Biography of Nat Turner

Nat Turner was born as a slave on Benjamin Turner's plantation in Southampton County, Virginia on October 2, 1800 (www.encarta.com), five days before the execution of African American revolutionary Gabriel Prosser, who had planned a slave revolt in Richmond, Virginia. Turner's father also worked at that plantation but he ran away and his name is unknown. His mother was a slave named Nancy who was kidnapped from Africa in 1793. (www.afroamhistory.about.com). She and Nat's grandmother were the ones that raised him but his mother was the one responsible for all of Turner's beliefs. She believed that he was destined to be somebody important in life and that great thing were awaiting him. She taught him to be Christian and Turner later became a preacher. He was a very smart boy and was taught to read and write by his master's son. (www.anb.com). It is said that as a child Turner spoke about things that occurred before his birth like the slave revolt by Prosser.

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Nat was put to work at the fields when he was only twelve years old. In 1822 he married a slave named Cherry, but later that year he was separated from his wife and his mother when each of them were sold to different owners.(www.anb.com) He ran away from Turner's plantation when a harsh and cruel overseer was hired and when he was free he started having visions of God. His first vision told him to return to his plantation so some days later he went back to the plantation to await the signal for his revolt.

The slaves that lived and worked with him on the plantation always considered him a religious leader and he became very popular among them. He visited many churches and preached at them making him more famous every time to...