
Nat Turner’s Revolt, which had taken place just five days earlier, had left more than 50 whites dead by the time the trials finished, a similar number of suspected rebels were either killed extra legally or condemned and executed.Įven when Nat Turner was captured, on October 30, 1831, the Compiler’s question had remained unanswered.

On August 27, 1831, the Richmond Compiler asked: “Who is this Nat Turner?” At the time, Turner was hiding in Southampton, Virginia, not far from the site where he launched the most important slave revolt in American history.
