John Brown And The Pottawatomie Massacre

John Brown was a man who was never distracted from his mission of abolishing slavery; he believed that a violent rebellion was the only way to put an end to slavery. On May 9th, 1800, Brown was born into a deeply religious family in Torrington, Connecticut. Because Brown’s father was impassionedly opposed to slavery, his family moved to a district in Ohio which would later become known for its anti-slavery views. In the first fifty years of his life he moved around the country and settled in places such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York. Along the way, his family continued to expand – he fathered twenty children (two of whom died and eleven who survived to childhood). Although he filed for bankruptcy when he was in his forties, …show more content…
One event that changed his attitude on slavery was the Pottawatomie Massacre. After Brown heard about the attack on Lawrence, he was furious that the people of Lawrence did not retaliate. Being the strong believer in “an eye for and eye” Brown told his followers that they must fight “fire with fire.” On the night of May 24th, Brown and seven men entered the pro-slavery town of Pottawatomie Creek and by the end of the attack five men were killed. This event affected his opinion of slavery because it showed him that he had raised the bar by killing five men and that he could “strike terror in the hearts of the pro-slavery men.” Another event that affected his opinion is the Fugitive Slave Act. The Fugitive Slave Act authorized the local governments to seize and return escaped slaves to their owners. Those who aided the slaves’ escape were penalized. Brown’s opinion of slavery would have changed because free African Americans could have been captured and taken back to the south. Many other events such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act and talking to the slaves could have further influences Brown’s opinion and …show more content…
The plan to begin an uprising began in 1858, when Brown wanted to attack the Federal arsenal in Virginia to seize weapons. After Brown had collected an army of twenty men, he expected to kill or take the southern white hostages that impeded him. Brown began his raid on the night of October 16th, 1859; he and his men took over the arsenal in Harpers Ferry in hope that his wait to start a slave rebellion would finally be over. When his men asked the Africa Americans to fight with him, they were frightened to because they feared being punished. Unexpectedly, local white southerners attacked Brown and his men, killing eight of Brown’s men and three local men. Although they retreated to a firehouse, Colonel Robert E. Lee ordered a squad of marines into the firehouse. The marines immediately killed two more of Brown’s men and captured Brown and everyone else remaining. As a result of this raid, Brown was expeditiously convicted of treason, murder, and conspiracy. Out of the men who were captured, some received death sentences. The hanging of John Brown occurred on December 2nd,