Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion: Including the 1831 Confessions Book

American Wars of Liberation, Part II

When I was a college student in the early `60s, Herbert Aptheker was referred to as a Marxist historian. Maybe he was or maybe that was just part of the spirit of those somewhat cramped times, when anyone who challenged authority or wanted to speak his mind contrary to "accepted wisdom" ran the risk of being labelled Marxist, red, or Communist. Certainly, after reading this book---published by the "radical" Grove Press in 1968---I cannot find anything remotely resembling Communism or leftwing ideas. Perhaps at the time, ideas such as those found in NAT TURNER'S SLAVE REBELLION were considered controversial. Daring to praise the spirit and intelligence of a man who tried to rebel against an evil, ugly system was still radical. It is not so today, at least not so far as slavery is concerned. We have our own, modern bogeymen of whom it is better not to speak.
Aptheker documents the origins, local economic and social conditions, the mood among slaves, and the mood among whites as concerned the very institution of slavery before the two-day rebellion which occurred in Virginia in 1831. He notes the rise in black population vis-à-vis the white population. He uses many quotes from either contemporary writers or those who wrote much later and footnotes everything scrupulously. The bulk of this short work is divided into three sections: the Environment, the Event, and the Effects. I cannot say the book makes thrilling reading, nor will it hold the attention of many. Aptheker ably establishes that Nat Turner's Rebellion belongs in that class of historical movement led by a prophet and disastrously unprepared for real war. Such movements have sprung up everywhere throughout history, from Brazil to India, from the American West to medieval Europe. The most fascinating reading is Nat Turner's "confession" itself, taken after his capture, a few months later. We read the words of a prophet strained through the mind and pen of a local man of average intelligence who believed he was interviewing a dangerous criminal, nothing more. Few such interviews with prophets---even of this quality---exist. Perhaps there are other, better books on Nat Turner. If so, read them. He deserves to be far better known, a would-be American Spartacus. You can see "Birth of a Nation", a film about the events made in 2016, but which might be lacking some 19th century flavor. Aptheker's pioneering work is solid, but difficult reading, hence my grade of only three stars.