John Brown

John Brown

John Brown was born into a deeply religious family in Torrington, Connecticut, 1800. He was heavily influenced by his father's vehement views on slavery. During adulthood he moved around many times and bore 20 children. He worked as a farmer, wool merchant, tanner, and land speculator but he never became very successful. John Brown did minor things as a young adult to promote abolitionism such as help finance David Walker's appeal and the "Call to Rebellion" speech. He gave land to fugitive slaves and he and his wife agreed to raise a black boy as an equal. In addition, he participated in the Underground Railroad and helped establish the League of Gileadites, an organization that worked to protect escaped slaves. It wasn't until 1855 that John Brown became of important significance. In 1855 John Brown moved to the Kansas territory with his five sons. He became a leader of antislavery guerillas and fought a proslavery attack against the antislavery town of Lawrence. There, he became the leader of antislavery guerillas and fought a proslavery attack against the antislavery town of Lawrence. The following year, in retribution for another attack, Brown went to a proslavery town and brutally killed five of its settlers. After this, Brown returned to the east and began to think more seriously about his plan for a war in Virginia against slavery. He sought money to fund an army he would lead. to raid the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

On October 16, Brown set out for Harpers Ferry with 21 men -- 5 blacks, including Dangerfield Newby, who hoped to rescue his wife who was still a slave, and 16 whites, two of whom were Brown's sons. Leaving after sundown, the men crossed the Potomac, and then walked all night in heavy rain, reaching the town at 4am. First they captured the federal armory and arsenal. They then captured Hall's Rifle Works, a supplier of weapons to the government. Brown and his men rounded up 60 prominent citizens of the town and held them as hostages, hoping that their slaves would join the fight. No slaves came forth. The local militia pinned Brown and his men down. Under a white flag, one of Brown's sons was sent out to negotiate with the citizens. He was shot and killed, news of the insurrection President Buchanan. Marines and soldiers went dispatched, under the leadership of then Colonel Robert E. Lee. By the time they arrived, eight of Brown's 22-man army had already been killed. Lee's men moved in and quickly ended the insurrection. Brown, who was seriously wounded, was taken to Charlestown, Virginia (now Charles Town, West Virginia), along with the other captives. In the end, ten of Brown's men were and five had escaped. The raid ultimately hastened the advent of the Civil War..

After an initial shock wave of revulsion against Brown, in the North as well as in the South, Americans were fascinated to hear what they had to say. In his 1859 trial John Brown ...