Reasons for the Defeat of the Nat Turner Uprising

Abstract

This article is about the 1831 Southampton Slave Rebellion led by Nat Turner. The latter is commonly called «black Spartacus» in Western historiography. Moreover, such comparisons can be found in almost every serious academic study on this issue. Relying on an extensive source base in the form of preserved investigation materials, the first newspaper publications, leading Western studies, as well as continuing this analogy with the famous slave uprising of 74–71 B. C. in the Roman Republic, the author tried to understand the reasons for the failure of the Virginia Riot of 1831. Analyzing each of the hypotheses, he draws conclusions about the role of one or another factor. In addition, the paper examines the similarities and differences of both uprisings. Although special attention is focused precisely on the reasons for the defeat of the armed uprising of slaves in Southampton. In addition to historical and comparative analysis, the author uses retrospective and causal research methods. It is particularly worth noting that at the moment the topic of the Southampton Mutiny on August 21–23, 1831 is not represented in Russian historiography at all, that makes this work especially relevant.