On October 16, 1859, john Brown led a little army of 18 men right into the small town of Harper"s Ferry, Virginia. His arrangement was to instigate a significant slave rebellion in the South. He would certainly seize the arms and ammunition in the federal arsenal, arm slaves in the area and move south along the Appalachian Mountains, attracting servants to his cause. He had no rations. He had no to escape route. His arrangement was doomed from the very beginning. Yet it did succeed to deepen the divide between the North and South.
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John Brown and his cohorts marched into an unsuspecting Harper"s Ferry and seized the federal facility with little resistance. It consisted of an armory, arsenal, and also engine house. That then sent a patrol out right into the nation to contact slaves, collected several hostages, consisting of the great grandnephew that George Washington, and also sat down to wait. The slaves did not increase to his support, yet local citizens and also militia surrounded him, trading gunfire, killing 2 townspeople and also eight of Brown"s company. Troops under the command of lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee come from Washington to arrest Brown. Castle stormed the engine house, wherein Brown had actually withdrawn, caught him and also members that his group, and turned them end to Virginia authorities to be tried because that treason. The was easily tried and sentenced to hang on December 2.
Brown"s strange initiative to start a rebellion to be over less than 36 hrs after that started; however, the after-effects of his raid would last far longer. In the North, his raid to be greeted by countless with prevalent admiration. While they recognized the raid itself was the plot of a madman, part northerners admired his zeal and also courage. Church bells pealed top top the day of his execution and songs and paintings were developed in his honor. Brown was turned into an instant martyr. Ralph Waldo Emerson predicted that Brown would certainly make "the gallows as glorious as the cross." The majority of northern newspapers did, however, denounce the raid. The Republican Party adopted a particular plank condemning john Brown and his ill-fated plan. Yet that was no what the south saw.
Southerners to be shocked and outraged. How could anyone be sympathetic to a fanatic who destroyed their property and also threatened their an extremely lives? How can they live under a federal government whose citizens related to John Brown together a martyr? Southern newspapers labeled the whole north as john Brown sympathizers. Southern political leaders blamed the Republican Party and falsely declared that Abraham Lincoln supported Brown"s intentions. Middle voices supporting compromise on both sides grew silent between the gathering storm. In this climate of fear and hostility, the election year of 1860 opened up ominously. The election of Abraham Lincoln became unthinkable to countless in the south.
Henry David Thoreau: A Plea because that Captain man BrownOn the day man Brown to be to be executed for leading the raid in ~ Harper"s ferry, Henry David Thoreau delivered this deal with in assistance of Brown whom he called "...a man of principle, of rare courage, and specialized humanity; ready to sacrifice his life at any moment because that the benefit of his fellow-man." with characteristic sarcasm, package denounced political leaders, ordinary citizens, and even part anti-slavery activists for no recognizing Brown as a hero. Thought-provoking and easy-to-read.
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John Brown and the valley of the ShadowThe valley of the Shadow project at the university of Virginia has produced a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the Harper"s Ferry Raid. There space pictures and short biographies of all the conspirators, accounts of eyewitnesses, newspaper reports and also editorials ~ above the raid, Brown"s trial and also execution, a timeline, maps, and much more.
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John Brown"s Raid on Harper"s Ferry (Oct.-Dec. 1859)How to be the news the Brown"s raid in ~ Harper"s Ferry, his trial and execution reported? Furman University"s Secession Era Editorials job has produced a webpage specialized to 2 dozen reports and editorials from papers on both political parties of the Mason-Dixon line. Follow the links to onsite transcripts of the articles. An excellent reading!
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Take a virtual tour of the Kennedy farm wherein John Brown plotted to seize Harper"s Ferry, or "John Brown"s Fort" where he holed up till he to be captured.Learn More...
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