John Brown's Gunpowder Plot

History is ripe with tales of traitors and treason, especially when one group is unhappy with another. Take, for example, John Brown’s three day raid on Harper’s Ferry in Virginia. Angry with the lack of progress in the abolition movement, Brown planned to take the military’s stockpiled arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia and use it to free slaves across the south (“John Brown’s”). Or maybe think about the more realistic 20 July Plot during World War II. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and some cohorts, believing that what Hitler and his Nazi regime was doing was immoral and unethical, blew up Hitler’s primary meeting house, The Wolf’s Lair (“July Plot”). Although both of these examples were followed through with, even if unsuccessful, they …show more content…
The rebellion, led by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Sir Robert Cecil, was a plot to get back at Queen Elizabeth I and gain more power in the court. Seven Catholics were recruited by Devereux and Cecil; amongst them was Robert Catesby, the primary leader of the Gunpowder Plot. Catesby, who had previously been falsely imprisoned in 1596 for allegedly poisoning Queen Elizabeth, was wounded and captured in the battle following the rebellion. He was later released after paying a fine of £3,000 ("Essex's …show more content…
Henry Garnett, one of the priests and the head of the Jesuit mission to England, went directly to Catesby and attempted to discourage their actions. He was unsuccessful and although he believed what they were doing was wrong, it has been proven that he never told anyone else of their plan.
The ceremonial opening of Parliament was postponed multiple times in 1605 for various reasons but the date was eventually set for 5 November, 1605.
Although the government was prepared for attacks on Parliament the day it opened, it had little to no intelligence of a particular plot until one of the Lords, Lord Monteagle, received an anonymous letter telling him not to attend the ceremony. Lord Monteagle immediately passed the letter to the King’s minister.
Parliament, now fully aware that someone is planning to attack Parliament on 5 November, security personnel do regular checks of the building in the weeks leading up to the ceremony. One of these checks, at around midnight on the eve of 5 November, revealed what many had suspected and what most hoped to never see: Guy Fawkes, after smuggling in 36 barrels of gunpowder, was sitting on the floor, guarding them. When he was found by Sir Thomas Knyvett and Edward Doubleday, Fawkes spoke only when asked his name. “John Johnson,” he