Was Nat Turner a hero or a madman?

Nat Turner led the most important slave revolt in US History. Although it was ultimately unsuccessful, it forced changes in the way slavery operated in the South, and coincided with the establishment of the abolitionist movement in the northern states. However, as the woodcut below shows, while some consider Turner to be a hero, others saw him as a fanatic, insane, and evil man. You read 3 primary sources that describe Nat Turner in very different ways.

Now you will become a historian, and explain how you think Nat Turner should be remembered. Which sources do you consider the most truthful? Why?

Your task is to write a thoughtful paragraph that answers the question, "Was Nat Turner a hero or a madman?" Make sure that you cite and explain evidence from your sources that support your opinion.

Were workers in the factories happy?

Instructions: Below are three readings about factory workers in the 1840s. Write a paragraph response that answers this question: "What were some of the grievances of  factory workers in the 1840s? Be sure to give specific examples to support your thesis."


Reading 1:

The operatives work thirteen hours a day in the summer time, and from daylight to dark in the winter. At half past four in the morning the factory bell rings, and at five the girls must be in the mills....So fatigued...are numbers of girls that they go to bed soon after their evening meal, and endeavor by a comparatively long sleep to resuscitate their weakened frames for the toil of the coming day.

The Harbinger, 1846

Reading 2:

We...agree to work for such wages per week, and prices by the job, as the Company may see fit to pay....We also agree not to be engaged in any [actions], whereby the work may be impeded, or the company's interest in any work injured....

             Work contract, Cocheco Manufacturing Company, Dover, New Hampshire

Reading 3:

Just as there is sun at noonday, [the owners], under its present hostile and unnatural state, is fast reducing [the workers] to utter dependence and slavish beggary....This talk about the continued prosperity, happy condition, and future independence of the producing class of this country...is all fiction, moonshine.

                 Voice of Industry, 1845