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John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was an effort by abolitionist John Brown, from October 16 to 18, 1859, to initiate a slave revolt in Southern states by taking over the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia).
May 27, 2011 · Harpers Ferry Raid, assault that took place October 16–18, 1859, by an armed band of abolitionists led by John Brown on the federal armory located at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now in West Virginia). It was a main precipitating incident to the American Civil War.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- John Brown: Abolitionist Leader
- Harpers Ferry Raid: October 16-18, 1859
- John Brown Executed: December 2, 1859
Born in Connecticut in 1800 and raised in Ohio, John Browncame from a staunchly Calvinist and anti-slavery family. He spent much of his life failing at a variety of businesses–he declared bankruptcy in his early 40s and had more than 20 lawsuits filed against him. In 1837, his life changed irrevocably when he attended an abolition meeting in Clevel...
On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown and his band overran the federal arsenal. Some of his men rounded up a handful of hostages, including a few slaves. Word of the raid spread and by the following day Brown and his men were surrounded. On October 18, a company of U.S. Marines, led by Colonel Robert E. Lee(1808-70) and Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart...
Brown was tried by the state of Virginiafor treason and murder, and found guilty on November 2.The 59-year-old abolitionistwent to the gallows on December 2, 1859. Before his execution, he handed his guard a slip of paper that read, “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” I...
Oct 27, 2009 · John Brown was a militant abolitionist whose violent raid on the U.S. military armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, was a flashpoint in the pre-Civil War era.
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On the evening of October 16, 1859 John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, and a group of his supporters left their farmhouse hide-out en route to Harpers Ferry. Descending upon the town in the early hours of October 17th, Brown and his men captured prominent citizens and seized the federal armory and arsenal. Brown had hopes that the local slave ...
Nov 13, 2009 · Abolitionist John Brown leads a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed revolt of enslaved people and...
On July 3, 1859, Brown arrived in Harpers Ferry, accompanied by his sons, Oliver and Owen, and Jeremiah Anderson. In the preceding months, Brown raised money from other abolitionists and ordered weapons — pikes and guns — to be used in his war against slavery.
