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.
25 comments:
Natalynn R. Per.3
Nat Turner was a hero because he helped out slaves. Nat Turner is a brave guy according to how the author is describing him."But future generations will remember him among the noble and brave ". Document B is less trustworthy because they haven't captured Nat Turner and they are talking about him. Document is more trustworthy because they are talking about Nat Turner after they captured him.
Christopher carpio per 3
I don't think Nat Turner was a mad man he was more of hero.Cause he stood up for his rigths.the only source that was trustworthy was source c because it was written 14 years after the revolt.so it took time to get evidence and actually write it.Source A and B are not that trustworthy because the get time to get enough evidence and said whatever to the people.
P2 Steven Robles
Nat Turner was a hero because he didnt want to do nothing bad, he just wanted to free the slaves. In (Doc.C) it said "he wanted to stop the injustice of slavery". This source is trustworthy because it was written 12 years after the rebellion, so everybodys emotions had calmed down. I do not believe sources A & B because they were written before Nat Turner was captured, so they were just mad at Nat Turner and started to write stuff that made Nat Turner look bad and probably the authors that wrote sources A & B wanted to continue slavery.
L.P P.2 2-26-14
In my opinion , Nat Turner is a mad man. (Doc B - "...after pretending to be inspired to rebel by God,he made his announcement of the rebellion to the blacks")I think this source is trustworthy because it makes sense!Turner used the excuse "God told me to rebel " to get the slaves help him get revenge on the slave owners. (Doc C - "the patriotic Nathaniel Turner was driven to desperation by the wrong & injustice of slavery")This document is untrustworthy because they are making Turner a victim , when he isn't.
period 2 Mariana A.
Nat turner is a good person. He was accused of doing bad things such as murdering slave owners and being a madman! Those sources were not trust worthy because Gray could've been spreading rumors just to get the slave owners to read his papers and get money from it. I and abolitionists believe that this was the cause of the injustice of slavery. I believe that he was a good person because he believed that he was a prophet , the good guy , the one who will save his people from slavery and not have to murder anyone. He just wanted to not be a slave and be free! and this is trustworthy because abolitionist are against slavery and they are not spreading rumors or anything they are just stating what they believe without getting payed anything ! Therefore abolitionist are the trustworthy people and turner was the good guy.
period.2 Jocelin Amparo
I think that Nat Turner was a good person. He did do some wrong things but he was driven to desperation by the wrong injustices of slavery. Even though these sources aren't that trustworthy, I still think that he was a good person because all he wanted was to stop being a slave. All he really wanted to do was become a free person instead of being a slave for the rest of his life. He also wanted to help the other slaves become free as well as him so they could live a long and happy life along with their families.
Period 2 Selene S.
Nat Turner was a noble and intelligent prophet. He was a hero. In document A, Nat Turner described himself as just that but Gray described him as evil.It may be a reliable source but there is two different opinions. I would believe Turners opinion more because it comes straight from him. In Document B, there is a newspaper article. "After pretending to be inspired to rebel by God, he made his announcement to the Blacks."(Document B) This article was written in 1831 before Nat Turner was captured. How would they know this information? It might not be true and isn't reliable. This article doesn't support what i think about Nat Turner. Document C is a speech written by Henry H. Garnet. It was written twelve years after the rebellion so people had time to think about the events that happened. "...future generations will remember him among the noble and brave"(Document C) I trust document C because it was written at a reasonable time. Document C supports what I think about Nat Turner. Nat Turner was a hero who made a big difference in helping the slaves.
Amayrani C. Per:2
Nat Turner was a madman. If Turner wanted to rebel and end all the bad treatments from his owner he wouldn't have used violence.Turner was a maniac who thought he was a prophet and god wanted him to help his people liberate themselves from slavery.(Doc.A) The Document C was untrustworthy because it wasn't a first hand source.
P2 Esmeralda S
The kind of person Nat Turner is a hero because he wanted to free the slaves and himself. in document c the author says he's a'' noble and brave.'' this means that Turner wasn't scare to go up to the slave owners and kill them so the slaves could be free.The source is trustworthy because it tells you how Nat Turner was and the others document wasn't that much trustworthy cause they just said how Nat Turner is crazy and document b wasn't trustworthy cause it was written before Turner was capture.
Betsy G. Period 2
Nathaniel Turner was a hero. He was a hero because Nat had a reason to kill his slave owner. In document C, the author explained that Nat was driven to his action because of the wrong and injustice of slavery. I believe document C is trustworthy because this document is coming from a slaves point a view and he understands the reasons why nat did this action. Document B is not trustworthy because if the author explains Nat as a good person, slave owners wont read his newspaper. Document A is also not trustworthy because Thomas R. Gray may be for slavery and might be lying about Nathaniel's case.
p2 luis g
I think nat turner was a hero because he was some one important and smart and someone who could make a difference in the world.One source that support my thesis is in document C IS A SPEECH WRITTEN BY HENRY HIGHLAND . there is a statement that this that this speech was written 12 years after the rebellion ,so people ad time to think about the event that happens ''future generation will remember him along the noble and brave''{document c].This source was trustworthy because people had time to think about the event that happened 12 years later.the another source was untrustworthy because in document b there is a newspaper article ''After pretending to be inspired by God ,he made his announcement of rebellion to the blacks''. [document b] this source was untrustworthy because the article was written in 1831, before nat turner was captured . So that is why he was a hero.
P.2 Emmanuel Ortega
Throughout the reign of the 1800's there had been a Nat Turner rebellion that had a main goal: Abolishing slave owners to receive the freedom they deserved. HOwever, different varieties of people consider Nat Turner, leader of the rebellion, a very courageous hero or a diabolical madman. I for one believe of him as a hero to the slaves to fight for what was right. As mentioned in Document C he had to take matters into his own hands and abolish this type of torture from the African Americans. "Nathaniel Turner was driven to desperation by the wrong and injustice of slavery. By force, his name has been recorded on the list of dishonor, but future generations will remember him among the noble and brave" (Document C). This article/interpretation in my belief is very trustworthy. It gives you a certain reason why Turner became somewhat "insane" because of the oppression of one main problem: SLAVERY!!! Even though he was a dishonorable person, he later on became an inspiration and hero to the African Americans and still is. The other documents "A" and "B" isn't very trustworthy. "B" because it sounds like a biased opinion meaning that the newspaper could've been all in one opinion, he was evil. "A" because he is some that just did diabolical and unethical actions. What do you think of Nat Turner? WHY??
David Romero
Nat Turner wad a noble and intelligent prophet of God. In (Doc A) he described himself as a good person driven to rebel against slavery, Gray described Nat as a evil person with a fiend-face. This is an trustworthy source because it was written when Nat was captured. (Doc B) isn't a trustworthy source because the newspaper article was written before 1831 before he was captured, so how would journalist know information about Nat before he was even captured. (Doc C) is trustworthy because it was written 12 years after Nat Turner's rebellion son it gave people time to think whether he was a hero or a madman, but over time the abolitionist believed he was a hero "future generations will remember him among the noble and brave."
p4 axel o
I think that document Band C is less trustworthy . I think it is less trustworthy because they do not explain well about Nat Turner and they lies . The document i think that is trustworthy is document A because it says a lot about the thing that happen to Nat Turner.The other source is untrustworthy because they do not explain well and they talk stuff about the black people.
Jessica p.4
I think that part C was better because he was a better he acting that he was a good person with the slaves. but on part A and part B Nat Turner was acting different with the slaves.On partA Nat Turner was evil and violent with Thomas R Gray.On part B Nat Turner was trustworthy because what Nat Turner was right that slaves should rebelt to owners.
Period4
Amely D.
I think that A and B documents are right because they say the same thing and C document is different so i believe A and B like "Nat Turner hides his motives behind his evil ".This quote supports my thesis because what im trying to show the evidence how the way Nat Turner was acting .
Period4
Amely D.
I think that A and B documents are right because they say the same thing and C document is different so i believe A and B like "Nat Turner hides his motives behind his evil ".This quote supports my thesis because what im trying to show the evidence how the way Nat Turner was acting .
p.6
Yvette Espinoza .
Nat Turner is very intelligent and noble .He is trying to get rid of slavery .He has rebelled because of many visions he has had.They make him realize how cruel slavery is.Some people support him,no say as evil and demonic.If they had not thought of him this way ,they soon might begin to because of people talking bad about him like newspaper companies as shown in doc.1
P6. Litzye De La Mora
Nat Turner is a hero. I think Nat Turner is a hero because he is trying to get rid of slavery but he was rebelled because of the many visions he has had. Some people support him, such as the slaves but many other people such as landowners, think he's evil and demonic.
P6 Alexa V.
Nat Turner was a madman . He lead the blacks to kill their white owners. He thought by killing white families to get revenge was a good idea (DOC A). This resulted as a rebellion. Document A was a trustworthy source because he killed his white owners' family , even the innocent children , and that is a fact. Document B was an untrustworthy because white people wrote it and white people hated the blacks.
P.6 Jennifer Ramos
Nat Turner was a hero because he tried to defend his people.And some people might think thats a wrong thing to do,he was trying to defend them.And alot of the book or articles were saying alot of lies of him and saying that he was evil and crazy for killing,but he wasnt crazy.And in doc.c its trustworthy because people are not emotional about it and knowing what really happened.And before they judge him because of killing and believing what the articles says about of him being physco,but if they read about him saying that hes a hero they wouldnt believe him.So people were being judgemental of him.
p6 Bryan,C
Nat Turner was a hero to some but a madman to most but I think Nat Turner is a hero when it comes down to evidence. In document c Henry Highland garnet speeches to a group of abolitionist after the death of Nat Turner so it makes the source a little more trust worthy because he seems that he knows his facts. In document b the news paper (The Richmond Enquire) was based on rumors,before Nat Turner was ever captured,so there were no facts in the news paper. In document A I find it sort of untrustworthy because it seems suspicious to me because the way he is talking to the slave owners because he dose not like Nat turner. Therefore in my opinion Nat Turner is a hero.
P 6 Yulisa M.
Nat Turner was a hero. I believe this because the documents A & B are not trustworthy. They are not trustworthy because the white people wanted slavery so in the documents A & B they wrote lies so everyone which is the whites could keep slavery. Also they wanted Nat Turner to be killed and slavery to still be legal. Document C is trustworthy because it was a speech and it was spoken 12 years after Nat Turner's death. The time the speech was spoken affects the reason it is trustworthy because when the speech was given everyone was less emotional about the situation and they could concentrate on the truth rather than on all the lies. Finally i believe that Nat Turner is a hero and not a madman because all he was trying to do is help out his people and free them from slavery. He did accomplish this because now slavery is illegal and he helped to make that happen. So that simply thing that was once only a dream to all slaves is now happening and all slaves are free and slavery is illegal.
Period 6
Jose E.
In my opinion, Nat Turner was a hero. Nat was an intelligent and noble person. I agree with Document C because it shows how Nat isn't in favor a slavery. Document B very trustworthy because the only reason they talk bad about Nat is to gain popularity among white people because they are the ones who actually buy their newspaper. Document A isn't trustworthy because Thomas Gray says he's crazy but he has no supporting details.
The purpose of this assignment was to learn how historians "source" documents to determine which accounts are more or less trustworthy. In Document A, Gray was able to interview Nat Turner in prison after his capture, but his language, using words like "fiend" and "diabolical" shows me that he was prejudiced against Turner. However, Document A has one advantage: It was written by the only person who actually met and interviewed Turner, so it has some believability. As several students noted, Document B, the newspaper editorial, was written before Turner's arrest, so there was no way for the writer to accurately know Turner's thoughts. Finally, Document C was also written by an abolitionist, which might mean that he would be prejudiced in favor of Turner. However, the speech was made 12 years after the rebellion. Passions and emotions might have been less after that amount of time, and that source seems to be the most trustworthy to me for that reason. So if Document C is the most trustworthy, that would lead me to believe Nat Turner was a hero, at least to abolitionists.
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