John Brown Abolition Movement

Register to read the introduction… John Brown devised a plan to incite a slave rebellion in the Appalachian Mountains, arming slaves as they were freed and pushing on to free more men, the army of former slaves growing drastically as it rolled along (Stoddard and Murphy, 15). Slave rebellions had failed miserably in the past, but Brown's idea of properly arming the slaves gave some abolitionists the idea that it could work. On October 16, 1859, John Brown led a group of twenty-two men into Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, to secure weapons from the federal armory stationed in the small town nestled between the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers (Stoddard and Murphy, 15). The weapons stored in the armory would be more than enough to kick off Brown's envisioned revolution. Events did not unfold as the men had hoped, and they were soon surrounded by townspeople and fired upon, with marines (led, ironically, by then Colonel Robert E. Lee) arriving by the following afternoon (Stoddard and Murphy, 15). Brown's rebellion was doomed to fail. The abolitionists were captured and Brown was hung on charges of murder, inciting insurrection, and treason (Stoddard and Murphy, 15). John Brown and his men clearly showed how socially divided the nation was on slavery, with both sides willing to kill to further their …show more content…
Economically the regions were very different, with the North being very industrial and independent, and the South relying heavily on the export of cotton to pay for the goods they needed to import. The federal government had a hard time creating fair taxes to keep both regions happy. Politically, the South fiercely believed in states' rights, while the North felt that a strong federal government could best lead the nation. Socially, the North and South differed on the issue of slavery and led very different lifestyles. Abolitionists fought for African-American freedom while many Southerners fought to keep the workers they needed to run their plantations. With tensions between the North and South running high, President Lincoln was elected and pushed the South over the edge into secession. Civil War had broken out, and by that point the reasons were lost in the weight of what was to