Rev john brown biography

First reaching national prominence in the s for his radical abolitionism and fighting in Bleeding Kansas , Brown was captured, tried, and executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for a raid and incitement of a slave rebellion at Harpers Ferry , Virginia, in An evangelical Christian of strong religious convictions, Brown was profoundly influenced by the Puritan faith of his upbringing.

Brown first gained national attention when he led anti-slavery volunteers and his sons during the Bleeding Kansas crisis of the late s, a state-level civil war over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a slave state or a free state. He was dissatisfied with abolitionist pacifism, saying of pacifists, "These men are all talk.

Reverend john brown bible

What we need is action — action! In October , Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia which later became part of West Virginia , intending to start a slave liberation movement that would spread south; he had prepared a Provisional Constitution for the revised, slavery-free United States that he hoped to bring about. He seized the armory, but seven people were killed and ten or more were injured.

Brown intended to arm slaves with weapons from the armory, but only a few slaves joined his revolt. Those of Brown's men who had not fled were killed or captured by local militia and U. Marines , the latter led by Robert E. Brown was tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia , the murder of five men, and inciting a slave insurrection.

He was found guilty of all charges and was hanged on December 2, , the first person executed for treason in the history of the United States. The Harpers Ferry raid and Brown's trial , both covered extensively in national newspapers, escalated tensions that in the next year led to the South's long-threatened secession from the United States and the American Civil War.

Southerners feared that others would soon follow in Brown's footsteps, encouraging and arming slave rebellions. He was a hero and icon in the North.