Chapter 10: With John Brown at Harpers Ferry

Chapter Summary:

     John Brown, a fiery, crazed, violent, faith-driven abolitionist who, with his five sons, murdered five unarmed men in order to "instill fear in proslavery Americans everywhere," had formed another plot to cause a slave insurrection all across the South: "seize the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry with its twenty thousand rifles and distribute them to a slave army" that he "will lead in a war of emancipation." Although he later denies his violent means, his supposed God-given plan was to gather a slave army (and hopefully antislavery whites who "[heard] the electrifying news that weapons of liberation [were] waiting for them") and slaughter slave-owners all throughout the South, getting revenge upon all the evil supporters of slavery with a widespread statement of violence - terrorism, if you will. His plan was backed by wealthy antislavery men from Massachusetts called the "Secret Six." On the night of October 16th, 1859, Brown leads his followers into the town of Harpers Ferry, armed with weapons, and barricade the bridges that connect the town to the major cities. They then take possession of the federal armory and take multiple hostages. The news of their siege quickly moves to the surrounding cities and the townspeople, most of whom (black and white) flee immediately. Militiamen soon surround the insurgents and barricade them within the towns, as casualties on both sides accrue. General Robert E. Lee is called in by President Buchanan to end the uprising - he orders marines to storm the firehouse, where Brown and his followers have hidden themselves, and Brown is knocked unconscious while the hostages are freed and most of his followers are killed. Once captured, Brown lies about his intentions, saying he simply wanted to free the slaves, and he eventually was made a martyr: a hero inspired by God for a just cause. The fact that Brown's plan was backed by wealthy abolitionists in the North furthered the divide between the North and South.

Chapter Reflection:

     Everything about John Brown's plan seems to be contradictory and not very well thought out. He was overzealous in his faith and hate and he was less than ideal as a real military leader, constantly making the wrong decision that would come back to destroy him in the end. It also amazes me how little Brown's followers really knew about his plan, and how blindly they were convinced by his religious fanaticism and passion. Brown's statement "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin," although greatly abhorred by many people, rings unfortunately true in American history - the narrator is right, so many other nations abolished slavery peacefully, while we had a bloody war.