Thomas R. Gray

A detailed Summary of Thomas R. Gray

Thomas R. Gray, during the time of the interview, was a man of thirty-one years of age and was not very successful in his practice as a lawyer and a farmer. Gradually having to sell off his land bit by bit and many of his slaves, Gray tried to find other occupations that might pay higher than his current job. When the Nat Turner rebellion occurred, Gray had to have realized how big this story was. Not only had one of the biggest slave rebellions in American history just occurred, but also the authorities had the main instigator alive in a prison cell.

Gray probably realized controversy would erupt over what Turner had to say, and so he left for Jerusalem, Virginia right away to interview Turner before he was arraigned and hung. Gray could not have written the interview verbatim. The technology of the day would not have allowed it, and it is not normal for a person being interviewed to speak slowly enough to remind the interviewer to write down everything as it is said. It is more likely that Gray just jotted down notes, bits and pieces, of what Turner actually said to him. After the interview, when Gray was writing the final article for publishing, he put it in words that Turner did not actually say. For example, "As we approach

Thomas Gray seemed like a greedy man who was always looking into things to see what he could get out of it. He wanted everybody to think like him and thought he was always right.

Another possibility is that Gray might have changed the interview in order to get the reading public to adhere to his views on African Americans. Gray was known to have had many slaves at one time in his life. He found nothing wrong with the enslavement of people. It is possible that Gray was using the interview as a way to further his belief that blacks were meant to be slaves. This was a way of showing the country that blacks were dangerous people that should not be let free but kept under the yoke and chain of whites. Gray had to make his story more appealing to white audiences because it was they who would buy these books, not blacks. By making the event even more horrific than it actually was, it caught the attention of many whites who believed that blacks should stay slaves. "The calm, deliberate composure with which he spoke of his late deeds and intentions, the expression of his fiend-like face when excited by enthusiasm, still bearing the stains of the blood of helpless innocence about him; clothed with rags and covered with chains; yet daring to raise his manacled hands to heaven, w

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Approximate Word count = 863
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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Thomas R. Gray

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