The Many Stories of Nat Turner

He is a cold-blooded murderer to some, a revolutionary to others. This much is certain. In August 1831, Nat Turner and about sixty other slaves rampaged through the countryside of Southampton County, Virginia, killing fifty-seven whites before their murderous spree was stopped. Turner was captured about two months after the rampage, tried and hanged. His story has been told by many. And each has offered a different explanation for his actions. Who was the real Nat Turner? And how did each of his storytellers shape him to fit their own messages? Archivist Lucious Edwards (Virginia State University) and historian Scot French (University of Virginia), author of the forthcoming Remembering Nat Turner: The Rebellious Slave in American Thought, seek to answer.

Also featured: William Styron visits the set of a documentary about Turner and recalls the controversy surrounding the publication of his Confessions of Nat Turner in 1967.