The institution of African slavery in North America began in late August 1619 and persisted until the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in December 1865.
Over those 246 years, many slaves plotted and conspired to start rebellions, but most of the plotted rebellions never took place. Slaveholders and whites discovered them before they could begin. Therefore, North America witnessed only a handful of slave revolts between 1619 and 1865. Nat Turner’s Rebellion in August 1831 stands as the most deadly.
Patrick Breen, an Associate Professor of History at Providence College and author of The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt, joins us to investigate the ins and outs of this bloodiest of North American slave revolts.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.
Episode Summary
Patrick Breen, an Associate Professor of History at Providence College and author of The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt, joins us to investigate the ins and outs of this bloodiest of North American slave revolts.
During our investigation, Patrick reveals details about how Nat Turner’s Revolt began and progressed; Who Nat Turner was and why he chose to lead a slave revolt; And, information about the end of the rebellion and the trials that ensued after it ended.
What You’ll Discover
- Nat Turner’s Revolt
- How Nat Turner’s Rebellion differs from other slave revolts in early America
- Nat Turner
- Turner’s religious views
- Why Turner decided to lead a slave revolt
- How Turner recruited his army
- Why people joined Turner’s army
- Revolt planning
- Revolt violence
- Mobilization to quell the revolt
- How civilians experienced the revolt
- Revolt casualties
- Post-revolt trials
- How Nat Turner evaded capture
- The capture of Nat Turner
- Nat Turner’s confessions
Links to People, Places, and Publications
- Patrick Breen
- Patrick’s Providence College webpage
- The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt
- Herbert Aptheker, Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion: Together With the Full Text of the So-Called “Confessions” of Nat Turner Made in Prison in 1831
- Nat Turner Project
Sponsor Links
- Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture
- William and Mary Quarterly
- WMQ Editor Josh Piker, “The Five-Reader Problem”
- WMQ Editor Josh Piker, “Getting Lost”
- Susanah Shaw Romney, “5,000 More Words”
- Episode 105: Josh Piker, How Historians Publish History (Behind-the-Scenes of the William and Mary Quarterly)
Complementary Episodes
- Episode 016: Alan Taylor, The Internal Enemy
- Episode 020: Kyle Bulthuis, Four Steeples Over the City Streets
- Episode 083: Jared Hardesty, Unfreedom: Slavery in Colonial Boston
- Episode 091: Gregory Dowd, Rumors, Legends, and Hoaxes in Early America
- Episode 125: Teri Snyder, Death, Suicide, and Slavery in British North America
Time Warp Question
In your opinion, what might have happened if Turner had found a way to evade capture? Would Turner’s fugitive status have affected how whites viewed the revolt and slavery? If so, how?
Questions, Comments, Suggestions
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