How would Thomas Gray, author of Nat Turner’s confession, answer the driving question: Were Nat Turner’s actions justified? Provide evidence to support your claim.

Answer 1

Thomas Ruffin Gray would most likely reject the idea that Nat Turner's actions were justified in the least. In his book, "The Confessions of Nat Turner," he writes "Never did a band of savages do their work of death more unsparingly," insinuating a lack of humanity on the part of Turner's men and an injustice in the deaths of enslavers. Additionally, "It reads an awful, and it is hoped, a useful lesson, as to the operations of a mind like his, endeavoring to grapple with things beyond its reach. How it first became bewildered and confounded, and finally corrupted and led to the conception and perpetration of the most atrocious and heart-rending deeds," writes Gray. Through his diction, Gray paints Turner less human and more animal, reacting like a horse to a whip as opposed to an individual inspired by conviction in justice, faith in god, and belief in liberation. Thomas Gray outright rejects the idea that Turner's actions were anything short of vengeful rage in his writing, thereby refuting the idea that his actions were remotely justified. However, more likely, if faced with the driving question "Were Nat Turner's actions justified?" Gray would respond that Nat Turner's actions reflected a crudeness and lack of impulse control, pointing out that--regardless of whether the effects of his actions were merited--Turner could not have accurately gauged whether his actions were justified.