John Brown Research

Aaron Rohrbacker Per. 3 Mrs. Wright/Mrs. Bykowski

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry

Although many argue that there were a diverse amount of causes of the Civil War, one instance stands out above the rest; John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry was one of the main influences of the Civil War. “Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it.” (Malcolm X) Malcolm X was a Black equal rights leader who fought for justice and equality, as did John Brown. He knew that nothing would be solved by bargains and compromises, so he took matters into his own hands and fought for what he felt was right. Robert Purvis called John Brown “The Jesus Christ of the 19th century” (Ferrell, Claudine. The Abolitionist Movement, 100) in many ways this rings true, he died in order to save the lives of many African Americans and ensure their freedom in the United States. Brown was an active abolitionist long before his famous raid. He saw slavery as a sin against God; this view inspired him to be a “Conductor” on the Underground Railroad and to gain many followers. With his large group of followers he would raid plantations and free slaves. () His actions would later aggrandize until he finally crossed The Rubicon and went too far. Through his abolitionist actions John Brown gained many followers, 6 of which who came to be known as “The Secret Six” financially organized the raid.(Life and Trial

of John Brown) On October 16th 1859(), John brown and 21 of his followers 5 of which were black took over Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. They put a complete lockdown on the city. Harper’s Ferry is located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in Northern Virginia (; it was a vital arsenal location. Brown rallied his men at Adam Kennedy’s Farmhouse 5 miles away from the Ferry. Early in the morning, Brown took on the Herculean task of capturing Harper’s Ferry. After Brown took the town, nobody found out about it until 9 hours after it took place. During this time, Brown and his men went through the town freeing slaves and giving them weapons (Simmons, Henry. A Concise Encyclopedia of the Civil War. 104). One of the biggest flaws was that Brown and his men inadvertently let a passing train through the city that later warned of the raid. The morning after Robert E. Lee attacked the unsuspecting group that occupied the arsenal and rifle works at Harper’s Ferry, after a long battle between Lee’s army and Brown’s followers, 10 of Brown’s men were killed and Brown was captured(). Out of Brown’s 21 men the first to die was a freed slave. (Simmons 104) Later, after he was captured, John Brown gave a powerful courtroom speech that moved many abolitionists in the north(Simmons 43). On his execution day, all black businesses closed down (Claudine, 100); on December 2, 1859 John Brown was hanged in Charlestown, West Virginia. His execution made him a martyr in the north during the Civil War. (Simmons 43) Brown’s actions had a tremendous effect on the country in the time before the Civil War(Simmons 103). The raid intensified sectionalism in America; it pushed the

southerners to hate all northerners, not just abolitionists. Most importantly it forced Americans to radical ends (); there was no middle ground any longer; you were either a Rebel or a Yankee. In the end, The Raid on Harper’s Ferry intensified sectional bitterness in AnteBellum America and eventually led to the Civil War. John Brown’s heroic effort to gain the rights of slaves in America was not forgotten. Henry David Thoreau stated that John Brown was “A man of rare common sense and directness of speech, as of action; a transcendentalist above all, a man of ideas and principles- that was what distinguished him.” Brown was seen as a martyr in the North and an abomination in the South. Nevertheless, John Brown was a meritorious man who inspired the feelings that started the Civil War.