Today in Labor History August 21, 1831: Nat Turner launched a 2-day slave revolt in Virginia. They killed over 50 whites. In response, scores of African-Americans were lynched, including many who did not participate in the revolt. Turner survived in hiding for more than two months. Mobs & militias killed around 120 enslaved and free African Americans. In the aftermath, state legislatures passed new laws prohibiting education of free and enslaved black people and restricted the civil liberties for free blacks.

The rebellion is referenced in “Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown.” Thomas R. Gray wrote an 1831 pamphlet, “The Confessions of Nat Turner,” based on his jailhouse interview with Turner. Harriet Beecher Stowe referenced Turner's Confessions in her 1855 novel “Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp.” Harriet Jacobs, an escaped slave, refers to the pogrom against blacks following Turner's rebellion in her 1861 classic, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” In the 1990s, Tupac Shakur honored Turner with a cross tattoo on his back "EXODUS 1831."

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #slavery #revolt #rebellion #uprising #NatTurner #CivilLiberties #books #novel #fiction #author #writer #Tupac #BlackMastadon @bookstadon

Today in Labor History July 2, 1822: The authorities hanged Denmark Vesey and 34 others for plotting a slave uprising. An estimated 9,000 were involved in the plot, but only 67 were convicted of any offense. Vesey was a free man living Charleston, South Carolina, who still had enslaved family members. He cofounded the African Methodist Episcopal church (AME) in Charleston, quickly gaining near 2,000 members and the support of white clergy. Charleston at the time had far more black residents than white, including many upper-class free blacks, some of whom had their own slaves. Additionally, many white refugees from the Haitian Revolution moved to Charleston with their black slaves. Consequently, there were many black residents who wanted to replicate the Haitian slave uprising in South Carolina and many whites who were fearful of such a rebellion.

Many of the congregants in Vesey’s church were current slaves and he used the church to help organize the revolt. The uprising was supposed to occur on July 14, Bastille Day, since the victors of the French Revolution had abolished slavery in Saint Domingue. The plan was to attack the arsenal, kill as many white slave owners as possible, like they did in the Haitian Revolution, and then commandeer ships to Haiti. Vesey’s success at organizing thousands of free and enslaved blacks was also his downfall. So many people knew about the plot, that word easily leaked to the white slaveowners. In the end, he was betrayed by two slaves who were loyal to their masters. Several white men were also convicted of participating in the plot. None were known abolitionists and all the white allies received lenient sentences.

Many writers have depicted Vesey or his rebellion in their writing. The title character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel “Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp” (1855) is a composite of Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner. Probably inspired by contemporary criticism of “Uncle Tom,” who she portrayed as a passive martyr, she made Dred a revolutionary escaped slave. Martin Delaney also refers to Vesey in his serialized novel, “Blake; or the Huts of America” (1859–61). Delaney was, himself, a revolutionary free black man. He was an abolitionist, writer and the first and only black man to achieve the rank of major during the Civil War. He was also the first black nationalist, who coined the phrase, “Africa for Africans.” African American writer John Oliver Killens (1916-1987) wrote a biography of Vesey “Great Gittin' Up Morning” (1972). And, more recently, Orson Scott Card portrays Vesey in his “The Tales of Alvin Maker” series (1987-2003).

#WorkingClass #LaborHistory #DenmarkVessey #slavery #racism #SlaveRevolt #rebellion #Revolution #haiti #Abolition #NatTurner #HarrietBeecherStowe #books #fiction #novel #writer #CivilWar #author #BlackMastadon @bookstadon

Did you watch the solar eclipse last night?

On February 12, 1831, Nat Turner witnessed a solar eclipse and interpreted it as a sign from God to start planning his revolt. His rebellion against the white enslavers is considered to be one of the deadliest and most effective in the history of the United States.

Big up to those who continue the fight to bun dung Babylon system!

https://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/turner.html

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#BlackHistory
#BlackMastodon
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A little #history to remember on day four of the shortest month of the year..

Small Town Horror: The Story of Nat Turner's Rebellion and Its Brutal Aftermath

https://www.theroot.com/small-town-horror-story-nat-turner-rebellion-1850071957

#history #histodons #BlackHistoryIsUSHistory #BlackLivesMatter #NatTurner #stopwhitesupremacy #endthenewjimcrow #slaverylives #slavery #ACAB

Small Town Horror: The Story of Nat Turner's Rebellion and Its Brutal Aftermath | https://www.theroot.com/small-town-horror-story-nat-turner-rebellion-1850071957 #19thcenturyintheunitedstates #slaveryintheunitedstates #entertainment2cculture #war2cconflict #humaninterest #natturner #virginia

So next What If, I want a "What If Wakanda armed Nat Turner's war for freedom" #WhatIf #WhatIfSeason2 #Wakanda #NatTurner