John Brown by Gwen Gabie (Period 1)

John Brown is most known for the attack on Harper's Ferry where he led 21 men in an attempt to initiate a slave rebellion. He and his men were planning on arming slaves with the weapons confiscated from the armory and arsenal. Unfortunately, Brown and his men were faught and eventually stopped by both local and federal forces, leaving many killed. Brown was sentenced to death on account of conspiracy, murder, and treason and later publicly hung for his leadership in this attempted revolt. This event created increased sectionalism between the north and the south over the issue of slavery.

John Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut in 1800 to a devoutly religious family. At age five, Brown moved with his family to Harper, Ohio where his father worked as a hide tanner. There, the large anti-slavery sentiment and Calvinist background influenced Brown's world views. His father was also a strong advocate of the abolition movement, and as such, he volunteered for the Underground Railroad. As a child, Brown had once roomed with a slave owner and was there enlightened to the horrors of slaverythrough personal observations.  Having this background was what caused John Brown to be so strongly opposed to slavery and initiated his passion for the abolitionist movement.

His whole life, John Brown planned various raids and attacks for southern plantations and slave owning families. One of these plans, he shared with escaped slave, Frederick Douglass with he visited the Brown household.

After attending school to become a minister, John Brown moved back to Ohio with his first wife and seven children, and worked various jobs including the following of his father's footsteps as a tanner. Although never financially wealthy, Brown did not stop giving to causes he believed in. Following his wife's death, Brown remarried and had three more children. Much like his father, John Brown was strongly and morally opposed to slavery.

John Brown supported free blacks and runaway slaves by providing land, raising a child as his own, and fighting the pro-slavery movement. Brown also spent a portion of his life living in a free black community and helping out in any way he saw fitting.

With the Compromise of 1850, Brown founded the League of Gileadites, a group of men to opposed to those capturing slaves under the new Fugitive Slave Law. Like his father, John Brown also participated in the Underground Railroad. Brown played a vital role in this organization.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act, with the decision of slavery left up to popular sovereignty, was cause for Brown to move to Kansas to vote against slavery. Also in Kansas, John Brown fought for the anti-slavery cause through various uprisings and attacks with his self-organized militia in his region in Kansas. His anti-slavery work in Kansas was where Brown became known as a significant member of the anti-slavery movement. Later, in Virginia, Brown created a safe-house for runaway slaves before he planned and attempted his attack and initiation of a slave revolt at Harper's Ferry.

Works Cited

 

"The History of John Brown." Jewelry & Things. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.

 

"John Brown Biography Page." The American Civil War Home Page. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.

 

"John Brown Chronology." UMKC School of Law. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.

 

"John Brown." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.

 

"John Brown." Spartacus Educational. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.