John Browns Raid at Harpers Ferry

By: Cole Kuntzman and Anton Morris

Video

•http://www.history.com/topics/harpers-ferry/videos#john-browns-raid

John Brown• John Brown was a revolutionary

abolitionist in the United States, who advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery for good.

• “I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty, land: will never be purged away; but with Blood. I had as I now think: vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed; it might be done.” (John Brown December, 2 1859)

John Brown continued • He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which

five men were killed in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas and made his name in the unsuccessful raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859.

• Later that year he was tried and executed for treason against the state of Virginia, murder, and conspiracy.

John Brown continued

• Brown has been called "the most controversial of all 19th-century Americans” and "America's first domestic terrorist.”

Harper’s Ferry

• Brown tried to seize the federal arsenal at harpers Ferry

• This was to distribute the arms to slaves in the area

• He wanted to start a general slave uprising

What Happened

• 60 of the citizens were held hostage by Brown

• Brown hoped that the slaves would join the insurrection

• No slaves came forward

What Went Wrong

• Local troops killed 8 of browns men• A detachment of marines raced to Harper’s

Ferry where brown and his men had barricaded themselves

What When Wrong continued

• “I determined to summon the insurgents to surrender... I did not expect it would be accepted.” (Colonel Robert E. Lea 1859)

• They captured Brown, and he was turned over to Virginia to be tried for treason

He was later hanged

John Brown During Trial

• “It is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty…I believe that to have interfered…in behalf of His dispraised poor is no wrong but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood… with the blood of many in the slave of the country whose rights are disregarded by wicked cruel, and unjust enactments. I say, let it be done.” (John Brown December, 2 1859)

Response from the south

• The response was equally extreme in the South, where outraged mobs assaulted whites who were suspected of holding antislavery views.

• Slaveholders were convinced the North was plotting slave uprisings everywhere.

North’s Reaction

• Northerners expressed admiration for him and for his cause

• Some Northerners began to call Brown a martyr for the sacred cause of freedom.

The Execution Divides the Country

• After the execution the south were worried that the north would plot against them

• The North was now very cautious of uprisings and rebellions of slaves

Works Cited • "Harpers Ferry Video — History.com." History.com — History Made Every Day — American &

World History. Web. 18 Oct. 2011. <http://www.history.com/topics/harpers-ferry/videos>.• "Harpers Ferry." Holt McDougal Online. Holt McDougal. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

<http://my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=9780547521602>.• "John Brown's Raid, 1859" EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2004). • Call to Freedom. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2005. Print.• Danzer, Gerald A. The Americans. Orlando, FL: Holt McDougal/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

2012. Print.• "The Battle of Harper's Ferry." The Civil War. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

<http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/may/battle-harpers-ferry.htm>.

• Images, Mark Turner. "Ghosts of Harper's Ferry, Ghosts of Antietam." Mark Turner's Mysterious World. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://markturnersmysteriousworld.blogspot.com/2011/05/ghosts-of-harpers-ferry.html>.

• "John Brown Attack at Harpers Ferry Arsenal Virginia 1859." American Civil War History Timelines Battle Map Pictures. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://americancivilwar.com/John-Brown-1859-attack.html>.