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. The northern press and political establishment denounced the raid, but also condemned the brutalities of slavery that inspired it. Although most abolitionists were appalled by Brown’s violent methods, they wrote tributes to Brown and organized a “Day of Mourning” for his execution (Documents 12.6 and 12.7). White Southerners and some northern Democrats labeled Brown a terrorist, believing he was part of a vast abolitionist conspiracy to violently overthrow slavery (Documents 12.5 and 12.8). The raid on Harpers Ferry thus intensified sectional conflicts and gave both sides a new focal point for their anger. The following sources highlight the competing images of John Brown—painting him as a hero, a saint, a brute, and a fanatic. The 1863 painting suggests the continued importance of his legacy to racial progressives (Documents 12.9). As you examine them, consider what these documents reveal about America on the eve of the Civil War.