¶ … John Brown's Raid lead to the Civil War?
In 1859, John Brown led an attack on a federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry in Virginia with the hope of arming slaves for a revolt against their masters. The plot failed and Brown was captured and hanged. Northern abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison,
Horace Greeley, and Frederick Douglas hailed Brown as a martyr, but Southerners viewed him as a crazed lunatic. The fanatical and probably mentally unstable Brown confirmed the South's worst fears of radical abolitionism when he made this attempt to galvanize a slave uprising. This was the most noted attempt at a genuine slave revolt since Nat Turner's revolt of 1831. This "act of war" enraged the South. Newspapers throughout the South were crying for John Brown's death. The Mobile Register wrote,
The ark of covenent has been desecrated. For the first time the soil of the South has been invaded and its blood has been shed upon its own soil by armed abolitionists" who invoked our slaves to rebellion" (Oates 320). "The Harper's Ferry invasion has advanced the cause of Disunion more than any other event that has happened since the formation of the Government" (Oates 323).
His impractical plan was to use guns from the federal arsenal (which he specifically targeted) to arm Virginia's slaves. Federal troops, under the command of Robert E. Lee captured Brown and his band after a two-day siege.
Some moderates in the North, including Lincoln, condemned Brown's actions...
The raid itself was an act deemed a form of terrorism, a term not then used but one that has been applied to Brown since. In some ways, the term fits, for he attacked in order to provoke an incident and to create fear in order to generate support for a wider war. Like many terrorists, he had a strong moral conviction and a belief in the rightness of
Overall, it can be concluded that John Brown was and remains a controversial figure in the history of the United States. His personality has been the subject of debate, as well as his intentions to incite the American people to rebellion against the system. However, probably the most important question his existence raised was over the actual legitimacy of the use of violence in attaining one's goals, no matter their
With Brown's plans found at the location, it had been clear that the rebellion had been premeditated. This meant that Brown had committed a capital offense, making it impossible for him to be charged with murder in second degree. It did not take more than an hour for the jury to find Brown guilty, sentencing him to death by hanging in December 2, 1859. John Brown did not live to
Many of the historians will suggest that the John Brown's raid over Harper Lee and his quick execution leaded to the inevitable civil war. Why would the South turn almost permanently to secession after 1859? Despite of all the support John Brown gains from the Northern abolitionist writers, his actions were violent, terroristic and heinous. Even Abraham Lincoln who was trying to assuage Southern and Northern parts to solve out the
John Brown's Harper's Ferry raid on the abolition of slavery. Brown has variously been referred to as a madman, terrorist, and murderer; others have called him a saint, hero, and a martyr. Regardless of one's opinion of Brown the human being, his place in history and his impact on ending slavery cannot be denied. Deranged or no, Brown was a driven man who lived the courage of his convictions. There
John Brown's Raid And The Secession Crisis The American Civil War is considered as an event that was the culmination of several confrontations regarding the institution of slavery. The series of confrontations involved several people including John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. John Brown was an abolitionist who led a group of 21 men to capture the federal armory of Harpers Ferry (which is currently known as West Virginia). Together with these
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