Introduction

The documentary Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property tells two parallel stories about Nat Turner, his Autobiography, and  the slave rebellion he led in Virginia in 1831. The first story is about the rebellion itself, and how Turner perpetrated the killings of white slave owners as well as their wives and children. The second story is about his Autobiography, and how we can know anything for sure about Turner, his life, and his motivations. 

Click here to access the documentary for this discussion.

Question

Why is it so difficult to know anything certain about Turner? Is it something about Turner himself? The way slavery worked in the legal system of the time? The nature of the evidence that's been left behind? The objectives of people who have interpreted Turner's life later on? Something else?

Advice

• As always, you can take the question in any number of directions, agreeing or disagreeing with the viewpoints presented in the documentary.
• Your post should draw principally on the documentary, Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property.

Post Guidelines:

• Please post a thoughtful response of 200 to 300 words.
• Cite, in an academic style (Chicago, MLA, APA...), your sources.
  • This means, when you refer or use evidence from a source to support your argument, you must say where that information comes from.
  • For help with citation style, I've  posted a citation style reference page.
    • If you do not have a preference, please use the Chicago Manual of Style
• For max points, I recommend the following template:
  • Answer the question and/or state your argument in your opening paragraph.
  • Follow with a few paragraphs of supporting evidence from the prompt's source(s).
  • Sum up your argument with a conclusion paragraph.

Reminders

• You have a choice of 2 discussion questions. You participate in only 1 discussion, however, not both.
• The early posting bonus date is 11:59 PM on Sunday, 10/24. You receive a half-point (0.5) bonus if you post before that date.
• Replies are optional, but you will receive a half-point (0.5) bonus for making a quality reply to another student. Your reply must be in the same discussion topic as your post.

• Please, please, please: Break up your text with frequent line breaks. It's so hard to read a big block of text!