Transcript

John Brown was one of the few whites in the United States during the first half of the 19th century who was willing to die in order to help eliminate slavery. He was truly a crusader. And he became obsessed during the 1850’s with efforts to try to end the practice of slavery. He and his family, especially his sons, worked with him in developing a strategy whereby he wanted to raid Harper’s Ferry were the federal government had an armory where rifles were stored and then to give those rifles to slaves who lived in the area of western Virginia where Harper’s Ferry is located and incite an uprising against slavery throughout the south.

Of course, as you’ve read about, the raid ultimately failed. Federal forces quickly converged on Harper’s Ferry and trapped John Brown and his men in the armory. Ultimately the federal troops captured them, killing several in the process. John Brown was eventually hanged in a very dramatic moment in which he spoke eloquently about his desire to end slavery and swore he was willing to die for that purpose.

That raid, however, struck fear into the hearts of white southerners. Rumors of insurrections and rebellions spread rapidly throughout the south in 1859 in the aftermath of the Harper’s Ferry raid. It also led southerners to become convinced that northerners were willing to do anything to abolish slavery, including inciting violence and shedding blood. And that fear was one of the primary reasons why the south eventually decided to leave the Union and form the Confederacy, in order to preserve and protect the institution of slavery.

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