Tragic Prelude by John Steuart Curry, illustrating John Brown and the clash of forces in Bleeding Kansas

One of the most controversial men in history, John Brown was known for his passionate stand against slavery, his violent and sometimes crazed rebuttals against the pro-slavery southerners, and especially for the raid on Harpers Ferry that eventually cost him his life.

John Brown

Though Brown’s initial interest in the abolition of slavery began around 1835, it was his involvement in the Bleeding Kansas conflicts in the mid-1850s that began to earn him national recognition. He turned away from the pacifistic approach taken by most northerners, advocating instead the use of violence against the tireless, and often aggressive, pro-slavery efforts of the south. In 1855, Brown and a small group of men seized and then hacked to death five pro-slavery southerners near Pottawatomie Creek in Franklin County, Kansas. But the event which branded John Brown’s name in Civil War history was his raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

For three years, Brown worked to gain support, whether that came through monetary aid, weapons and ammunition, or the followers themselves. Though many abolitionists agreed with his extremist views, most remained aloof for fear of being associated with a madman. A group that later became known as “The Secret Six” gave Brown most of the backing he needed for the raid, though they were most likely unaware of the extent of his plans. In October 1859, Brown led eighteen brave souls in an attack on the Harpers Ferry armory.

John Brown holds hostage

Though initially successful, the raiders were eventually cornered by the townspeople and captured by Robert E. Lee and his soldiers. Ten of Brown’s men, including two of his sons, were killed during the raid, but Brown and four of his men were taken capture, and on December 2 they were hanged for treason.

Announcement about the Harpers Ferry Raid

To many slaves, freed men, and northern abolitionists, this sealed Brown’s role as a martyr for the cause of abolition. John Brown’s raid became commonly known as a major catalyst for the encroaching Civil War.

After the Civil War, Frederick Douglass wrote, “Did John Brown fail? John Brown began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic. His zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light; his was as the burning sun. I could live for the slave; John Brown could die for him.”

Maniacal madman or heroic patriot? Visit our memorial page to learn more about John Brown.

The Controversial John Brown