Anti-Slavery Crusader John Brown John Brown was an anti-slavery crusader who beca

John Brown was an anti-slavery crusader who became an important symbol during the Civil War. In October, 1859, he led an attempted raid on the armory in Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Brown's intention was to gather arms for his small band of soldiers. Following that, he intended to lead an insurrection for the purpose of freeing black slaves throughout the South. However, Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry was unsuccessful, and he was executed on charges of treason on December 2, 1859. Despite the failure of his raid, John Brown became a symbol of the Civil War for both the North and the South. The North saw him as a martyr to the cause of emancipation. The South, on the other hand, saw him as a threat to the plantation system which depended upon slave labor for its profits.

John Brown was born in Connecticut in the year 1800. As a child, his family moved to Ohio. In 1820, Brown married his first wife, Dianthe Lusk. After bearing seven children, Dianthe died in 1832. Less than a year later, Brown married a sixteen year old girl named Mary Anne Day, who provided him with thirteen more children. As a young man, Brown tried to run a variety of business; however, for the most part he was unsuccessful in all of his attempts. He became a tanner, a postmaster, a land speculator, a sheep farmer, and a wool merchant. None of these occupations gave him financial success. In fact, in 1842, he was forced to declare bankruptcy when his sheep farming business went under.

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e had eighteen followers, and others say that he had twenty-one followers. At any rate, there is no doubt that five of the followers were black men, and that three of the followers were his sons. There is also no doubt that Brown's band of followers was pitifully small for the task that they had set out for themselves. Nevertheless, guided by Brown's fanatical vision, they began their raid on the Harper's Ferry armory on October 16. Brown and his band successfully seized the armory; however, they ran into major difficulties in carrying out the next part of their plan. The local police held the group inside the armory until reinforcements could arrive in the form of the U.S. Marines. The Marine troops, led by Robert E. Lee, were quickly able to subdue the rebels inside the armory. Ten of Brown's men, including two of his sons, were killed in the heated battle. On the morning of October 18, Brown himself was captured. He was severely wounded in the assault, but he was not killed. One of the Marines who rushed the armory stabbed Brown with a sword and then knocked him unconscious. Brown was then taken to Charleston, Virginia, where arrangements were made for him to stand trial on charges of treason. John Brown's trial

Category: History - A