Nat Turner

Slave revolts were rare in North America, compared to other slaveholding regions such as the Caribbean and South America. The principal reasons include the fact that slaves in North America were more widely dispersed, forming a smaller percentage of the overall population than in slavedominated places such as Haiti. In addition, North American slaves were under the close supervision of masters and overseers, who in contrast to Caribbean slaveowners lived and worked on their farms and plantations. Slaves in North America, at least during the colonial era, had no chance of attaining freedom by fleeing to the north or overseas, and could not escape capture while remaining close to home.

Yet North American slave revolts did take place, the largest of which was the Turner Rebellion of 1831. This rampage brought the deaths of fifty-nine whites in south-central Virginia and inspired...