John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry was a struggle by John Brown, a white abolitionist, to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859. Brown planned on taking over a United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, build up an army of both white and black volunteers, and then follow the Appalachian Mountains south to free the slaves along the way. Unfortunately for him, Brown and his men were defeated by a platoon of U.S. Marines led by Colonel Robert E. Lee. In this essay I will be talking about Brown’s preparation for the raid, the details of the raid, and the outcome of the raid.
To prepare for this raid, John Brown rented a nearby farmhouse and cabin close to Harper’s Ferry and went under the alias Isaac Smith. He brought along twenty-one men who were not very well trained to fight. They had received a big shipment of arms from …show more content…
Brown also reached out to Frederick Douglas to act as a liaison officer in hopes to bring in more slaves, but Douglas declined. “‘You're walking into a perfect steel-trap,’ he said to Brown, ‘and you will never get out alive’” (PBS). Brown was trying to keep the raid a secret and had all of his men cooped up in a cabin all day, only allowing them out at night so they would not be noticed. Word about John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry started to spread when Brown paid Hugh Forbes to train his troops. The two got into disagreements about money and Forbes started threatening Brown’s supporters in an effort to get more money. When Forbes realized that he was not going to get any more money from Brown, he went to Washington DC and met with senator William Steward, and partially exposed Browns raid plans. Senator Williams wrote to Brown’s supporters advising them to retrieve the weapons that were given to Brown. This caused Browns supporters to write to him, telling him that
To prepare for this raid, John Brown rented a nearby farmhouse and cabin close to Harper’s Ferry and went under the alias Isaac Smith. He brought along twenty-one men who were not very well trained to fight. They had received a big shipment of arms from …show more content…
Brown also reached out to Frederick Douglas to act as a liaison officer in hopes to bring in more slaves, but Douglas declined. “‘You're walking into a perfect steel-trap,’ he said to Brown, ‘and you will never get out alive’” (PBS). Brown was trying to keep the raid a secret and had all of his men cooped up in a cabin all day, only allowing them out at night so they would not be noticed. Word about John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry started to spread when Brown paid Hugh Forbes to train his troops. The two got into disagreements about money and Forbes started threatening Brown’s supporters in an effort to get more money. When Forbes realized that he was not going to get any more money from Brown, he went to Washington DC and met with senator William Steward, and partially exposed Browns raid plans. Senator Williams wrote to Brown’s supporters advising them to retrieve the weapons that were given to Brown. This caused Browns supporters to write to him, telling him that