Nat Turner was born in Southampton, Virginia on October 2, 1800. He, son of slaves, was the property of Benjamin Turner, a prosperous plantation owner. He had a somewhat privileged life growing up on the plantation. Most of the slaves had considerable freedom, and Nat even received a rudimentary education. Nat studied the Bible under his master's wishes and attended church regularly. In 1810, Nat's father escaped to the north, leaving Nat with his mother. Then his master Benjamin Turner died, and Nat and his family were turned over to his brother, Samuel Turner. Nat's mother and grandmother had been brought to America from Africa and had a deep hatred of slavery. Nat grew up sharing his mother's view of slavery. Samuel put Nat to hard work in the fields, which put a hamper on his studies. Nat fell into great depression. After years of hearing his mother's hatred of whites and studying the Bible, he believed more and more he was made to do more with his life. He started to say he had visions of the past and future. Many slaves began looking at Nat as a leader, even though he was still very young. In 1812, Nat ran away from Samuel Turner's plantation and lived in the deep woods. He came back after thirty days, saying that a spirit had directed him back to the plantation to fulfill his destiny (Bisson).
             Around 1822, Nat married a slave woman named Cherry who also lived on the Turner Plantation. That year Samuel Turner died, forcing the two to spilt after being sold to separate owners. Thomas Moore was Nat's new owner and worked his slaves very hard; however, Nat's wife Cherry was still allowed to come to his plantation and visit. Nat and his wife had several children, but an exact number was never found (American). During the 1820's Nat went deeper and deeper into his religious beliefs and became a Baptist preacher. He spoke more about his visions and became a prophet of sort among the African American community. In ...