![]() ![]() Turner took a solar eclipse that occurred in February 1831 as a signal that the time to rise up had come. He recruited several other enslaved people to join him in his cause. Turner gathered more supporters - growing to a group of up to 40 or 50 enslaved people - as he and his men continued their violent spree through the county. They were able to secure arms and horses from those they killed. Most sources say that about 55 white men, women and children died during Turner's rebellion. ![]() Initially, Turner had planned to reach the county seat of Jerusalem and take over the armory there, but he and his men were foiled in this plan. They faced off against a group of armed white men at a plantation near Jerusalem, and the conflict soon dissolved into chaos. While Turner hid, white mobs took their revenge on the Black people of Southampton County. Estimates range from approximately 100 to 200 African Americans who were slaughtered after the rebellion. Turner was eventually captured on October 30, 1831. Gray, who wrote down Turner's confession. Turner pled not guilty during his trial, believing that his rebellion was the work of God. He was sentenced to death by hanging, and this sentence was carried out on November 11, 1831. Many of his co-conspirators met the same fate. The incident put fear in the heart of Southerners, ending the organized emancipation movement in that region. Southern states enacted even harsher laws against the enslaved instead. Turner's actions also added fuel to the abolitionist movement in the North. Noted abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison even published an editorial in his newspaper The Liberator in support of Turner to some degree. Over the years, Turner has emerged as a hero, a religious fanatic and a villain. ![]()
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