Introduction
This is one of the remarkable slave rebellion that is also termed as the Southampton insurrection. This slave rebellion occurred during August 1831 in the Southampton county ,Virginia.This Rebellion was led by Nat Turner.It resulted in 55 to 65 people who among them were men, women and children killed by slaves.This rebellion was calmed down in a few days but Nat Turner survived and hid himself for more than two months.This rebellion was suppressed on August 23, 1831 in Belmont plantation.
Success of the revolts
Nat Turner’s rebelliuon was among the bloodiest and most effective in the americxan history.It made Virginia to have a culture of fear that was finally spread to the rest of the southern America.This revolt is said to have been in the front line facilitated the beginning of the civil war.Most of the southern American state tightened there restriction on the African Americans.In two days time more than fifty white were killed .Most bof these rebel among other many African Americans that were being suspected to take part in this conspiracy were executed.Though Nat Turner had escaped for more than two months he was accidentally discovered by a hunter in Dismal swamp area and surrendered peacifuly.Most African American and the other slaves were executed. Nat Turner was hanged. The whites were able to see the effect of slavery and what impact it might have with them if the slaves choose to rebel. Though the slaves were defeate\d in t6heir revolution they installed fear too both the north and south .The white were able to see to what extent were the Africans Americans and the enslaved were determined to fight for their freedom and liberty. This revolution to greater extent also marked the beginning of civil wars(Baker,2008 p.45).
Factors that contributed to the outcome
The Nat Turner revolution was majorly because the slave felt as if the white were exploiting them .They joined together with other African American to try and lead a revolution that will lead to their freedom. As they were trying to rebel they started killing people hence many about 50 to 60 white were killed as a result of this. As the whites tried to counter the attack more slaves lost their lives and as a result most of people both the slaves and the whites suffered.
Since The slave Lead by Nat Turner had made more innocent people to die , especially the rich white family it resulted in execution by law. More slaves were executed and those African Americans that were being suspected of engaging in the conspiracy.Nat turner who had escaped for two month was sentenced to death through hanging .
The whites became more vigilant about the African Americans that were living around. Since most of the whites feared for their lives They tightened the restriction on African Americans so as to prevent future revolution by African Americans(Bisson,2009 p.87).
The anger that the African American had eventually led to the beginning of civil war. These wars were as a result of the African American trying to free themselves from slavery and as they continued to try this over and over again there was political instability hence the civil wars began. Due to this war that was as a result of an African American being seen as inferior most people continued to loose their live due to the wars and revolutions by slave demanding their liberty.
This Nut Turner revolution that led to many people loosing their live was due to the anger that the enslaved had toward the north.It can also be said that the outcomes were as a result of the lengths in which the freedom seekers were prepared to go to liberty.If the enslaved one had not seen themselves as being oppressed by the white the revolution could not have occurred and also loss of innocent lives.
In the southern a feeling of paranoia and a lot of fear developed among the white and due to this fear the enslaved ones were restricted and also their gathering and travel were not allowed. This fear that was created to the southern led to more suffering of the enslaved ones.
Reason why slave rebellion was generally unsuccessful in antebellum south
After The northern Nat Turner revolt The southerners were fearful hence they started more restriction on the slaves. The slaves were not allowed to gather as the gathering was seen as they were planning their rebellion. The slaves were restricted from travel . This made the southern revolution to be very impossible as they never had time to plan the rebellion. This restriction also created fear in the slaves in the South .The slaves were forced to always obey their masters and since they had no other option they did it hence it was very difficult with the restriction for them to plan a revolution as they seek for their freedom(Randall,2009 p.56).
The restriction that was put in place made it very difficult for the slaves come together. Only a few slaves would rebel their master. As opposed to the north where all the slaves ganged up and fight against their master in the southern region this was not possible. The fewer the slaves who rebel the easier to control them. Hence those slaves that were in the southern were very easy to control. Their rebellion impact cannot be compared to that of t6he north because only a few of them rebel their masters and were dealt with.
The slaves in the south became fearful after they saw what had happened to the north. They saw that no matter how much they try to emancipate themselves their masters will always win. Their fear may also have been due to the fact that they also had witnessed what was happening to those slaves that had rebelled their master.This fear made the slaves to do away with their plans to fight for their freedom.They thought and saw for themselves that if they tried a revolution they might end up loosing their lives hence no one among them was willing to loss there lives.Due to this fear their success was no possible as they saw that any move that they try could make them loose their lives or even suffer more.This fear that the African American and the slaves had in mind made any plan for rebellion to fail.The consequence of their fear suppressed their success against rebellion to their masters(Turner,2000 p.33).
The slave masters had fired weapons like the guns and the slaves only could use weapons like the knives and axes so as not create attention. Hence when the slaves try to attack their masters they would end up dead since fire weapons like the guns are more efficient while attacking.As the slaves continued to use their crude weapon most of them continued to lose their lives and finally this resulted to them not being successive in their fight for freedom.
The regime that was in power at that time fully supported slavery and the slave trade.This regime made it very difficult for the slaves to free themselves as they were very much into slavery.The regime in power to a very great extent made it difficult for the South to be successful as they continued to oppress the slaves and also putting restriction that made it very difficult for the slaves to fight for their freedom.
The cultural practices at that time in the southern were very much into slavery. So it was very difficult for the slaves go against the cultures . So they continued to obey their masters hence the revolution in the south was not achievable. Most of the slaves had accepted their fate and agreed to work for their masters(Turner,20011 p. 56).
Why the southerners fearful about the revolution
They were very fearful from the northern revolution hence they started too take precautions.They made restriction so as to discourage the slaves from gathering and travelling together to reduce there contact time so that they will not have time for to plan there revolutions.This was because they had fear that what had happened to the north might happen to them.They also feared to lose the slaves who were doing all the hard chore in their farms.They began to be very suspicious about the slaves and feared for their lives and as a result the slaves suffered the most from their oppression.
Works Cited
Baker, Kyle. Nat Turner. New York: Abrams, 2008. Print.
Bisson, Terry, and John Davenport. Nat Turner: Slave Revolt Leader. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005. Print.
Randall, Dudley, and Melba J. Boyd. Roses and Revolutions: The Selected Writings of Dudley Randall. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2009. Print.
Turner, Nat, and Thomas R. Gray. The Confessions of Nat Turner: The Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Va. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2011. Print.
Turner, Nat, and Thomas R. Gray. The Confessions of Nat Turner. Las Vegas, NV: Classic Americana Pub, 2000. Print.
