Today we discussed Nat Turner and
his mental state when he led the rebellion. Some people argued that they
believed that Turner was unstable due to the fact that he saw spiritual,
religious visions that persuaded him to destroy slavery. In my opinion, it is
neither here nor there whether Turner was stable or not. However, if we are
assuming that he was unstable because of these visions, can one really blame
him? He was raised in an institution that constantly reminded him that he and
his people were inferior and deserved the status of slaves. Growing up in this
type of toxic environment can really take a toll on someone’s mental stability,
so it would be completely logical that Turner did suffer from mental issues.
Although I’m sure that slavery and
its implications did negatively impact Turner’s mental health, I do not think
that it made him completely unstable. I actually believe that Turner used a
genius tactic of using the story of Exodus in order to gain more followers and
supporters. Today we learned about how the story of Exodus was a hopeful story
that African Americans clung to during slavery because of its happy ending
where the Jews achieved freedom. I think it is possible that Turner
purposefully decided to embody a character similar to Moses in order to
galvanize other African Americans to join his rebellion. Turner created a situation
that had parallels to the story of Exodus in order to inspire slaves to fight
for their equality, the way Moses and the Jews did. While it is possible that
Turner did believe that he had these visions, I think it is more probable that
he used them as a clever strategy in order to gain more support for the
rebellion.
I would also argue that if we are considering Turner as mentally unstable, then we need to do the same for George Washington and the Founding Fathers. These men are all patriots who believed that all people were created equal. In order to ensure that all people were treated equal in the USA, these men believed that violence was necessary. Turner and Washington are similar in the sense that they both killed people that were part of the group that was oppressing them. However, we never deem Washington as mentally unstable. In fact, he is commonly seen as a hero, so why do we not see Turner in this same light?
I would also argue that if we are considering Turner as mentally unstable, then we need to do the same for George Washington and the Founding Fathers. These men are all patriots who believed that all people were created equal. In order to ensure that all people were treated equal in the USA, these men believed that violence was necessary. Turner and Washington are similar in the sense that they both killed people that were part of the group that was oppressing them. However, we never deem Washington as mentally unstable. In fact, he is commonly seen as a hero, so why do we not see Turner in this same light?
I agree with you in that Turner may have embraced these visions in order to further gain support from others in his rebellion. Turner could have exaggerated these visions, and they could have existed as either dreams or not existed at all. I do not believe that he suffered from mental instability, but rather he used religion as a driving force for the rebellion. The connection to the American Revolution is equivalent to that of the rebellion of Nat Turner. Small oppressed numbers, slaves and American colonists, gained support and fought against the larger number of oppressors, the slave owners and the British. I completely agree that both these occasions should be viewed in the same light. I believe that Nat Turner should be regarded in the same light as a hero who sought to overcome all odds to place an end to slavery.
ReplyDeleteI cannot express how much I agree with the end of your post! During our Nat Turner discussions, I was confused about why there was so much focus on Turner’s mental state. Yes, he claimed that he saw visions which led him to gathering other slaves and killing white people (his body count stopping at 55), but does the validity of those claims matter?
ReplyDeleteThe notion that Nat Turner was mentally unstable and only led a rebellion because he was crazy does not go against the racist society of that time. Why is that? If the narrative was that slavery pushed a slave to the brink of mental instability, thus causing him to revolt against the atrocious system, then the Nat Turner would be seen as a revolutionary that fought against that system. However, we hear the opposite of that. When discussing the Nat Turner Rebellion, you’re right that we don’t regard it in the same light as our founding fathers when they rebelled against Great Britain. I believe this double standard was and continues to be made in order to belittle the deep wounds slavery left on African Americans.