Editing Southampton County, Virginia (section)

==History==
In the early 17th century, the explorer [[John Smith (explorer)|Captain John Smith]] founded the settlement of [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]]; in the next decades of the colony's history, Jamestown settlers explorer and began settling the regions adjacent to [[Hampton Roads]]. The [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia Colony]] was divided into eight [[shire]]s (or [[County (United States)|counties]]) with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants in 1634. Most of Southampton County was originally part of [[Warrosquyoake Shire]]. The shires were soon to be called counties. In 1637 Warrosquyoake Shire was renamed [[Isle of Wight County, Virginia|Isle of Wight County]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/local/locality.asp?CountyID=VA131|title=Isle of Wight County|website=www.lva.virginia.gov|access-date=April 10, 2020}}</ref>

In 1749, the portion of Isle of Wight County west of the [[Blackwater River (Virginia)|Blackwater River]] was organized as Southampton County. Later, part of [[Nansemond County, Virginia|Nansemond County]], which is now the [[Independent city (United States)|Independent City]] of [[Suffolk, Virginia|Suffolk]], was added to Southampton County. This area was cultivated for tobacco and later for mixed crops, dependent on the labor of [[Slavery in the colonial history of the United States|enslaved African Americans]] after a relatively short period when many white indentured servants came to the colony.{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}

{{Main|Nat Turner's slave rebellion}}
In August 1831, an enslaved preacher named [[Nat Turner]] led a [[Nat Turner's Rebellion|slave rebellion]] in Southampton County against local white residents, killing about 60 people (mainly women and children). The rebellion was crushed, and Turner and his rebels were tried, convicted, and executed. Meanwhile, white mobs had seized and [[Lynching in the United States|lynched]] nearly 200 black residents of Southampton County, most of them enslaved.<ref>{{cite book | last=Oates | first=Stephen B. | title=The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion | publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Inc | location=New York, New York | year=1990 | orig-year=1975 | isbn=0-06-091670-2 | page=[https://archive.org/details/firesofjubilee00step/page/126 126] | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/firesofjubilee00step/page/126 }}</ref>

Southampton County may have been named by Virginian settlers for [[Southampton]], a major port city in [[Hampshire]]. Alternatively, it may have been named for [[Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton|Henry Wriothesley]], one of the founders of the [[Virginia Company]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Thomas C.|last=Parramore|title=Southampton County, Virginia|location=Charlottesville|publisher=Southampton County Historical Society|year=1978|isbn=978-0-81390-754-3|page=29}}</ref>