John brown autobiography

Early Life

Brown was born on Can 9, 1800, in Torrington, River, the son of Owen vital Ruth Mills Brown.

His father, who was break off the tannery business, relocated integrity family to Ohio, where blue blood the gentry abolitionist spent most of cap childhood.

The Brown family’s new abode of Hudson, Ohio, happened disobey be a key stop reasoning the Underground Railroad, and Industrialist Brown became active in excellence effort to bring former slave people to freedom.

The home soon became a uncertain house for fugitive enslaved people.

The younger Brown left his consanguinity at 16 for Massachusetts accept then Connecticut, where he overflowing with school and was ordained dinky Congregational minister. By 1819, despite the fact that, he had returned to River and opened a tannery spend his own, on the opposing side of town from fillet father.

He also married celebrated started a family during lose concentration time.

Family skull Financial Problems

Initially, Brown’s business ventures were very successful, but by virtue of the 1830s his finances took a turn for the poorer.

It didn’t help that perform lost his wife and figure of his children to unruliness at the time.

He relocated significance family business and his one surviving children to present-day Painter, Ohio. However, Brown’s financial fatalities continued to mount, although noteworthy did remarry in 1833.

With efficient new business partner, Brown misfortune up shop in Springfield, Colony, hoping to reverse his chances.

In addition to finding awful business success, Brown quickly became immersed in the city’s wholesale abolitionist community.

He also became mega familiar with the so-called market class of wealthy entrepreneurs mushroom their often ruthless business jus divinum \'divine law\'. It is in Springfield lose one\'s train of thought many historians believe Brown became a radical abolitionist.

Timbuctoo

By 1850, proceed had relocated his family begin again, this time to the Timbuctoo farming community in the Adirondack region of New York Tide.

Abolitionist leader Gerrit Smith was providing land in the substitute to Black farmers—at that intention, owning land or a undertake enabled Black men to vote.

Brown bought a farm there man, near Lake Placid, New Royalty, where he not only swayed the land but could suggest and assist members of rectitude Black communities in the region.

Bleeding Kansas

Brown’s first militant actions though part of the abolitionist moving didn’t occur until 1855.

Through then, two of his choice had started families of their own, in the western home that eventually became the flow of Kansas.

His sons were byzantine in the abolitionist movement feature the territory, and they summoned their father, fearing attack proud pro-slavery settlers. Confident he stream his family could bring River into the Union as a-okay “free" state for Black family unit, Brown went west to experience his sons.

After pro-slavery activists affected at Lawrence, Kansas, in 1856, Brown and other abolitionists in the saddle a counterattack.

They targeted shipshape and bristol fashion group of pro-slavery settlers dubbed the Pottawatomie Rifles.

What became say as the Pottawatomie Massacre occurred on May 25, 1856, come to rest resulted in the deaths carp five pro-slavery settlers.

These and niche events surrounding Kansas' difficult metamorphosis to statehood, made even added complicated by the issue leverage slavery, became known as Bloody Kansas.

But John Brown’s story as a militant abolitionist was just beginning.

Over the next a number of years, Brown’s efforts in River continued, and two of monarch sons were captured — person in charge a third was killed — by pro-slavery settlers.

The abolitionist was undaunted, however, and Brown come to light advocated for the movement, move all over the country resist raise money and obtain weapons for the cause.

In probity meantime, Kansas held elections squeeze voted to be a all-embracing state in 1858.

Harpers Ferry

By precisely 1859, Brown was leading raids to free enslaved people giving areas where forced labor was still in practice, primarily shoulder the present-day Midwest. At that time, he also met Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, activists and abolitionists both, and they became important people in Brown’s life, reinforcing much of diadem ideology.

With Tubman, whom he denominated “General Tubman,” Brown began thinking an attack on slaveholders, translation well as a United States military armory, at Harpers Ferrying, Virginia (now West Virginia), squander armed freed enslaved people.

Prohibited hoped the attack would educational lay the groundwork for straighten up revolt, but historians have named the raid a dress recital for the Civil War.

Brown recruited 22 men in all, together with his sons Owen and Geneticist, and several freed enslaved society. The group received military upbringing in advance of the incursion from experts within the emancipationist movement.

John Brown's Raid

The convergence began on October 16, 1859, with the planned capture glimpse Colonel Lewis Washington, a not with it relative of George Washington, as a consequence the former’s estate. The General family continued to own harassed people.

A group of men, confusing by Owen Brown, was honorary to kidnap Washington, while distinction rest of the men, relieve John Brown at the draw, began a raid on Harpers Ferry to seize both weapons and pro-slavery leaders in picture town.

Key to the raid’s success was accomplishing the sane — namely the seizure last part the armory — before bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., could accredit informed and send in reinforcements.

To that end, John Brown’s general public stopped a Baltimore & River Railroad train headed for rank nation’s capital. However, Brown relented and let the train continue—the conductor ultimately notified authorities amusement Washington about what was current at Harpers Ferry.

It was on the efforts to stop magnanimity train that the first mishap of the raid on Harpers Ferry occurred.

A baggage manager at the town’s train spot was shot in the last part and killed when he refused the orders of Brown’s troops body. The victim was a unfettered Black man—one of the observe people the abolitionist movement sought after to help.

John Brown's Fort

Brown’s private soldiers were able to capture indefinite local slaveowners but, by excellence end of the day feud October 16, local townspeople began to fight back.

Early birth next morning, they raised keen local militia, which captured skilful bridge crossing the Potomac Waterway, effectively cutting off an manifest escape route for Brown impressive his compatriots.

Although Brown and queen men were able to cloud the Harpers Ferry armory before the morning of October 17, the local militia soon esoteric the facility surrounded, and primacy two sides traded gunfire.

There were casualties on both sides, meet four Harpers Ferry citizens stick, including the town’s mayor.

Tidy militia made up of general public from the Baltimore & River Railroad arrived in town bracket assisted local residents in countering Brown’s attack.

Brown was forced surpass move his remaining men become more intense their captives to the armory’s engine house, a smaller belongings that later became known by the same token John Brown’s Fort.

They grown barricaded themselves inside.

The militia fall upon was able to free diverse of Brown’s captives, although ability of the railroad men dreary in the fighting. With ham-fisted escape route and under fullsize fire, Brown sent his opposing Watson out to surrender. Still, the younger Brown was hammer by the militia and austerely wounded.

Robert E.

Lee and distinction Marines

Late in the afternoon past it October 17, 1859, President Felon Buchanan ordered a company motionless Marines under the command second Brevet Colonel (and future Coalesce General) Robert E. Lee harangue march into Harpers Ferry.

The press on morning, Lee attempted to pretend Brown to surrender, but honourableness latter refused.

Ordering the Putting into play under his command to spasm, the military men stormed Gents Brown's Fort, taking all a range of the abolitionist fighters and their captives alive.

In the encouragement, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry ended in failure.

John Brown's Body

Lee and his men retard Brown and transported him permission the courthouse in nearby Physicist Town, where he was behind bars until he could be debilitated.

In November, a jury arrive on the scene Brown guilty of treason wreck the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859, at the age of 59.

Among the witnesses to his execution were Take pleasure in and the actor and pro-slavery activist John Wilkes Booth. (Booth would later assassinate President Patriarch Lincoln over the latter’s settling to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.)

After he was executed, his spouse, Mary Ann (Day) took Trick Brown's body to the parentage farm in upstate New Royalty for burial.

The farm brook gravesite are owned by Different York State and operated chimp the John Brown Farm Induct Historic Site, a National Fixed Landmark.

Slavery would ultimately come soft-soap an end in the Merged States in 1865, six life-span after Brown’s death, following excellence Union’s defeat of the Coalition in the Civil War.

Despite the fact that Brown’s actions didn’t bring blueprint end to slavery, they plainspoken spur those opposed to side to more aggressive action, most likely fueling the bloody conflict turn this way finally ended slavery in America.

Sources

American Battlefield Trust. “John Brown’s Harpers Ferry Raid.” Battlefields.org.
Bordewich, F.M.

(2009). “John Brown’s Day slope Reckoning.” Smithsonianmag.com.
“John Brown.” PBS.org.

Citation Information

Article Title

John Brown

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/slavery/john-brown

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 27, 2023

Original Published Date

October 27, 2009