oct 17, 1859 - John Brown’s Raid At Harper’s Ferry

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John Brown was a radical white abolitionist, who believed was doing “God’s work” by using violence to protest against slavery, in a similar manner to how Nat Turner saw his actions during Turner’s own rebellion. With his followers, Brown stormed the second largest armory in the United States, on October 17th 1859 (which is located in Virginia - present day West Virginia) in the hopes he would incite a slave rebellion. However, many were killed, including two of Brown’s sons, and the rest of his followers were captured. The raid was an ultimate failure, and Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859. And, despite the failure and his execution, Brown became a hero to many abolitionists, leading Southerners to belief the attack would be the first of many, and thus the Republican Party attempted to distance itself from the situation, as the South began to associate them with the event. Tensions between North and South rose drastically as a short term result, and it is arguable that Harper’s Ferry helped spark the Civil War that began a mere two years later.

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