29
PANIC AND REPRISAL:
REACTION IN NORTH CAROLINA
TO THE NAT TURNER INSURRECTION
Oiarlcn Edw,ud Morris
Arrh.visl
Nor 111 Carolina Slate Archives
Few events in the history of any southern state, other than
the Civil War and Reconstruction, have changed the course of
that state to the extent the Nat Turner insurrection of August 2L,
1831, did in North Carolina, Nat Turner, a slave and black Baptist
minister, led an insurrection against the whites in Southampton
County, Virginia. Turner and a small band of followers went
она
three-day rampage of death and destruction, murdering fifty-nine
men, women, and children before the group was captured or killed
by militiamen from Virginia and North Carolina. Although the in¬
surrection occurred in Virginia, North Carolinians were among
the hardest hit by the swell of panic that followed Turner’s initial
blow.
Even before the insurrection had been suppressed, news had
reached North Carolina of the massacre in Southampton County.
Murfreesboro, in Hertford County, was only sixteen miles from
Cross Keys, the center of the insurrection. It was in Murfreesboro
that the first panic occurred in North Carolina.
On Monday morning, August 22, John “Choctaw” Williams,
a Southampton teacher, heard of trouble among some slaves- He
dismissed school and went to a nearby farm where his wife and
child were visiting. When Williams arrived he found them slaugh¬
tered in the road. He mounted his horse and hurried off to Mur¬
freesboro. From this shocked and bereaved man the people of
Murfreesboro learned of the insurrection in Virginia. Pande¬
monium gripped Murfreesboro. The "Governor's Guards,” a local
militia company, set out for Cross Keys to aid in suppressing the
revolt- Before nightfall, more than one thousand refugees
crowded into the town. To add to the hysteria, false reports began
to circulate that the rebellious slaves had taken to the swamps
between Murfreesboro and Cross Keys and that armed bands of
blacks were marching toward the town.
With such news, panic controlled the movement ol nearly
every citizen. In most of the towns in northeastern North Caro¬
lina, women and children were gathered in central locations and
protected by armed militiamen. In towns like Halifax and Tar-
boro, virtually all of the black men were confined to jails and
courthouses and were heavily guarded by the militia to insure
that they too would not join in rebellion. In the confusion sur¬
rounding the Turner insurrection and the harsh rumors that
came with the panic, many innocent blacks in the area were
murdered by whites who feared that their once faithful servants
would kill them in their sleep.
Reprisal is en injury done in
return for an injury
Insurrection is an uprising o<
armed revolt against
established authority.
Turnerand his followers
Bereaved meens saddened.
Pandemonium means great
contusion.
Refugees are persons who ilea
lor safety in time of
persecution, war. or disaster.
