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Unlike most abolitionists, Brown believed that the use of violence was morally justifiable in the fight against slavery. He was born into a religious [[Yankee]] family, and was taught from a young age that slavery was incompatible with the message of the [[Bible]]. <ref>http://www.civilwarhome.com/johnbrownbio.htm</ref>
Unlike most abolitionists, Brown believed that the use of violence was morally justifiable in the fight against slavery. He was born into a religious [[Yankee]] family, and was taught from a young age that slavery was incompatible with the message of the [[Bible]]. <ref>http://www.civilwarhome.com/johnbrownbio.htm</ref>
Brown became a part of the [[Underground Railroad]], then went to the newly formed territory of [[Kansas]] in 1855 to participate in the fight between the "free staters" and the pro-slavery "Bushwhackers". In May 1856, Brown and several other men (including four of his sons) attacked the homes of slavery supporters near Pottawatomie Creek in [[Kansas]] and killed all of the inhabitants with swords. In 1859, Brown led 21 men in an attack on a federal arsenal in [[Harper's Ferry]], [[Virginia]] (note: Harper's Ferry is now part of [[West Virginia]]), intending to arm slaves in [[slave revolt]]s. The raid failed, and Brown was hanged on December 2.
==Kansas==
Brown became a part of the [[Underground Railroad]], then went to the newly formed territory of [[Kansas]] in 1855 to participate in the fight between the "free staters" and the pro-slavery "Bushwhackers". In May 1856, Brown and several other men (including four of his sons) attacked the homes of slavery supporters near Pottawatomie Creek in [[Kansas]] and killed all of the inhabitants with swords.
==Harper's Ferry 1859==
Brown now made even more gradiose plans and signed up famous men in Boston who gave him the necessary money. They included Gerrit Smith, George L. Stearns, Theodore Parker, Frank B. Sanborn, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, S. G. Howe, Frederick Douglass, and others.
His plan was not a sudden raid and then escape to the mountains. Rather his plan was to use the 198 Sharps rifles and 950 pikes he brought along, and those captured ast the arsenal, to arm rebellious slaves, striking terror to the slaveholders in Virginia. Then he would send agents to nearby plantations, rallying the slaves; to hold Harper’s Ferry for a short time, expecting as many volunteers white and black would join him as would form against him. He then would make a rapid movement southward, along the way sending out armed bands, They would free more slaves, obtain food, horses and hostages, and destroy slaveholding morale. Brown planned to follow the Appalachian mountains south into Tennessee and even Alabama, the heart of the South, making forays into the plains on either side. He believed that on the first night of the stroke he thought he might get from two to five hundred black adherents. He ridiculed the militia and regular army that might oppose him.<ref> Nevins 4:72-73</ref>
In 1859, Brown led 21 men in an attack on a federal arsenal in [[Harper's Ferry]], [[Virginia]] (note: Harper's Ferry is now part of [[West Virginia]]), intending to arm slaves in [[slave revolt]]s. The raid failed, and Brown was hanged on December 2.
[[Henry David Thoreau]] said of Brown: "No man in America has ever stood up so persistently and effectively for the dignity of human nature." <ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1550.html</ref>
[[Henry David Thoreau]] said of Brown: "No man in America has ever stood up so persistently and effectively for the dignity of human nature." <ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1550.html</ref>