Book describes butchering a baby, killing repeatedly in cold blood and says it was 'my object to carry terror and devastation wherever we went'

Six white judges agreed it was largely true but some historians have said it was simply the work of the lawyer, a debtor who wanted to cash in

His white lawyer published a book full of murder and blood which he said was Turner's account of what happened: 'The Confessions of Nat Turner'

The movie about his life just got the biggest ever deal at the Sundance Film Festival.

But Nat Turner was a violent mass murderer who butchered entire families, according to his own purported account of his slave rebellion.

The Confessions of Nat Turner describes how one of the most successful and sustained slave rebellions in American history was a bloody slaughter that left 55 white people dead.

The account, which Turner supposedly gave to his lawyer after being arrested, tells how over two days they went from house to house murdering every white person they could find.

Among their victims were a family of five they killed in a home invasion, 10 children they slaughtered at their school and a newborn baby who they returned to butcher after murdering his family.

The rebels also forced one wife to look at her husband's mangled dead body before they shot her in the head as they sought to 'gratify our thirst for blood'.

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Contemporary depiction: This was how a woodcut of the time depicted the Turner rebellion, saying that it portrayed (left) a mother pleading for her children's lives, a Mr. Travis being murdered (center) and (right) Mr. Harrow, who defended himself while his wife escaped

How people learned of the rebellion: The second part of the woodcut showed mounted soldiers - known as dragoons - 'in pursuit of the Blacks'. Turner escaped, but far more slaves were killed than whites

Captured: A woodcut purported to show how the rebel was found, months after the others who had taken part had been executed. His lawyer would go on to publish the 'Confessions' purporting to give Turner's version. Turner was literate, unlike many slaves, and said to be highly intelligent. Historians are unsure how much credence to give it. One expert says the 'consensus' is that it is broadly his voice

Big noise: The Birth of a Nation was shown for the first time at the Sundance festival this month and achieved the biggest ever deal signed at it. It stars Nate Parker as Nat Turner

After the rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia in August 1831 was finally suppressed some 60 blacks accused of being co-conspirators were executed.

Turner was hanged after avoiding capture for two months and white militias killed around 200 blacks in revenge attacks even though they had nothing to do with the rebellion.

The Confessions is controversial among historians and some have argued that it could have been written by Thomas Gray, Turner's lawyer, who wanted to cash in on the public interest in the case.

But it cuts to the heart of the debate about Turner and shows how he is a morally ambiguous character whose legacy is still being debated today.

His slave rebellion is the subject of the film Birth of a Nation for which Fox Searchlight has paid $17.5 million for the global rights, the biggest deal in Sundance history.

The film has been lauded by critics and the deal comes at a time when Hollywood is under intense pressure over its lack of minorities in the Academy.

'The murder of this family, five in number, was the work of a moment, not one of them awoke; there was a little infant sleeping in a cradle, that was forgotten, until we had left the house and gone some distance, when Henry and Will returned and killed it

Director Spike Lee and actor Will Smith are boycotting this year's Oscars and the Academy has promised major changes to become more diverse.

Numerous other actors including Michael Caine, Charlotte Rampling, William H. Macy and David Oyelowo have spoken out during what appears to be a moment of change for the film industry.

Birth of a Nation is directed by and stars African American actor and producer Nate Parker, best known for appearing in the Liam Neeson thriller Non Stop.

It tells the story of Turner's life, starting with how he was born in October 2, 1800 on a plantation in Southampton County.

Unlike many slaves he had learned how to read and write after one of his masters allowed him to be educated.

Turner became known as 'Prophet Nat' and was revered by other slaves and served as their pastor because of his deep Christian faith which he said gave him visions from God.

In February 1831, Turner thought that his visions were telling him to rebel against his master and after seeing an eclipse he carried it out on August 21, 1831.

The Confessions is unflinching in its portrait of the terror that the rebellion brought to the citizens of Southampton County.

It says that their first target was Turner's master's house which they got into by climbing up a ladder and going through a window, where they stole his guns.

The Confessions says that at that point Turner realized that 'I must spill the first blood'.

The Confessions says: 'Armed with a hatchet, and accompanied by (co-conspirator) Will, I entered my master's chamber, it being dark, I could not give a death blow, the hatchet glanced from his head, he sprang from the bed and called his wife, it was his last word.

'Will laid him dead, with a blow of his axe, and Mrs. Travis shared the same fate, as she lay in bed.

'The murder of this family, five in number, was the work of a moment, not one of them awoke; there was a little infant sleeping in a cradle, that was forgotten, until we had left the house and gone some distance, when Henry and Will returned and killed it'.

As it was published: The Confessions was a hit with the public and had to be reprinted because of demand for its gory details. Nat Turner's lawyer published it, claiming it was his full testimony

Scene of the rebellion: Jerusalem - now renamed Courtland - is the county seat of Southampton, VA. It was where the rebellion happened and was brutally put down, with up to 200 slaves killed

The rebels then went to the house of Salathul Francis 600 yards away and murdered him with 'repeated blows to the head'.

Next they marched in 'perfect silence' to the house of a Mrs. Reese and murdered her in her sleep.

The Confessions says: 'Her son awoke, but it was only to sleep the sleep of death, he had only time to say who is that, and he was no more.'

By the time the group reached the house of Mrs. Turner the sun was coming up.

They used an axe to break the front door down and Will killed Mrs. Turner with one blow.

The Confessions says: 'I (Turner) took Mrs. Newsome by the hand, and with the sword I had when I was apprehended, I struck her several blows over the head, but not being able to kill her, as the sword was dull.

She remained on her hiding place till just before the arrival of a party, who were in pursuit of the murderers, when she came down and fled to a swamp, where, a mere child as she was, with the horrors of the late scene before her, she lay concealed until the next day, when seeing a party go up to the house, she came up, and on being asked how she escaped, replied with the utmost simplicity: 'The Lord helped her.' The Confessions of Nat Turner

'Will turning around and discovering it, despatched (sic) her also. A general destruction of property and search for money and ammunition, always succeeded the murders.'

The rebels, who by now numbered 24, nine of whom were on horseback, continued on to the next house, stopping only to murder another man.

The Confessions says: 'As I came round to the door I saw Will pulling Mrs. Whitehead out of the house, and at the step he nearly severed her head from her body, with his broad axe.

'Miss Margaret, when I discovered her, had concealed herself in the corner, formed by the projection of the cellar cap from the house; on my approach she fled, but was soon overtaken, and after repeated blows with a sword, I killed her by a blow on the head, with a fence rail.'

The most shocking killing took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Waller where 10 children were butchered because as they had gathered there to attend school.

One girl hid up a chimney and listened while her friends and her sister were butchered around her.

The Confessions says: 'As their teacher had not arrived, they were at play in the yard, and seeing the negroes approach, (she) ran up on a dirt chimney and remained there unnoticed during the massacre of the eleven that were killed at this place.

'She remained on her hiding place till just before the arrival of a party, who were in pursuit of the murderers, when she came down and fled to a swamp, where, a mere child as she was, with the horrors of the late scene before her, she lay concealed until the next day, when seeing a party go up to the house, she came up, and on being asked how she escaped, replied with the utmost simplicity: "The Lord helped her."'

With the rampage well into its second day, the rebels went to the house of William Williams and, having killed him and his two sons, they went looking for his wife.

Memento: Nat Turner's Bible, which he was said to be holding when he was captured after two months on the run. It has been displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, part of the Smithsonian collection in Washington DC

The Confessions says: 'Mrs. Williams fled and got some distance from the house, but she was pursued, overtaken, and compelled to get up behind one of the company, who brought her back, and after showing her the mangled body of her lifeless husband, she was told to get down and lay by his side, where she was shot dead.'

Turner describes some killings with nonchalance, noting that 'Mrs. Vaughan was the next place we visited - and after murdering the family here I determined on starting for (the town of) Jerusalem'.

The town is now named Courtland.

At times he appears to revel in the mayhem and says that it was 'my object to carry terror and devastation wherever we went'.

He writes: 'I sometimes got in sight in time to see the work of death completed, viewed the mangled bodies as they lay, in silent satisfaction, and immediately started in quest of other victims'.

The Confessions says that at their height the rebels amounted to 50 or 60 slaves armed with guns, axes, swords and clubs.

But by that point the alarm had been sounded and most white families had fled, leaving them 'no more victims to gratify our thirst for blood'.

White militias were also roaming the area and the rebels broke up, forcing Turner to hide under a pile of fence rails for six weeks, only venturing out at night to get food.

He was eventually arrested after being captured at gunpoint by a farmer.

Gray supposedly wrote down The Confessions on November 5, 1831 as Turner was waiting for his trial.

The cover claims they were 'fully and voluntarily' made and an 'authentic account'.

Gray was a former slave owner and former magistrate who had lost his fortune due to gambling debts and started practicing law, so no doubt saw Turner's account as a way to get out of debt.

Whether or not it was actually what Turner told him is a matter for debate.

In 'American Slave Revolts and Conspiracies: A Reference Guide: A Reference Guide', by Kerry Walters she writes that 'the consensus is that it manages to capture Turner's voice more often than not'.

In 'Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory', Kenneth S. Greenberg notes that even local newspaper the Richmond Enquirer doubted the Confessions because it was too well written, although Turner was educated.

Greenberg says there is 'considerable evidence within the document of its accuracy' and says that it was entirely based on new material.

The account also matched the sequence of Turner's life meaning that Gray would have had to carry out extensive research in order to fake it.

Depiction: The Nat Turner rebellion movie The Birth of a Nation will offer a version of how slaves - and their masters - lived in antebellum Virginia

Religion: Nat Turner was a preacher before he became a rebel and was said to be holding his Bible when he was captured

In 'The Land Shall Be Deluged in Blood: A New History of the Nat Turner Revolt', historian Patrick H. Breen notes that after the Confessions were taken down other whites examined Turner and found him credible.

Breen writes that six judges signed Turner's Confessions and said that they were 'full, free and voluntary', though of course they may well have been racist.

Gray was so keen to get the book published that he missed Turner's execution and the day before he was in Alexandria, Virginia, getting the book trademarked.

He later found a publisher who helped the book sell 50,000 copies and needed a second print run because it was so popular.

Turner's execution took place on November 11, 1831 and his body was flayed, quartered and beheaded.

In the wake of the rebellion The Virginia House of Delegates hosted a Slavery Debate in which 40 petitions signed by 2,000 people were put before lawmakers.

But the Delegates refused to make the law worse for blacks after some argued that slaves should be freed, showing the deep divisions within the state about slavery.

Historian Eric Foner has argued that Turner's revolt hastened the arrival of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln, which made freedom one of the aims of the Civil War, which had begun almost two years earlier.

He has claimed: 'Far from killing the debate, Nat Turner opened it.

'In the closing months of 1831, petitions poured into the Virginia legislature from throughout the state.

'Some called for the removal of all free blacks from the state blaming them for fomenting unrest among the slave; some demanded new restrictions on the black population; but many, arguing mainly from the fear and insecurity the Turner revolt had created and point to the continuing increase of the black population, called for the gradual emancipation of the slaves and their colonization outside the country.'

Not all white: The Sundance success of The Birth of a Nation has led to speculation that it will be as successful at the Oscars in 2017 as 12 Years a Slave for which Lupita Nyong'o (center) won best supporting actress and which was named Best Picture

Birth of a Nation, which takes the name from the 1915 racist epic by director D.W. Griffith, tackles these issues head on.

The opening lines are: 'I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.'

Even before being made the subject of the film, Turner's life has had a widespread impact on popular culture.

He has been referred to by rappers the Wu-Tang Clan, The Roots and Public Enemy as well as Tupac Shaker.

In 1967 novelist John Styron wrote his own 'Confessions of Nat Turner' which was was a controversial version of the story based on Turner's own supposed confession.

Released at the height of the civil rights era, it won the Pulitzer Prize but was criticized because Styron is white and he made out Turner to be a 'psychopathic monster' who was obsessed with sexually assaulting white women.

In response a group of black writers published a book a year later called 'The Second Crucifixion of Nat Turner'

Birth of a Nation is already being compared to 12 Years a Slave, the biopic of Solomon Northup, a free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery for 12 years in 1841 before being freed.