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John Pleasants, a senior editor of a newspaper named The Constitutional Whig in 1831, had strong criticism of Nat Turner’s rebellion, discussing how his religious, fanatical beliefs projected him into the rebellion as a whole. Pleasants focused on Turner’s charismatic leadership and his influence among many slaves within the slave community. Pleasants mentions how the slaves fell under Turner’s spell: “ his radical preaching was a form of brainwashing leading to the slaves to commit such blood-curdling atrocities”. Pleasants and Oates draw from similar accounts on Turner being influence by heavy religious influences that point to him possibly being a bit of a radical in some capacity. Pleasants later goes on to say how Turner was a preacher
