John brown biography slavery

John Brown, c. Brown’s men then went into nearby farms and kidnapped nearly 60 hostages, including the great-grandson of George Washington, Lewis Washington. That evening, Brown launched his grandiose plan to capture the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry and, subsequently, to incite a slave insurrection in Virginia.

Leaving behind three men (including his son Owen) to guard supplies and ammunition, Brown began his short trek toward Harpers Ferry with his remaining eighteen recruits at 8 p.m.

The raiders’ only escape route, the bridge across the Potomac River, was cut off. He joined the Stanford Street “Free Church”, founded by African American abolitionists and was radicalized by the speeches of Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. In the meantime, Kansas held elections and voted to be a free state in 1858.

By early 1859, Brown was leading raids to free enslaved people in areas where forced labor was still in practice, primarily in the present-day Midwest.

Jackson noted:

With the fall his arms below the elbow flew up, hands clenched, & his arms gradually fell by spasmodic motions—there was very little motion of his person for several minutes, after which the wind blew his lifeless body to & fro.

Brown died at approximately 11:30 a.m. On the night of May 24, Brown and his followers raided the homes of three families living near Pottawatomie Creek.

By March, Brown had raised enough funds to bankroll the production of 1,000 pikes to arm mutinous slaves during the impending rebellion. While on a cattle drive in Michigan, a twelve-year-old John witnessed the abuse of a young slave approximately his age. Watson was shot and killed on the spot. The event left an indelible impression on Brown’s mind and fueled his hatred of slavery.

Despite his father’s interest in higher education, John Brown received only rudimentary schooling during his youth.

However, none of the few slaves living on these farms joined them.