Methodists were strongly in favor of abolition in most of the United States, and, though that message was watered down in the South, the fact is that the Turner was being taught the same religious doctrines that led white Methodists in the north to conclude it was not Christian to keep people in bondage. Turner was inspired by a religious vision in which he believed that Jesus was going to bring about judgment day. Turner believed he had a religious duty to fight against the oppression of slaves. However, the main precipitating event for his rebellions was when Turner witnessed a solar eclipse, which he believed was a sign from God that he was to rebel. The actual rebellion was triggered by a similar sign, when the atmosphere appeared an unusual color. I think it is impossible for a free person to disapprove of the way that Turner conducted his rebellion. Yes, whites who had not personally participated in harming black slaves were hurt or killed in the rebellion. However, to label these whites innocent is to display tremendous ignorance. The whole system of slavery would have been unsuccessful without the legal ability to use tremendous force against slaves to keep them in bondage. The selling of family members, the consistent deprivation of liberty, the constant subtle threat of force, up to and including deadly force, means that slaves were akin to kidnapped persons. White people, even those who did not own slaves, profited from this system of racial oppression. Turner advocated indiscriminate slaughter of white people in order to be able to use fear as a tool in his rebellion; blacks outnumbered...

However, Turner did not engage in indiscriminate slaughter; his troops spared members of some white households. This may have been a tremendous tactical error, because a white militia eventually defeated the rebels, and that may not have occurred if Turner had taken lots of white hostages. Despite that, I still think that in a country that advocates the premise of "live free or die," one can hardly take issue with how Turner mounted his rebellion.
Unfortunately, Turner's rebellion was unsuccessful. Not only did the rebels fail to attain freedom for themselves, but their actions brought about a tremendous crackdown on black behavior. Far more blacks, both slave and free, rebel and non-combatant, were killed in the uprising than whites. Rebels were executed after the rebellion failed. Moreover, the fear of slave rebellion led to a dramatic increase of whites attacking and killing blacks, based on unsubstantiated fears of further rebellion in areas far away from Southampton, Virginia. Virginia responded to the rebellion by making it illegal to teach blacks, whether slave or free, from reading, writing, or holding religious meetings without the presence of a white minister. While many individual whites chose to ignore those laws, it resulted in a systemic increase in the brutality and dehumanization in organized slavery in the South.

Works Cited

Oates, Stephen. The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion. Harper Collins Publishers,