Revolt and Repression: Reconsidering the Nat Turner Slave Revolt

On November 10, 2016, Patrick H. Breen delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “Revolt and Repression: Reconsidering the Nat Turner Slave Revolt.” On August 21, 1831, seven men launched what would come to be known as the Nat Turner Revolt. The rebels swept through Southampton Country recruiting slaves to their rank and killing nearly five dozen whites, more than had ever been killed in any slave revolt in history of the United States. Within two days, whites reestablished control over Southampton County. Examining the terrible choices faced by slaves and also the deep disagreements among whites about how to respond to the rebels, this lecture will discuss new ways of thinking about Nat Turner, his revolt, Southampton County, and even American slavery itself. Patrick H. Breen is the author of The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt. He is an associate professor of history at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.