The Harper’s Ferry Raid

John Brown, a name that resonates the History of America, mentioned as a marquee figure in history classes that have a section on the American Civil War (Churchill, 1958). And yet his raid on the Harper’s Ferry Armory (John Brown’s Harpers Ferry, n.d.) was nothing short of a catastrophe in its instantaneous reverberation. All those involved were either killed, captured, or fleeing for their lives. Instead of slaves flocking to their call of freedom, Brown and his men received a moot response and were ultimately captured by US marines and Virginian militia forces. And yet this event, as Brown stated himself, “will be the beginning of the end of slavery.” Hated by the conservative South and praised by Northern reformists, Brown was, and is, a polarizing figure in American History and Society. Merrill D. Peterson, in his book John Brown: A Legend Revisited (Gordan, 1969), delves into the man and the legend in the decades, and eventual centuries, following the Harper’s Ferry Raid. Peterson explores how the man, myth, and legend were created in historical lore (Oates, 1979).

How James Brown can be labeled a hero.

In the second and third sections recall the time just after the civil war and when the legacy of John Brown and his raid truly began to pass into legend. It speaks of Sanborn’s biography of Brown and its biases in favor of the leader. It then passes into another biography of Brown, a much less biased account, written by German-born Oswald Villard. Villard recalled the fifty years following the death of John Brown and attempted to give a factual account of the legend that was spreading with biases across the United States.

The fourth and fifth sections continue from the turn of the century to the present day, going through detailed descriptions of various works including Brown, ranging from plays to novels, to educational essays, and films. As from the outset, there was homage and condemnation. Some praised his gallant and noble effort while others named called it a great act of evil. The short epilogue at the end summarizes how polarizing Brown was, and is, to this very day in the view of historians and simply curious inquirers hoping to find out more on the divisive subject that is John Brown.                  

One thing that caught me off guard after some reading for some time was the length at which each section of John Brown’s life is reviewed. As I began to read the book, I thought the majority would be on the Harper’s Ferry raid and John Brown’s life prior to that doomed event in expanded detail. But instead, the book goes beyond just this event and examines Brown’s legacy and the story of how his raid resounded in the history of the United States. In fact, the raid itself is minimal compared to its effect through the ages. It was a new type of novel for me and I enjoyed it.

            Whether it be for the better or worse, the legend and myth that stemmed from John Brown’s raid could be interpreted any way the viewer wished. And it is in this opinion the raid ultimately has a more neutral viewing than a specifically isolated viewpoint. The people opposed to John Brown’s Raid, who called it an act of murder, anarchy, and lunacy, seem to be the same people who favored the Jim Crowe Laws of the South. The abolitionists who support the raid seem to just ignore his killings in Kansas and say they were just acts of passion. There is obviously a spectrum for which the outcry for and against the raid can be assessed, but from what is seen in Peterson’s book, the people reacting negatively or positively towards the Raid usually seemed to have ulterior motives behind such which would shape the legacy in years following. Whether it is the prideful Governor Robinson or self-defending Sanborn, they seem to have relations with Brown to either build him up or tear him down. But the one simple fact of the matter is John Brown’s Raid succeeded, even if not immediately, in what it set out to do.

Everyone knows the raid was a failure. But even if the raid itself resulted simply in a rounding up and demise of Brown’s men, the propaganda shock waves would reverberate throughout history. John Brown had a dream of ending slavery in the United States of America. He believed slavery to be a great evil upon which the nation was fiercely encumbered by and which must be ended as soon as possible. His raid on the arsenal of Harper’s Ferry did just that. The Raid set the tension in the United States to the breaking point. 

Effects of John Brown actions on the civil war

John Brown main aim was to start a movement that was positioned to abolish slavery.

The events like those of Dred Scott Vs Stanford, Westward expansion, the uprising of John Brown in Abraham Lincoln ascension at the southern succession drama that led up to the war. States wanted to secede and Lincoln decided that he was going to war to keep the union composed.

This argument received great responsiveness from the whole nation. Lincoln lost the Senate seat but he overtakes Douglas in the U.S Presidency race in 1860. The issue was Douglas was in favor for slaves according to the Dred Scott decision which was slaves or property.

As Gamaliel Bradford is quoted in Peterson’s John Brown: The Legend Revisited, ”[John Brown] is as complex a puzzle as Kansas, and friends and enemies have torn his memory to pieces in an effort to be a devil or a saint.” This is precisely how I also see John Brown and the fallout with his raid. Bradford goes on, ”where he was neither, but a human being, with immense aspirations and hopes and struggle like you and me.” (Pg. 120) The legend, as the grandiose word implies, soon outpaced the actual events that occurred that October night in 1859. Brown planned on creating a defensive land from which escaped slaves could find refuge and safety. He did not plan on sacking the South with his new army of freed slaves and killing all those who stood in his path. Slaves had the right to fight for their freedom, something Brown could support with all his heart. He never claimed to be a saint. He was not a military commander planning on taking on the US Army, but rather a failed businessman who found his life’s calling in a noble effort, from which he believed to be divinely sent. With this human aspect taken into account, Brown’s faults can be more clearly seen and analyzed.

People argue that if a pro-slavery supporter had gone north and seized an armory to keep slaves in place, there would be an outcry of negativity. And that is 100% correct. But there would also be support for the pro-slavery follower just as there is always a reaction to an action. A yin to a yang. A night to a day. One thing helping Brown is the fact he actually was on the winning, and morally-conscious, side of the argument at the time. Human nature is one of conflict and duality. Brown could have given away all his belongings to a poor family in need and there would have been someone calling Brown a communist and a supporter of freeloaders. If there were Confederate States of America today, Brown would surely be seen as a lunatic bent on homicide, as I am sure he even still remains in certain parts of our nation. But in the long run, slavery ceased to exist with the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment and gave his legend longevity and greater substance than if a pro-slavery opposite event had occurred (John Brown’s Raid at Harpers Ferry: Fighting Slavery, n.d.).

John Brown, though differentiating, is a man of great reputation. One can debate his ineffective raid on Harper’s Ferry (S K Donavin, 1924) resulted indirectly in the complete eradication of slavery in the United States of America. The tension caused by the raid made the compromise of one side or the other out of question. The South began mobilizing its militia for future raids to come. Bloodshed, unseen by the United States was to come over this great evil of slavery, something John Brown fully realized after the failed raid that ended his life.    

References

Churchill, W. (1958). The American Civil War. New York: Fairfax Press.

Gordan, J. D. (1969). Legend Revisited. New York: United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa.

John Brown’s Harpers Ferry. (n.d.). Retrieved from John Brown’s failed attempt to loot the armory at Harper’s Ferry sparks the beginning of abolition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibPWDx3Z_8M

John Brown’s Raid at Harpers Ferry: Fighting Slavery. (n.d.). Retrieved from John Brown’s Raid at Harpers Ferry: Fighting Slavery: https://study.com/academy/lesson/john-brown-at-harpers-ferry-the-lincoln-douglas-debates-fighting-slavery.html

Oates, S. B. (1979). Our fiery trial : Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, and the Civil War era. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

S K Donavin, C. B. (1924). John Brown at Harper’s Ferry and Charlestown : a lecture. Columbus: F. J. Heer Printing Company.