Nat Turner's Extreme Courage

During class today, we discussed whether Nat Turner is a patriot or not. In my opinion, he is a patriot. Turner recognized that in order for enslaved people to be freed, drastic action needed to be taken. In this case, people had to die. This type of reaction to a situation in which people feel as if they should be afforded different rights than they are being given is nothing new, though. The American Revolution started based on a similar train of thought. Although the enslavement of an entire race of people was not the reasoning for the American Revolution, Americans felt economically and politically enslaved to England. Even though their actions may have appeared to be delusional or risky, they knew that the possible gains from acting would outweigh the inevitable losses they would incur by starting a war. I believe that Turner is a patriot for the same reasons that those who fought in the American Revolution are: he took action against an unjust institution in the hopes of pursuing a better life for himself and his country.

A few people in class raised the possibility that Turner was, more or less, crazy for starting a rebellion. As a society, we often perceive deviations from the status quo to be crazy, or at the very least, gutsy. We are so socialized to accept the norm that it often feels wrong to push back against it. In Turner’s case, pushing back against the norm probably felt that way, as it would definitely involve bloodshed and devastation for some. However, I would imagine that Turner knew that if he did not do something, slavery would continue on. So, maybe Turner was a little crazy, as he was willing to give up his life for what he believed in. However, I would argue that instead of being “crazy,” he had extreme courage. Turner’s rebellion and the Revolutionary War have that in common: it took much courage and bravery to spark a change.

I don’t think that Turner’s extreme courage, as I would call it, negates the patriotism that he showed by being willing to quite literally fight for what he believed in. If anything, I think that it strengthens the case for his patriotism. Though his actions may not have seemed to be in the best interest of all those involved at the time, he was able to effectively push back against something that he knew was wrong by harnessing bravery and courage.