Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion

Slavery in Southampton County, Virginia was different. The slave owners there treated their slaves kindly and allowed them unheard of freedoms. Their slaves were content and had no reason to revolt. However, one slave had a reason, a divine purpose, he led a slave rebellion, with dozens of bodies in its wake, and instilled a raging fear into the hearts of slave owners across the south. In the book Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion author Stephen B. Oates provides a non-fictional narrative look into the mind of Nat Turner and a detailed account of his rebellion. This book also examines white society during that time period and gives a glimpse into their non-existing aversion to slavery. Keeping in memory other slave revolts, …show more content…
Sending the white children to school and the blacks to the field, dividing them for the rest of their lives into free and chattel, into the blessed and the wretched of their Christian word. (Oates, 7) These words spoke to me as if I was reading about myself and my own children. This set the stage for me, and I could not put this book down. As I read through the book, I was upset to find out that Nat Turner escaped and returned on his own will. I questioned how could such a smart man give up on an opportunity to be free but this just gave more credibility to his divine nature, as Nat later confessed. “The spirit appeared to me and said I had my wishes directed to things of this world and not to the kingdom of Heaven and that I should return to service of my earthly master.” (Oates, …show more content…
I was saddened that in the aftermath of the rebellion, conditions for slaves became much worse. Nevertheless, I like that the book offers a summary that what Nat Turner set to do in life, he achieved in his afterlife. The book hints to the fact that in the aftermath of the rebellion the seeds of the confederate succession began to grow, leading to the Civil War and ultimately the emancipation of slavery. Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion is a wonderfully written historical account of a slave rebellion that would bring Virginia and the south to their knees with fear. I would recommend that anyone interested in the history of the United States and its relationship with slavery read this book. The author Stephen B. Oates does a great job captivating the reader and placing them right in the heart of slavery and offers insight and understanding of how black people lived as slaves and a glimpse into the mind of a slave