Nat Turner led an
infamous slave rebellion in 1831 that ended with an
estimated 60 dead
slaveholders (this includes the
family members, etc.) over the course of two days.
He was called "The Prophet" by his followers and was a deeply religious person who claimed he saw visions. The most persistent element in all of his visions was blood. Turner interpreted this as a signal from God that it was time for a bloody uprising. The sign that he thought was the final signal was a solar eclipse.
The revolt began with only seven disciples but grew to seventy in less than a day. The first to die were Nat Turner's owners. They wiped out the entire family including an infant. Turner's rule was that no one was spared because of age or sex. The idea was to go house to house killing every white person they found. Only one house was spared - a couple who was too poor to own slaves.
The rebellion ended with a series of standoffs with groups of white men. There were some large groups of soldiers detached from their units to help suppress the uprising and the disciples were disbursed after two days.
Nat Turner went into hiding and wasn't found for over a month. When discovered he was tried and hung the same day.
Now for the Sad Part
The reaction by whites to the rebellion was to mass murder slaves who were suspected of being rebellious in any way. The idea that slaves were somehow resigned to their lot in life was destroyed and the slaveholders were in a state of panic to frighten their slaves back into obedience. This also lead to a lot of anti-literacy laws being adopted (Nat Turner was actually very well read) and laws against more than X number of slaves congregating in one place without a white person overseeing.