John Brown, 1800-1859

During the 1840's and 1850's, John Brown traveled about the country to preach against the evils of slavery.  Having started out as a fervent but generally peaceful abolitionist, he came to see armed struggle as the only moral response to the violence and lawlessness involved in the exploitation of slave labor.   On October 16, 1859, in an effort to foment a slave rebellion, Brown led five black men and thirteen white men in an attack on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia.  After taking approximately ten hostages from the town and firing on an incoming train, Brown and his men barricaded themselves inside the armory building.  The following morning, the building was stormed by federal troops under the command of Robert Lee.  In the end, ten of Brown's men, including two of his sons, were killed, and Brown himself was wounded in the course of his capture.

On December 2, 1859, Brown was hanged for treason.  Over time, as his willingness to die to promote the end of slavery and his quiet acceptance of the proceedings against him were publicized throughout the country, abolitionists began to celebrate Brown as a martyr.

In a statement before his sentencing, Brown declared: "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."