Process Paper

Our topic is Nat Turner and his stand against slavery. We chose to research Nat Turner
because we were interested in how he acted based on a message he received from Jesus. Nat
Turner received this message from God and then started a rebellion against white men, women,
and children in Jerusalem Virginia.
We started our research by looking up two encyclopedia entries and then comparing the
information we found in order to better understand our topic. The encyclopedias were very broad
sources, so we decided to look for different sources with more detail. We read about the message
he received from God which is what inspired Nat to begin a rebellion against slave owners. We
learned that there was more than one message which made himself believe he was a prophet of
God. We had a problem where all of the sources we were finding were very repetitive, so we
decided to look for different kinds of sources. We also found a primary source which gave us
insight on Turners motives and details about how he executed his rebellion. The next part of our
research was finding any effects of the rebellion. We discovered that there was a backlash from
the white community, and they murdered more African Americans than there were people killed
in the actual rebellion. Also slave owners cracked down on slaves and had stricter rules against
learning to read and write, which shows a negative effect resulting from the rebellion. We also
looked at historian's moral views on Nat Turner throughout history and found very mixed
interpretations on whether the rebellion was justifiable.
Considering our topic and the amount of information we can collect of Nat Turner and his
rebellion we have decided to create either a documentary or a website. One reason the website is
better than a documentary is because the rebellion happened in a short period of time, which
would make it difficult to create a documentary on. Another reason a documentary would be
problematic is the lack of pictures of Nat Turner and the rebellion. After carefully examining our
options we decided on the website.
Based on Nat Turners actions towards slavery, he is a prime candidate for the theme
Taking a stand in history. Nat was fed up with the oppression of the slaves received from white
slave owners. He literally took a stand and fought against slave owners and their families. One
question we would like to answer with further research is whether or not his actions were
justified. Although its clear that he took a stand against a horrible crime, people still question the
morality of his actions, and we are still wondering if his actions were beneficial or negatively
affected slavery. Nat Turner believed that slavery was unjustified and needed to take a stand
against it, which makes him a great choice for the theme Taking a Stand.