Nathaniel `` Nat '' Turner ( October 2 , 1800 â `` November 11 , 1831 ) was a slave in the United States . He led a slave rebellion in Southampton County , Virginia on August 21 , 1831 . Nathaniel `` Nat '' Turner ( October 2 , 1800 â `` November 11 , 1831 ) was an American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21 , 1831 that resulted in 56 white deaths and over 55 black deaths , the largest number of fatalities to occur in one uprising prior to the American Civil War in the southern United States .