Nat Turner was born on October 2, 1800 as property of a small plantation owner in Southampton, Virginia. His mother strongly hated slavery, and this hate was passed down to Nat. In his early twenties he was sold to a neighboring farm. He was sold again in 1831 to the Joseph Travis family. Shortly after he was sold, he started a revolt. This occurred on August 21, 1831. This was to become the largest slave revolt in the history of the South. Turner was inspired during a solar eclipse, which he believed to be a sign that the time to strike was near. He planned to capture the armory at Jerusalem, the county seat. While en route, he planned to gather a number of