The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt [Hardcover]

An original reinterpretation of the Nat Turner revolt,The Land Shall Be Deluged in Bloodretells the story of how slave rebels challenged the slaveholders' authority in Southampton, Virginia. Paying careful attention to the dynamics among slaves and free, it reveals something surprising about both the fragility and power of slavery.On the evening of August 21, 1831, Nat Turner and six men launched their infamous rebellion against slaveholders. The rebels swept through Southampton County, Virginia, recruiting slaves to their ranks and killing nearly five dozen whites-more than had ever been killed in any slave revolt in American history. Although a hastily assembled group of whites soon suppressed the violence, its repercussions had far-reaching consequences.InThe Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood, Patrick H. Breen uses the dramatic events in Southampton to explore the terrible choices faced by members of the local black community as they considered joining the rebels, a choice that would likely cost them their lives, supporting their masters, or somehow avoiding taking sides. Combining fast-paced narrative with rigorous analysis, Breen shows how, as whites regained control, slaveholders created an account of the revolt that saved their slaves from white retribution, the most dangerous threat facing the slaveholders' human property. By probing the stories slaveholders told that allowed them to get non-slaveholders to protect slave property,The Land Shall Be Deluged in Bloodreveals something surprising about both the fragility and power of slavery.AcknowledgmentsChronology of the RevoltMapsIntroductionCh 1 SignsCh 2 The First BloodCh 3 To JerusalemCh 4 Where Are the Facts?Ch 5 The Coolest and Most Judicious Among UsCh 6 Long and Elaborate ArgumentsCh 7 Willing to Suffer the Fate That Awaits MeCh 8 CommunionConclusionAfterword: From His Own WordsAppendix: Slave Population of Southampton County, 1824-1829NotesBibliographyIndexPatrick H. Brl³+