A lesson learned from NAT TURNER--BLACK PROPHET, by Anthony Kaye and Gregory Downs

 Being overly certain of your own morality is a recipe for disaster.

    One historical figure I have long been curious to learn more about is Nat Turner, the famous slave who in 1831 launched a bloody rebellion against the white slave-owners in rural Virginia, a failed rebellion that had seismic consequences in the politics and worldview of the South. Nat Turner--Black Prophet is a curious book in a variety of ways. It was begun by Professor Anthony Kaye back in the 2010's, and in the wake of his death it was finished years later by Professor Gregory Downs (of my own U.C. Davis). It's a book that reads like a standard History book when discussing Nat's origins and legacy, as well as the culture in which he lived. But when discussing Nat's own personal beliefs and visions, it dives deep into Biblical analysis, so much so that it often reads much more like a Religious Studies text. The authors argue that approach is vital for truly understanding Nat's motivations, as he saw himself as less of a rebel leader and more of an Old Testament-style Biblical prophet.

    It is in that clash of religious interpretation where I found a fascinating lesson in the story of Nat Turner. He grew up in an America that was just recovering from the Revolution and building a new nation, and in his boyhood days he was one of many who were sold on the dream that the new freedom-loving nation could not possibly tolerate the existence of slavery for much longer. That dream of eventual emancipation that many black children grew up on was cruelly dashed with the invention of the cotton gin, and the entrenchment of the cotton economy in the slave-owning South; by the 1820's, slavery was not only not declining, but actually expanding into new regions along with the rest of the nation. Deeply religious slaveowners convinced themselves that the Bible sanctioned slavery, and that any crimes they committed against enslaved people were justified as long as they continued their work of preaching and converting the slaves to Christianity.

    At some point in his life, Nat learned how to read and write, and became fascinating with the Biblical book of Exodus, where the prophet Moses lead his people out of bondage. Nat began having visions and believed that God had chosen him as his people's liberator, and he entrusted his visions to a small group of reliable friends who agreed to help him plan a rebellion against their masters. This is where the story took a brutal and dark turn. On a summer night in 1831, Nat and his group snuck into the houses of slaveowners across their Virginia county, and killed every white person they encountered--men, women, and children alike. Nat argued that the Bible sanctioned such brutality through the stories of the Old Testament prophets, and that all white people were guilty in allowing the sin of slavery. His visions of triggering an apocalypse that would lead to slave liberation were dashed by the power of the American government, as white soldiers and militia groups swiftly organized and brutally crushed the rebellion. Nat was taken alive and allowed to confess his story to a local writer before his public execution; when the writer mocked his visions and religious beliefs, Nat responded that he would die for his visions as Jesus did.

    Nat's slaughtering of civilians make it difficult for modern historians to see him as a true hero, but it was an inevitable lashing out against the brutal everyday violence of slavery. Traumatized by the revolt, Virginia slaveowners had an opportunity to order the phasing out of slavery when the state government met months later, but they could not bring themselves to risk such an economic transition. Instead, the white South doubled down on their own disturbing ideology; that slavery was a Biblically blessed way for dealing with an inferior people, and the national government needed to do more to protect it and ensure its expansion. They became so convinced of their own superiority that they became angry and defensive when increasing numbers of Northerners began to turn against the institution of slavery, and the nation began its headlong plunge toward Civil War.

    In the end, the story of Nat Turner shows the dark consequences of being too convinced of one's own superiority and moral righteousness. Nat's conviction that he was a religious prophet allowed him to justify terrible crimes, but the greater crime was the institution of slavery itself, which white Southerners became increasingly willing to defend to the death. As the future President Lincoln would say, both sides read the same Bible, and both were equally convinced they were right, and their failure to question themselves could only lead toward a path of destruction.