Visions of
John Brown

On October 16, 1859, John Brown led a group of eighteen men on a raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The plan failed, and Brown and his surviving accomplices were captured and put on trial. On December 2, a mere seven weeks after the raid began, Brown was executed by hanging.

The raid shocked the nation, not least because John Brown was a white man leading an uprising to free enslaved blacks. Brown’s quick trial and execution were designed to calm southern fears and minimize northern support for his actions. Neither goal was accomplished. Although the northern press and political establishment denounced the raid, many tempered their observations with an equally powerful condemnation of slavery. Abolitionists held demonstrations, wrote tributes and poems to Brown, and organized a “Day of Mourning” to coincide with his execution (Documents 12.7 and 12.9). Southerners and some northern Democrats labeled Brown a terrorist and a traitor and believed he was part of a vast abolitionist conspiracy to violently overthrow their way of life (Documents 12.6 and 12.10). The raid on Harpers Ferry may have ended quickly, but it intensified the sectional dispute over slavery and gave both sides a focal point for their anger. The following sources highlight some of the varying attitudes about John Brown—painting him as a hero, a saint, a stooge, a brute, and a fanatic. In addition, a letter John Brown writes from prison captures his state of mind shortly after his capture, and an 1863 painting makes clear the continued importance of his legacy (Documents 12.8 and 12.11). The differing representations tell us as much about the authors of the sources as they do about Brown himself. As you examine them, consider what they reveal about America on the eve of the Civil War.