John Brown
The Spark of Chaos
Scott Strukel
Junior Division, Paper
The year was 1812. The country was the United States of America. The state was Michigan.
Along came a little boy, about 12 years of age. Traveling on the road, he observed something he
would never forget. He saw a young child, a slave boy, being beaten. This experience led that
boy to become abolitionist John Brown. John Brown would help spark the civil war, with his
actions and determination to take a stand for equality of all people. My objective in the following
paper is to place John Brown in his world and then to see how he helped to bring about the most
terrible conflict in American history.
John Brown was born in Connecticut in 1800 to a very religious and anti-slavery family.
Also in 1800, the first large slave uprising occurred in Virginia. His parents were Owen and
Ruth. When he was five years old he moved to Ohio. When John was in his teens,
he became a trouble maker. He was bossy, aggressive and rough. In 1820 John
Brown married Dianthe Lusk. They had seven children, but she died in 1832. He
married again in 1833 to Mary Ann Day. They had thirteen children. Not all of the
children survived. Even though John Brown was not a model child, he became a
model citizen. He gave money, food, and clothing to needy people. He taught Sunday school,
built a schoolhouse and hired a teacher. He had a number of businesses and many failed.
In 1837, Brown’s life changed when he attended an abolition meeting in Cleveland,
Ohio. He was so moved by the speakers that he publicly announced his dedication to destroying
slavery in the United States. As early as 1848, he was making his plans to reach his goal.
In John Brown’s life, he met many people like himself, who were anti-slavery. In 1847,
he met the speaker and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass. John Brown eventually believed it
would be necessary to use violence to end slavery. In 1856, he and a group of men killed five
proslavery settlers in Pottawatomie Creek. In 1858, John Brown helped a group of slaves escape
from a Missouri homestead and helped them travel to freedom in Canada.
In the early 1800’s slavery was legal in the southern U.S., but prohibited in the north.
Due to the Missouri Compromise, slavery was outlawed in any U.S territory north of latitude 36
degrees 30 degrees. Maine was admitted in 1820 as a free state while Missouri came in at 1821
as a slave state.
The compromise of 1850 made by Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Stephen Douglas,
made it so California was a free state, while Utah and New Mexico were yet to be decided.
Selling slaves in Washington D.C also became illegal. Also part of the Compromise, it made it
easier for slaves to be returned to their masters if they tried escaping.
In 1851, a book still read today, was written about slavery. It was called “ Uncle Tom’s
Cabin” and was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The book became a bestseller and broke
records for sales. This book brought the news about the cruelty of slavery to the public. It
outraged the northern states, causing more problems between the North and South. The
southerners grew more dependent on the slaves for their economy. The U.S. now had a market
economy due to new inventions and new ways to move goods, like roads and ships. The revival
of strong, religious beliefs and other social reforms, caused great friction within the country. The
new states of Kansas and Nebraska had the population decide on slavery by vote. In Kansas, this
caused conflict.
Elijah Lovejoy, an abolitionist newspaperman was shot to death in Illinois in 1837. A
few days later, John Brown and his father, went to a memorial service for Mr. Lovejoy in Ohio.
The minister gave an emotional antislavery sermon and denounced Lovejoy's murderers. This
stirred John Brown and he announced that he swore to devote his life to destroy slavery across
the United States.
In 1850, he befriended a group of African Americans in Ohio. He urged the 44 men to
join his organization with the purpose to murder slave catchers and commissioners charged with
enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law. He then proceeded to gather men to form a small force and
travel to the mountains of Alabama to raid plantations and free their slaves.
As he began working on the anti-slavery cause, he met most of the prominent opponents
of slavery, including Frederick Douglass. John Brown became disgusted with American life. He
lost faith in the nation’s leaders. He despised politicians. He was ready to sacrifice his principles
for his beliefs. He also grew to dislike most abolitionists. He liked and considered Frederick
Douglass a friend. He felt the others were all talk and no action. The abolitionists held the
money, so he had to pretend to get along.
Several clashes between the two groups (anti-slavery & slavery) began occurring in 1855,
including the one at Pottawatomie Creek. Brown gathered his group for a secret mission of
revenge. They were out to destroy the pro-slavery group that destroyed the anti-slavery
settlement of Lawrence, Kansas. In the process, they hacked to death men and John Brown shot a
man in the head. They continued on and shot and killed more people in what was called “The
Night Of Terror”. John Brown also suffered a personal loss during the mission as his son died
during the battle. In 1856, the military was called in to maintain order and arrest John Brown, but
he fled.
By spring 1858, John Brown was back east. In March, he gathered the abolitionists and
began to introduce the details of his plan. These men, like John Brown, came to believe slavery
could be destroyed. In May, he went to Canada to try and recruit runaway slaves to go back
south and lead a slave rebellion. They liked his idea but refused to go back. By this time, his
friends knew the details of his plan. His plan was to first liberate slaves on the nearby plantations
and arm them with the weapons they’d captured at the Federal Armory and Arsenal at Harper’s
Ferry. His slave army would spread through Maryland and Virginia, freeing and arming slaves
as they crossed the countryside. From there, they would spread all over the South for a total slave
rebellion. In fear that the Secretary of War would discover their plan, they traveled back to
Kansas to cause more mischief and throw off the government. In general, his closest allies
thought his Harper's Ferry plan far-fetched. In Kansas, they voted against pro-slavery and
became a free state in 1861. John Brown continued to recruit people for the Harpers Ferry raid.
He also made raids into Missouri again. He liberated slaves, killed a slave owner, and
confiscated horses and equipment. President Buchanan placed a bounty on John Brown's head of
$250. Brown's followers were excited that if he could free slaves in Missouri, he could
elsewhere.
In January 1859, he left Kansas with his followers to go back east. He sent one of his
men, John Cook, to Harpers Ferry. He was to get a job and scout the town. Brown headed to
Boston to raise money and recruit more men and weapons. He finally went home to North Elba,
New York, to say goodbye to his wife and family.
Harpers Ferry was located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western Virginia. It sat
between two rivers, the Shenandoah and Potomac. These rivers powered the factories where the
government made arms. The population of the town was 2,500 and half of those were free black
residents. Thousands of slaves lived in the nearby counties.
In early July, John Brown rented a farmhouse in the area. His army, at this time, was
twenty-two men, including himself. Brown was disappointed by the numbers. He was
disappointed his friend, Frederick Douglass, had decided not to join the slave rebellion.
Douglass and other abolitionists began to doubt Brown's ability to capture and hold the Arsenal
and whether the slaves would join his rebellion. In August, some of his followers, who believed
the raid would end up a disaster, sent an anonymous letter to Washington. The Secretary of War
thought it was a hoax. Brown was confident he and his men could pull off the raid, with federal
troops 75 miles away. He was convinced slaves were ready to fight for their freedom.
Brown told his recruits they may not succeed, “ We have here only one life to live, and
once to die, and if we lose our lives it will perhaps do more for the cause than our lives would be
worth the other way”( John Brown, 1859). He spent months on the farm waiting for the perfect
time to attack. He repeatedly trained his men for the attack, to avoid any errors. As he waited,
supplies arrived, too.
In October, with his last men arriving, Brown gather all his troops and headed to
Harper’s Ferry. He left three men to guard the farm. As they neared town, they cut the telegraph
lines, so no alarms could be sent out. They captured the night watchmen at one bridge and then
the second bridge, to gain control of the town. They then captured the guards of the Arsenal and
Armory buildings, which held thousands of weapons
for the federal army. He threatened anyone who
stood in his way. He felt he had gained control of all
the weapons, and demanded release of all the slaves
in the state. He left his men to guard the Armory. His
next target was a rifle factory. They successfully took
over the factory and set up a command post. More men traveled to the outlying areas. Most
importantly, they took hostage of Colonel Lewis Washington, George Washington's
great-grandnephew. They took Harper’s Ferry residents as captives, too.
After midnight, things began to slowly fall apart. A night watchmen came upon John Brown’s
men and was shot at. He was able to escape to the railroad station. He spread the news of the
invaders. At 1:30, a train that normally passed through the town, was warned of a potential
robbery and stopped. The train conductor and a party of other local men confronted John
Brown’s son Oliver, who’d been stationed at the railroad bridge. Oliver fired a warning shot but
not all the men went for cover and Oliver’s partner shot one of the locals, fatally. Ironically, the
dead man was a free black man. Now the citizens were aware of Brown’s presence and armed
themselves and hit the streets. Brown allowed the train to leave on the condition they wouldn’t
tell but of course, they told everyone at the next stops. News of their rebellion spread like
wildfire with much of the information being greatly exaggerated. News also reached President
Buchanan and the Virginia militia was put on alert. The militia arrived by 11:00 am and poured
into Harper’s Ferry and began to attack John Brown’s forces. Brown soon realized he was
trapped. They were unable to escape. Brown tried to make a deal using hostages. But all efforts
at making a deal failed. The gathered armed locals called for John Brown and his men to be
executed on the spot. Some of John Brown’s men tried to escape but were all shot. John Brown
and his followers still hadn't given up. They were still shooting at the mob and one bullet hit the
Mayor of Harper’s Ferry. The Mayor’s will stated upon death his slaves would be freed. They
were the only slaves freed in the rebellion. John Brown was finally defeated when the U.S. Navy,
led by Colonel Robert E. Lee, captured him and four other of his men. All the rest of his men had
been killed.
John Brown’s attempt to abolish slavery failed. People were killed and the slaves refused
to rise against their masters. John Brown and his men were taken into custody and charged with
conspiracy to incite a slave rebellion, treason against Virginia, and murder. The trial took place
in Charles Town, Virginia, from October 25th to November 2nd. He was so ill during the trial,
he spent most of it on a cot in the courtroom. He still preached his opinion of anti-slavery to the
end of the trial. He still commanded respect from followers even though he broke the law. He did
not believe he was wrong. His family wanted him to plead insanity. John Brown believed he was
doing what God wanted.
On October 31st, the jury found John Brown guilty of all charges. The judge asked him if
he had anything he wanted to say. John Brown said “ Yes”. First he declared his innocence. Then
he gave a speech that Ralph Waldo Emerson compared to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address. He spoke to the court, reporters and to the American public. He was sentenced to hang.
He continued to send letters to friends from jail, spreading his beliefs. He had not seen his wife
for six months and he told her not to come. On December 2nd, he was calm and collected. There
was a crowd at the scaffold. In the crowd was actor John Wilkes Booth. He was executed at
11:35.
America’s reaction to John Brown differed in the north and south. The south
thought he was a criminal, out to destroy their economy. Abolitionists of the north,
thought John Brown was doing God’s work by ending slavery in America. Other
anti-slavery people did not believe in John Brown’s methods but thought change should
come by legal methods. Abraham Lincoln condemned Brown’s methods. Ralph Waldo
Emerson and Henry David Thoreau believed in John Brown. Emerson quoted, “ That
new saint, then whom none purer or more brave was ever led by love of men into conflict
and death, the new saint awaiting his martyrdom, and who, if he shall suffer, will make
the gallows glorious like the cross”( Ralph Emerson, 1859). African Americans saw John
Brown as a hero, as Moses, who’d tried to lead them out of slavery to freedom.
The impact of John Brown’s life affected the election of 1860. No one thought
Abraham Lincoln had the experience to lead the nation but his opponent, William Seward
was an abolitionist who admired Brown. The south would not vote for an abolitionist.
The south believed that Lincoln would not force anti-slavery laws on them. John Brown’s
raid on Harper’s Ferry was one of the main events that led to the separation of the United
States of America into the north and what would become the Southern Confederacy.
In conclusion, this paper has proven that John Brown helped spark the civil war
with his actions and determination to take a stand for equality of all people. His raids and
words helped spark controversy in the slavery issue.
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