Thomas R. Gray published The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831) to satisfy public curiosity and provide an account of the events leading up to, during, and following a slave insurrection in Southampton, Virginia that was led by Nat Turner. Gray recorded Turner's confession in a jail cell shortly after Turner's capture and arrest. According to Gray's account, which he asserts contains little or no variation from Turner's words, Nat Turner was called by the Holy Spirit to commit his crimes. In this confession, Turner does not mention his opposition to slavery as a motive for the insurrection. Following the description of Turner's childhood, the murders he instigated, and his failed attempts to avoid detection, Gray includes lists of the slain and the Blacks who were arrested in conjunction with the insurrection.

Monique Prince