Nathaniel “Nat” Turner was born in Southampton County, Virginia on October 2, 1800, the son of slaves owned by Benjamin Turner, a prosperous farmer. Taught to read by the son of his owner, Turner studied Christianity which he interpreted as condemning slavery. Turner also began to believe that God had chosen him to free his people from slavery. He soon became known among fellow slaves as “The Prophet.”
Turner was sold to slaveholder Joseph Travis in 1830. Less than a year after the sale, Turner received what he assumed was a sign from God when he witnessed the eclipse of the sun. After sharing this experience with a few close friends, they began to plan an insurrection. While still planning the uprising, Turner saw that the color of the sun had changed to a bluish-green, which he believed was the final sign to initiate the uprising. With this confidence, Turner and seven other slaves moved forward with their plans. They first murdered the entire Travis family and eventually fifty whites in the futile effort to incite a general slave uprising. Only 75 slaves and free blacks joined the rebellion.
They were soon pursued by over 3,000 members of the state militia. Turner and his followers were confronted by militiamen. One was killed and the others were captured. The rebellion was over in 48 hours. Turner escaped and eluded Virginia authorities for two months but was finally captured and tried for insurrection and murder. He was executed six days after his trial on November 5, 1831. In retaliation for the abortive rebellion, nearly two hundred innocent slaves were killed.
Although Nat Turner did not end slavery as he may have hoped, he nonetheless shook the institution to its core. Pro-slavery advocates began calling for greater restrictions on free blacks and slaves in the South and made more demands on Northern whites to cease their interference with the servile institution. Northern abolitionists, however, viewed the uprising differently and intensified their efforts to end slavery throughout the nation.
The Largest Slave Rebellion Was Hidden From U.S. History | AJ+
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Where do you draw the line between allowing yourself to enjoy things and not blindly supporting problematic things? Like, you shouldn't just use "no ethical consumption" as an excuse but it feels arbitrary to me, like it's based on Twitter trends what things you're not allowed to enjoy this week, because if we really thought about every action we did every day we'd be constantly miserable, so people just pick a token company or person to boycott every so often to feel better about it. What's the correct take?
To be completely honest I just use no ethical consumption as an excuse - I'm not sure if it's actually right, but the multiple insanity-driving rabbit holes you can throw yourself down if you do anything else (considering how many layers of oppression & violence our system are built on) are just too overwhelming. Ofc I draw the line at joining the capitalist class in any way (becoming a boss or landlord) or an active class traitor (i.e. a cop) but that's a little beyond the scope of consumption which is what your original question was directed at.
Yes, exactly! It's like every little thing is a new rabbit hole. Like the world is designed to make you not question anything, because only eldritch horror lies in knowing. There are things I won't engage with or consume but I have to admit it's arbitrary at the end of the day.
Yeah I have my limits too, but I don't really have illusions that they mean much more than my personal discomfort levels with that particular form of exploitation considering the seemingly infinite number of others my life is built around.
I mostly go about and think what's healthy or not for me. Many vices are made to exploit workers' already bad mental state by the capitalist system, such as tobacco, alcohol etc. Health is a priority for any revolutionary imho. I personally don't bite whatsoever into consumerism of any kind, try to make my things last as long as possible, besides it helps with finances. This is more of a personal choice though, I agree as others have pointed out that Marxism isn't some kind of ascetic cult lol.