He believed God gave him visions. When he was 21 years old, Nat Turner escaped from his master Samuel Turner following in his father's footsteps and hid in the woods. 30 days later he had a vision telling him to "return Turner thought an eclipse in February 1831 was a sign from God to plan a slave rebellion. The rebellion happened in Southampton County, Virginia on August 21, 1831. He wasn’t that far from the North Carolina border. Seventy black people took part. Some of these people were free, and others were slaves. After Turner and his fellow slaves killed his master and his family, they took their horses, firearms, hatchets and knives; and continued on with their destruction. 