Aptheker's master's thesis, a study of Nat Turner's slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831, laid the groundwork for his future work on the history of American slave revolts. Aptheker revealed Turner's heroism, demonstrating how his rebellion was rooted in resistance to the exploitative conditions of the Southern slave system. His "Negro Slave Revolts in the United States 1526–1860" (1939), includes a table of documented slave revolts by year and state. His doctoral dissertation, "American Negro Slave Revolts", was published in 1943. Doing research in Southern libraries and archives, he uncovered 250 similar episodes.