or gender, although Nat later indicated that he intended to spare women, children, and men who surrendered as it went on.

Before Nat and his brigade of rebels met resistance at the hands of a white militia, they killed a total of 60 white men, women and children. They spared a few homes "because Turner believed the poor white inhabitants 'thought no better of themselves than they did of negroes.'

Nat Turner's rebellion was suppressed within 48 hours, but Nat eluded capture until October 30 when he was discovered hiding in a hole covered with fence rails and then taken to court. On November 5, 1831, Nat was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. He was hanged on November 11 in Jerusalem, Virginia, now known as Courtland, Virginia. His body was then flayed, beheaded and quartered.