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John Brown played a key role in in the fast-moving events that led to the American Civil War in 1861. His raid on Harpers Ferry on October 16, 1859, shocked the country, pushed the North and South further apart, and made it harder for people to find a peaceful solution. And that's just the beginning of his story.
John Brown (1800-1859) was born in Torrington, Connecticut, the fourth of eight children. He failed at many jobs and by the 1850s had dedicated his life to ending slavery through violence. He believed, like in the Old Testament, that slavery was s...
John Brown isn’t often seen as an economist, but his plan to end slavery was rooted in economic disruption. He aimed to bankrupt the Southern elite by making their biggest investment—enslaved people—worthless. With the average enslaved man costing...
Would you die for a cause? John Brown’s men did.In 1859, 21 volunteers, including Brown’s sons and five Black men, gathered at a remote Maryland farm to launch a war against slavery. Their mission: liberate the enslaved through guerilla warfare.Li...
Everything proceeded perfectly, at first. Intelligence derived from one soldier, John Cook, who had been spying for Brown in and around Harpers Ferry for the previous 18 months, provided specific targets. Each soldier had an assignment. Some guard...
On the night of October 16, 1859, a contingent of John Brown’s men stormed the home of Lewis Washington, a descendant of George Washington. Brown saw symbolic power in capturing him. Led by John E. Cook—an undercover spy posing as a writer—Brown’s...
Angered by the invaders and insurrection, townspeople's tempers boiled. Atrocities occurred after local citizens, including town Mayor Fontaine Beckham, were killed during the fighting.Dangerfield Newby, a former enslaved man fighting to free his ...
President Buchanan sent U.S. Marines, led by Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee, to deal with the rebellion. At dawn on Tuesday, October 18, Lee's forces surrounded the engine house. Brown refused to surrender, stating he preferred death. Marines punched a ho...
After John Brown's capture, American people demanded answers. In the paymaster’s office, bruised and sleep-deprived, Brown’s mind remained sharp. When U.S. Senator James Mason asked who sent him, Brown replied, “I came to free the slaves, and only...
John Brown never expected to end up a prisoner in Charles Town’s jail. His raid had been a complete failure—he hadn't seized weapons, rallied enslaved people, or freed anyone. His attack was a debacle.Despite the local outcry to lynch Brown, he ha...
A strange occurrence happened at the execution of John Brown. Unlike typical 19th-century public hangings, no civilians were allowed to watch. Instead, nearly 2,000 Virginia militiamen surrounded Charles Town, ordered by Governor Henry Wise to pre...
Frederick Douglass, the most famous Black visitor to Harpers Ferry in the 19th century, came on Memorial Day 1881 to deliver a commencement address at Storer College. His speech, John Brown: An Address, honored his friend and fellow abolitionist.“...
Harpers Ferry’s most famous building isn’t a fort—it’s a fire engine house, and it’s been moved four times.The small brick armory structure was the first building seized during Brown's 1859 raid to end slavery. By morning, over 40 hostages were he...
John Brown ignited a powder keg, exploding America toward civil war. The abolitionist’s attack on Harpers Ferry fired passions over slavery, carving a canyon between North and South that no bridge could span.Southern voices like South Carolina's C...
The Civil War in West Virginia
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