John Brown Madman or Martyr

Lesson 18: The Union in Peril part 8

In 1859, three years after killing five men in Kansas, John Brown once again lashed out at proslavery forces. This time he planned a war in Virginia against slavery.

His plan was for him and his men to establish a base in the Blue Ridge Mountains from which they would assist runaway slaves and launch attacks on slaveholders.

At least that was the plan that the militant abolitionist had described to potential funders in 1857. But his plans would change. 

Brown also met Frederick Douglass in August of 1859, when Brown told his friend of his intentions of seizing the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry rather than staging guerilla warfare from the mountains.

Brown’s new plan was to arm slaves with the weapons he and his men seized from the arsenal. He believed the slaves would then rise up against their masters, more slaves would join them, and eventually the rebellion would end slavery once and for all in America.

Attacking the arsenal was in effect attacking the federal government and, in Douglass' estimation, a grave mistake. “You will never get out alive."

On October 16, Brown set out for Harpers Ferry with 21 men -- 5 blacks, and 16 whites, two of whom were Brown's sons.

Leaving after sundown, the men crossed the Potomac, reaching the town at 4am. They cut telegraph wires, then made their assault. First they captured the federal armory and arsenal.

Brown and his men rounded up 60 prominent citizens of the town and held them as hostages, hoping that their slaves would join the fight. No slaves came forth. 

The local militia pinned Brown and his men down. Under a white flag, one of Brown's sons was sent out to negotiate with the citizens. He was shot and killed. 

News of the insurrection, relayed by the conductor of an express train heading to Baltimore, reached President Buchanan. Marines and soldiers went dispatched, under the leadership of then Colonel Robert E. Lee.

Lee's men moved in and quickly ended the insurrection.

In the end, ten of Brown's men were killed (including both of his sons), seven were captured (two of these later), and five had escaped. 

Brown, who was seriously wounded, was taken to Charlestown, Virginia, along with the other captives to await trial.

Charged with murder, insurrection, and treason against the state of Virginia, John Brown -- leader of the raid on Harpers Ferry -- lay wounded on a cot in the courtroom. He had requested that the proceedings be delayed by one day to allow time for his lawyer to arrive. This request was denied.

He was assigned a lawyer who, against Brown's wishes, set out to prove his client insane. 

The court found Brown guilty and asked if there was any reason why a sentence of death should not be pronounced. He stated that he had never intended to kill, or destroy property, or incite slaves to rebellion. He referred to the Bible. “To have interfered as I have done," he stated, ". . . in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right." 

“Now, if it be deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children, and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit: so let it be done."

Frederick Douglass said of John Brown in a speech, “If John Brown did not end the war that ended slavery, he did at least begin the war that ended slavery.