Well, the Nat Turner rebellion is back in the news because there's a move afoot in Southampton to change the name of "Blackhead Signpost Road." I don't quite know what it was about putting head on poles back in the 1830s; something very barbaric and primitive. It was done in Murfreesboro and in Duplin County, too, in the wake of the Turner rebellion. I'm going to be following closely how this unfolds.
If you want a quick refresher on the rebellion and some of the key legal issues around it, here's a podcast of my discussion with Stewart Harris for his show the Weekly Constitutional -- just in time for the 184th anniversary of the riot, which is coming up on August 21.
Cribbing now from The Weekly Constitutional's website: the Weekly Constitutional, which has been produced since 2011, is "a public radio program that focuses upon interesting and controversial issues in constitutional law, from gay rights to gun rights. Produced in partnership with James Madison's Montpelier, it features interviews with knowledgeable lawyers, scholars, and others about current and historical topics, including church-state relations, states' rights, and even the constitutionality of secession." They're up to nearly 200 shows now. (Their facebook page is here.) Close followers of the faculty lounge may recall that I spoke with Stewart Harris about the Negro Motorist Green Book back at the beginning of the year.
And I talk a lot more about the rebellion and the trials afterwards in "The Nat Turner Trials." And I have some thoughts about the renaming movement in the Tidewater News.
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