The Confession of Nat Turner | Read by Brock Peters [1968] | John Henrik Clarke

From the liner notes--read by Brock Peters with Martin Donegan as T. R. Gray



The reading of, "The Confessions of Nat Turner" by the distinguished actor, Brock Peters, represents the first attempt to make Turner, leader of the most massive slave revolt ever to occur in America, known to a large popular audience. A widely circulated novel, recently awarded a Pulitzer prize, was the cause for a number of scholars and critics, black and white, to re-examine the life of Nat Turner and its meaning for today.


The most scholarly book on Turner is Herbert Aptheker's "Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion," (1966). Aptheker reveals that Nat Turner was a "highly intelligent man" of profound religious sentiment who in the struggle for freedom, led a slave revolt in Virginia in 1831 that accelerated — if not initiated — additional and harsher forms of pro-slavery legislation. The basic historical ddcument relating to the Nat Turner revolt is, "The Confessions of Nat Turner" by Thomas R. Gray, published in Baltimore in 1831.


This document was prepared by a white man, Gray, who was not partial to the cause Nat Turner and his fellow slaves were fighting for. But for all of its limitations, The Gray Confessions remains the primary source of information on the most famous slave revolt ever to occur in the United States. The intention of this record is to let Nat Turner speak for himself to the extent that his real views are reflected in his confessions made to Thomas Gray. Gray was the recorder at Nat Turner's interrogation and acted as an officer of the court at his trial. His pamphlet on the Southhampton, Va., slave uprising is the most authoritative document available.


It contains the only biographical record of Nat's life that we have and purports to be an "authentic account" of the revolt. The Nat Turner revolt cannot be understood out of context with the atmosphere of revolt that prevailed throughout the first half of the-nineteenth century. There were hundreds of uprisings and conspiracies preceding the Southhampton, Virginia, uprising led by Nat Turner. The largest of these was the Denmark Vesey conspiracy in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1822. The presentation of The Confessions of Nat Turner on this record is one of the efforts now being made to give the life of Nat Turner an interpretation worthy of his sacrifice. —John Henrik Clarke



PRODUCER'S STATEMENT


In deciding to undertake this recording CMS Records, Inc. endeavored to depict Nat Turner as accurately as possible in light of whatever generally accepted fact exists surrounding the rebellion led by this Afro-American leader. Since the only accurate record of Turner's thoughts, statements and history is THE CONFESSION OF NAT TURNER, as given to Thomas R. Gray, and acknowledged by Turner at his trial, the producers felt that this document should be employed. However the reading of this document, in itself, leaves much to be desired in terms of contemporary English wording and for listening ease. It also must be noted that this confession is precisely that — a legal document! In addition, history, or the thought of Nat Turner, has been handed down to us through the thought, mind and words of Thomas R. Gray, a white attorney. Consequent-ly, the scholar, or any interested person, must of necessity ask several pertinent questions regarding the accuracy of the document itself.

The final part of this recording is a completely unrehearsed discussion by three people (Brock Peters who portrays Turner on this record; Herbert Aptheker—an eminent scholar, historian and writer; and John Henrik Clarke a distinguished scholar and reviewer specializing in materials about Afro-American history and culture). It should be pointed out that this discussion is intended merely to stimulate thought regarding one of the most important and, perhaps, misunderstood rebellions in the history of the United States.


Of significant his-torical import, or perhaps we should say as a postscript, on the very night that the final re-cording was effected, April 4, 1968 at 7:05 P.M. Eastern Time in the recording studio, when the taping was finally finished the participants (as noted above) learned that less than five min-utes before The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.