Children of Darkness, by Stephen B. Oates

Students must understand the gravity and severity of Nat Turner’s Insurrection; that it was not just an uprising, but a violent one that generated serious repercussions such as “black codes” in antebellum Virginia. Even today, questions about the rebellion, and Turner himself, remain unanswered. (Yes, his ideas and actions were extreme and violent but is desiring freedom from slavery delusional?) In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs mentions this particular insurrection and its impact on slaves in her area of North Carolina but does not give an in depth explanation. When students read her slave narrative, they question why this one act had such an impact on such an otherwise strong woman and other slaves in the South. This article serves to clarify the insurrection for students.

Literature Connection: Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory by Kenneth S. Greenberg, Song Yet Sung by James McBride