AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

What is the purpose of these historic markers?

Is this an accurate and complete legacy of Harriet Jacobs?

CONTROVERSY IN HISTORY

BOGUS STATEMENTS! “At least history never changes...” “History is whatever happened in the past”

WHO IS NAT TURNER? Please read the Nat Turner background reading

and answer the top two questions about him.

Nat Turner over the years..Nat Turner over the years..

As you view each image, write 3 adjectives to describe how Nat Turner is portrayed in each image.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

The BIG Question...

How should Nat Turner be remembered?

You will read 6 documents about Nat Turner Record the following:

Text What does the document actually say based on the text

Context How do the events going on at the same time effect the

reliability of the document? Subtext

What is “between the lines” of the document? Consider the author's motive for writing Consider the intended audience Consider any other hidden meanings

Consider your Source!!

(#1) John W. Cromwell-“The Aftermath of Nat Turner’s Insurrection,” The Journal of Negro History, 1920.

An African American teacher, writer, and political activist. Was one of the first to write in what will eventually be called African American History.

Consider your Source!!

(#2)Herbert Aptheker, American Negro Slave Revolts, 1943.

Hated segregation and racial stereotypes, believed that slavery was exploitive and that slave rebellions occurred frequently. Was a committed socialist and believed that class antagonisms were important to understanding the past.

Consider your Source!!

(#3)William S. Drewery, Slave Insurrections in Virginia, 1900.

A white Virginian who grew up near the area of the rebellion. Read lots of primary sources, interviewed whites and blacks that knew people alive in 1831. He believed that slavery was a good thing that slaves were happy, and that slaves rarely rebelled.

Consider your Source!!

(#4 & #5) The Richmond Enquirer and Richmond Whig, 1831

Both newspapers were published in a southern city and were read widely by planters throughout the region. Tended to promote the political views of the upper-class planters who paid to subscribe to the paper.

Consider your Source!!

(#6) Thomas R. Grey, The Confessions of Nat Turner, 1831.

After his capture and arrest on October 30, 1831, Nat Turner was imprisoned in the Southampton County Jail, where he was interviewed by Thomas R. Gray, a Southern physician. Grey stated that only Turner’s words were recorded but in several instances Grey’s words appear in the “Confessions.”

Consider your Source!!

Consider...

As a Southern slaveholder, how would you respond to news of the Nat Turner rebellion?

Consider...

What impact might Nat Turner's rebellion have on the abolition movement in the North?

Consider...

Why is a slave rebellion more likely to occur in Virginia than in Alabama or Mississippi?

Create a historical marker and answer the big question:

How should Nat Turner be remembered?

ASSESSMENT