John Brown Martyr

John Brown was born May 9th,1800 in Torrington, Connecticut he was a 19th-century abolitionist. He had two wives and about five sons. John was first married in 1820 to Dianthe Lusk until she died in the 1830’s, he then remarried in 1833 to Mary Ann Day. He is known for his raid on the Harpers Ferry on October 16, 1859. His goal was to capture supplies from the federal armory at the Harpers Ferry and use them to arm a slave rebellion. He believed in dominating the slavery system.

When Kansas was split and Nebraska was created, popularity sovereignty was declared in both states. Pro-slavery Missourians “poured into the territories” to claim this “up-for-grabs” state as theirs, making the state a slave state (Lost Museum). By the time Missourians arrived, the anti-slavery forces that had arrived outnumbered them and claimed Kansas as a free state. Slavery supporters used weapons and violence to make their opinions and voices heard. When Abolitionists like John Brown heard about this, they quickly traveled to Kansas to see if they could help. Brown responded to these acts of violence by executing the Pottawatomie Massacre of 1856. Brown and some of his supporters dragged five men, who were for slavery, out of their homes and

Bleeding Kansas was a series of conflicts between anti slavery people and pro slavery people. Bleeding Kansas started when they needed to decide if Kansas would be with the North or South and they did this by voting. Since there wasn’t many good records of who was a citizen in this time many people from

John Brown was very similar to Nat Turner they both believed that they were chosen by god to lead slaves into freedom and if that required a fight then that was what they had to do. John Brown had a goal and that was to abolish slavery throughout the united states. The trouble in Kansas began when the Nebraska Act was signed by President Pierce, this act engaged that people make a determination on whether Kansas territory should be free or slave. In hopes that Kansas would become free of slaves, the opposing side which was named Border Ruffians invaded their territory and forced the pro-slavery election. After John heard about the fear of Kansas becoming a slave state and after also hearing that the Border Ruffians ransacked the town of Lawrence

John Brown a man who despise black people; also was a slavery owner. He was born in Torrington, but he spent almost his whole childhood in Ohio. John had sons which when he beat slaves his sons helped him to abuse them. Also early 1850s he made and army which went on a mission to foment rebellion among the slaves. John his three sons moved away just because they had and escape plan for several slaves. To be honest; John was a very hateful person to African Americans.

Then in 1859, they got even more threatened by the raid on Harper’s Ferry. John Brown led 18 men on a raid, they men were a mixed of white and African American. John Brown was targeting an arsenal, which is a storage unit for weapons and ammunition. Brown also wanted to start a rebellion, by giving weapons the slaves, so they would kill their owners with the weapons from the arsenal. Local citizens and federal troops quickly stopped them, Brown himself was convicted of treason and murder and was sentenced to be hung. An uproar in the North started, some northerners disliked what Brown had done. While many of the others thought he was a hero for his act of bravery. He was later called a martyr, a person who dies for what he believes in, by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

John Brown’s beliefs about slavery and activities to destroy it hardly represented the mainstream of northern society in the years leading up to the Civil War. This rather unique man, however, has become central to an understanding and in some cases misunderstandings about the origins of the Civil War. The importance of Brown’s mission against slavery was colossal to accelerating the civil war between the North and the South. His raid on Harpers Ferry in1859 divided the United States like nothing else before, and could have been the main event leading to the Civil War.

On October 16, 1859 John Brown and 19 others lad a raid on Harpers Ferry. Their planning behind this was to capture

Douglas, led to the event called the Bloody Kansas. This event showed that people would kill over the issue of slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed Kansas and Nebraska to decide whether they wanted to have slavery or not through popular sovereignty. This act also pretty much repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which further enraged northerners.The Senate thought that Nebraska would be a free state and Kansas would be a slave state. Nebraska had a peaceful vote, but many pro-slavery, and anti-slavery supporter flooded Kansas, and set up 2 separate legislatures, trying to make Kansas a free/slave state. Violence arose when anti-slavery supporters, led by John Brown, attacked the pro-slavery supporters. President Franklin Pierce had to send federal troops to stop the attacks, and disbanded the anti-slavery legislature. After the the legislature was disbanded, another election was held and the pro-slavery won, but Congress didn’t recognize the new constitution made by the settlers, and kansas didn’t enter the country. Kansas finally entered the country as a free state in 1861, and was admitted into the country right before the civil war. A notable event in the Bloody Kansas ordeal, was the Pottawatomie

Numerous people thought he was a hero because he assisted slaves. John Brown was part of two companies that rescued slaves, but John Brown took part in killing a master (owner of slave/slaves) which defeats the purpose of helping. He thought by saving some slaves, people would hopefully follow along. He thought it would raise awareness about the problem. But not everyone agreed with John Brown’s opinions, so it ended up causing more arguments with citizens, government, and states.

John Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut on the 9th of May in 1800. John Brown's parents were Owen and Ruth Brown. John had 6 siblings, and he was the 3rd oldest among the 6. Growing up Owen Brown taught his children of the Calvinists

The role John Brown played the Civil War began in Kansas with his leading a "guerilla attack" on five pro-slavery men, on May 24, 1856. The targeted men were dragged, one after the other, from their homes and brutally murdered (Schultz, Mays, Winfree, 2010). The encounters were organized with the intention to rid the Pottawatomie creek area of all pro-slavery men that lived there (historynet.com). The strategy was designed as a counter attack for the Lawrence incident against abolitionists three days previously. The term "Bleeding Kansas" refers to the outbreak of violence the area experienced and suffered through. The division of Kansas at this time, half abolitionist and half pro-slavery, had caused a terrible friction throughout the territory.

John Brown was an american abolitionist known for many things. Some saw him as crazy, others as noble, and there were even those who viewed him as a terrorist. Most notably, he was known for being a patriot, by being able to stand for what he believed in, caring for others, and for wanting a better america.

“Hey Sweetie, you got some mail from University of Chicago.” My mother called out to me in Chinese as soon I dragged my exhausted body through the door. “Take a look at it!”

After the bill was passed, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed in to settle in Kansas to affect the outcome of the first election. Pro-slavery settlers won the election, but were charged with fraud by anti-slavery settlers. The anti-slavery settlers held another election, but the pro-slavery settlers refused to vote. This resulted in two opposing legislatures within the Kansas territory. The opposition created violence between the two groups, causing many bloody battles that greatly increased the death rate, giving Kansas the nickname “Bleeding Kansas”. President Pierce, supporting pro-slavery, sent in Federal troops to stop the violence and disperse the anti-slavery legislature. Another election was held and pro-slavery supporters won. They were again charged with election fraud. As a result, Congress did not recognize the constitution the pro-slavery settlers adopted, and Kansas wasn’t allowed to become a state. Eventually,