Nat Turner

Few names in American history carry as much weight as Nat Turner's. He led the most significant slave uprising in the country, yet he is remembered in sharply different ways: as a killer of defenseless women and children, as a devout preacher guided by visions, and as a zealot. The record leaves basic questions open, including his appearance, the location of his grave, and whether Nat was his birth name. This collection brings together twelve scholars to re-examine the man, the revolt, and the era around them. Contributors look at the enslaved community that backed the uprising, the religious and literary currents that shaped it, and the part women played. They also consider its wider fallout, including a notable 1832 debate in Virginia over ending slavery there. Other essays place the revolt within the national sectional conflict and within rebellions across the Americas. The volume also traces how Turner has been remembered, through interviews with William Styron about his novel The Confessions of Nat Turner and with Alvin Poussaint, a critic of Styron's portrayal, and through an account of his appearances in Hollywood. Written for readers interested in slavery and its legacy, it offers a careful reassessment of a figure who remains both controversial and poorly understood.