The Fires of Jubilee by Stephen B. Oates is a historical non-fiction novel that tells the heartbreaking story of a gifted slave, Nat Turner. Turner was the son of a runaway slave father and a pureblood African mother, Nancy Turner, who was brought to America in 1795. By the time Nat was four, people started to see that Nat was far more intelligent than the average slave. He could somehow recall things that happened before he was born, with no one having informed him of the event. He also had unusual markings on his back and his head. African legends noted that a male with the markings such as his would grow up to be a leader. In The Fires of Jubilee, Nat Turner was a slave and is fighting to be set free.
Elizabeth and Benjamin Turner were Nat’s original owners in Southampton County, Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Turner were Methodists. At the time of this book (early 1800’s) Methodism had spread well across America. Methodist preachers preached to the slave-owners that God did not approve of them owning other people, no matter their race. In the South however, Methodists publicized half measures like “Methodist converters could own slaves, but they couldn’t turn them in” but even gave that up. They compensated by attempting to prepare their slave’s souls for the kingdom of Heaven. Elizabeth and Nat turner taught their slaves pieces of passages from the Old Testament. In 1810 Benjamin Turner died, making Nat become Ben’s eldest son, Samuel, his new owner. Samuel was very tough on his slaves so this was a change for Nat. Sam was also extremely religious. He often would use religion as a way to scare his slaves into doing more work. As Nat grew older, it became even more evident that he was a genius. Nat somehow learned how to read without ever being taught, which was completely unheard of. He received a Bible and began to read it, uncovering things that slave owners did not want their slaves to know. He studied the scriptures and became even more bitter about being a slave because he learned that all men are equal in the eyes of God. He read the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and learned that slavery is not a thing of God. The whites referred to Nat as the “smart nigger”. Very quickly other slaves began to find out about Nat’s intelligence in teaching himself to read and started respecting him. The white’s started to become intimidated by Nat and his intelligence. So in the late 1820’s he was given the freedom of movement among the county’s farms, to preach at the slave’s praise meetings. Nat fasted and prayed in the woods. He also told the slaves that he heard the Spirit talking to him in the fields and that he found blood droplets on the corn in the fields “as though it was dew from Heaven” and they believed him. The blacks almost worshipped Nat. In 1821, Sam Turner hired an overseer because he was not content with the work the slaves had been giving. This made Nat so furious that he ran away, but not too long after, he returned under his own will. He said that his reason for return was the Spirit telling him to stay and continue to work in the field. Shortly after his return, Samuel died and Nat and his wife, Cheery, were sold to a new owner. This was unfortunate for Nat because all of his hopes that he might be given freedom were crushed. Moore paid a tremendous amount of money for Nat and expected hard work in return. During the Sunday meetings, all the slaves could tell that Nat was becoming more distant and more livid about slavery. He spent much of his time praying and fasting and preached about the evils of slavery and how he knew that this …show more content…
Thousands of the people who lived near the farms where Nat and his men were killing deserted their farms because of the fear of Nat’s rebellion. The people were completely clueless as to what had happened. Some had theories that an apocalypse had happened, and others predicted that it was a British
Elizabeth and Benjamin Turner were Nat’s original owners in Southampton County, Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Turner were Methodists. At the time of this book (early 1800’s) Methodism had spread well across America. Methodist preachers preached to the slave-owners that God did not approve of them owning other people, no matter their race. In the South however, Methodists publicized half measures like “Methodist converters could own slaves, but they couldn’t turn them in” but even gave that up. They compensated by attempting to prepare their slave’s souls for the kingdom of Heaven. Elizabeth and Nat turner taught their slaves pieces of passages from the Old Testament. In 1810 Benjamin Turner died, making Nat become Ben’s eldest son, Samuel, his new owner. Samuel was very tough on his slaves so this was a change for Nat. Sam was also extremely religious. He often would use religion as a way to scare his slaves into doing more work. As Nat grew older, it became even more evident that he was a genius. Nat somehow learned how to read without ever being taught, which was completely unheard of. He received a Bible and began to read it, uncovering things that slave owners did not want their slaves to know. He studied the scriptures and became even more bitter about being a slave because he learned that all men are equal in the eyes of God. He read the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and learned that slavery is not a thing of God. The whites referred to Nat as the “smart nigger”. Very quickly other slaves began to find out about Nat’s intelligence in teaching himself to read and started respecting him. The white’s started to become intimidated by Nat and his intelligence. So in the late 1820’s he was given the freedom of movement among the county’s farms, to preach at the slave’s praise meetings. Nat fasted and prayed in the woods. He also told the slaves that he heard the Spirit talking to him in the fields and that he found blood droplets on the corn in the fields “as though it was dew from Heaven” and they believed him. The blacks almost worshipped Nat. In 1821, Sam Turner hired an overseer because he was not content with the work the slaves had been giving. This made Nat so furious that he ran away, but not too long after, he returned under his own will. He said that his reason for return was the Spirit telling him to stay and continue to work in the field. Shortly after his return, Samuel died and Nat and his wife, Cheery, were sold to a new owner. This was unfortunate for Nat because all of his hopes that he might be given freedom were crushed. Moore paid a tremendous amount of money for Nat and expected hard work in return. During the Sunday meetings, all the slaves could tell that Nat was becoming more distant and more livid about slavery. He spent much of his time praying and fasting and preached about the evils of slavery and how he knew that this …show more content…
Thousands of the people who lived near the farms where Nat and his men were killing deserted their farms because of the fear of Nat’s rebellion. The people were completely clueless as to what had happened. Some had theories that an apocalypse had happened, and others predicted that it was a British