In 1859, John Brown raided Harpers Ferry because he wanted the slaves to rise up and revolt so the area could become free, but it could be suggested that he did it because he was insane. He had studied other abolitionists such as Toussaint L’Ouverture and Nat Turner to create his plan to raid Harpers Ferry. When the slaves didn’t revolt with him, he was arrested and executed for murder and treason. The country’s opinion was divided on the matter.
Many southerners or non-abolitionists were disgusted with his actions. Lincoln, although he opposed slavery, compared the brown affair to the assassination of kings and emperors and goes on to state that “an enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people till he fancies himself commissioned by
John Brown, an abolistionist who previously murdered five proslavery men in 1856, seized a federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His plan was to start a slave uprising, however it failed and he was caught, he was hanged for treason. Document 7 states that both sides, North and South, were both basically surprised; however some Northerners "began to call Brown a martyr for the sacred cause of freedom." Southerners were outraged that such a man would do this, and mobs would even assault people who held or were suspected of holding antislavery opinions. It also scared Southerners (especially those who held slaves) because they were afraid of slave uprisings. This was one step to the Union
Throughout this time, the North was growing rapidly due to its industrial economy. They had more railroad mileage, industry, income, population, and ultimately more representation in Congress. In addition, the South was subject to high tariff laws that made it very hard for southern farmers to trade internationally. The result was a strong centralized government in the North, and an agrarian culture in the South that was solely dependent on slavery. Any attack against the institution of slavery in the South could potentially disintegrate the states in the South. In 1859, this fear became a reality as John Brown, an extreme abolitionist, led a raid on at Harpers Ferry. Although this uprising was brought down and denounced by Northern Republicans, slave owners believed that all abolitionists and Northerners shared the same radical views as John Brown.
Referred to as a “antislavery zealot” by some and as a “heroic hand” by others, John Brown was certainly one who stained history with blood. John Brown’s conduction of anti-slavery raids to fight “fire with fire”, triggered by his radical ways to fight the tyranny that was slavery,Brown impacted the whole country. During this time most anti-slavery supporters were peaceful and only tried to fight slavery “morally”, however John Brown lead many anti slavery raids his most famous and the one which he would have to pay with his life being, the Harpers Ferry Raid. The seizing of federal armory and arsenal with a group of men with just a mere hope of the local slave population helping him in order to reach success and create a nation wide effect failed miserably when the slavery population frightened did not join his raid. Captured, John Brown delivered one of the most enticing and alluring speech during his trial, his last speech, his address to the court in which he admits his actions in his “crusade” to fight slavery as well as patronizingly accepts his punishment without regret or remorse. In his speech he address one objection, being that if he was fighting on behalf of the rich, high class and those who supported and benefited from the tyrant slavery system,he would have been rewarded and praised instead of punished, proving that once again the tyrant, oppresing, racist and discriminating federal government was being run by bias men who aimed to keep the inhuman hierarchy
Some may say that John Brown actually helped the gain of Lincoln’s presidency. His actions increased the Republican’s party’s chance of winning. Even after Lincoln was elected president, John Brown continued to shine. He managed to shake an image of insurrection in the minds of many of the South and North. In addition, he polarized the two dividing sections. Some saw Brown as a terrorist, whereas others saw him as a hero. His ideas where quarreled upon and talked about by many. With the Harper’s Ferry attack being the most prominent, his acts didn’t go away unnoticed. People, particularly in the North, began to see the big possibility of the North taking substantial measures to overthrow slavery. John Brown took abolitionism to higher degree that no other abolitionist took before. With his use of destructive protesting, a legitimate conclusion can be made that John Brown helped speed up the Civil War by wasting no time to take extreme action about abolishing slavery. If John Brown had not done his doings, the seriousness of slavery wouldn’t have been taken as quickly as it
What happened at the Harper's Ferry raid was John Brown lead small group raids against armories in Harper’s Ferry he led them 5 times hoping to start slave riots but none of his goals came true.He soon became desperate that he and his 5 sons went from his home to a couple of cabins were they attacked men and killed 5 of them starting many conflicts in the territory over the summer and many more died("From the
John Brown thought that the way to overthrow slavery was through violence. John Brown also killed Pro slavery residents or to be more specific civilians that were pro slavery. He also justified his actions by saying it was the will of God, that he committed those murders according to Biography.com.
John Brown led a midnight attack on the pro-slavery settlement as retaliation for the raid that caused the death of two and destruction of a hotel and two printing presses; five people were killed by Brown and his following; Brown's sons and their
“John Brown (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was a radical abolitionist from the United States, who advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery for good. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas and made his name in the unsuccessful raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859. He was tried and executed for treason against the
Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry affected American culture more than can ever be understood. Tension between the North and South was building in the 1850's. Slavery among many other things was dividing the country into two sections. Brown was executed on December 2, 1859 for his murderous out-lash on society. Was his mind so twisted and demented that he would commit cold-blooded murder? The answer is no. John Brown was a man with a goal and a purpose. When he said that abolition could not be achieved without blood he was right. It is one of histories great ironies; John Brown's struggle preceded the Civil War by only 17 months. Thousands of people were killed in the Civil War, yet John Brown
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.
The Northern abolitionists also rallied behind the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, and the raid on Harper’s Ferry. The Dred Scott v. Sandford decision in 1857, quickly became a topic of controversy amongst abolitionists after the Supreme Court ruling stated that Dred Scott would remain a slave after being taken to free states by John Emerson, the man who owned Scott. A year later, John Brown, a radical abolitionist, led a group of men and took control of a federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. While the government convicted and hung Brown, the sacrifice made, evolved into a point behind which many abolitionists rallied as Brown became known as “the first white man to die for slavery”. The Dred Scott decision and the Harper’s Ferry raid
John brown is really only mentioned in relationship to Pottawatomie, Kansas and harpers ferry. History textbooks often present Brown as “almost certainly insane, mentally ill, probably of unsound mind, and crackbrained.” Loewen emphasizes how John Browns views are often neglected, going from what he actually was, a man who really helped out the slaves of America, to just a really crazy man. This is exactly what James Loewen wants people of the world to understand, that textbooks sometimes give only the brief information about people or ideas. For example with President Lincoln, Loewen states (page 182)“Most of our textbooks say nothing about Lincoln’s internal debate.
When people of the Opposition considered the situation, they analyze the cause of an event while examining the other viewpoints. Nonetheless, the newspaper first described John Brown’s Raid as a fearful riot where “blood has been shed, lives have been lost, and property destroyed” (Republican Banner and Nashville Whig). Then, these people of the Opposition stated that “some it is attributed to an insane and fanatical attempt by the abolitionists to incite a slave insurrection Maryland and Virginia” (Republican Banner and Nashville Whig). They were correct, because these immediatist abolitionists with the intent to make slaves rebel against their masters by planning to take over Harper’s Ferry Armory, or United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry. At Harper’s Ferry Armory, there was an arsenal of thousands weapons. John Brown intended to solely use the rifles for administering to slaves, but his plans were known in advance of the raid. The plan was to take numerous weapons from the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry Armory with the belief that hundreds of slaves would join Brown and his
In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown, led a violent attack. He and his band of 21 men and attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. They hoped to spark a slave rebellion that would end slavery, and in John Brown's words, "purge this land with blood." Brown's attack was one of the final causes that sparked the Civil War.
During the 1850s, Douglas was in the fore front in abolishing slavery, which was threatening, to tear the country apart. In the beginning, Douglas felt that John Brown’s anti- slavery ideas and plans were suicidal and he refused to engage in a raid on Harper Ferry. Brown’s activities saw him captured and hanged, an act which