Cool USA Facts!

In 1859, white abolitionist John Brown attempted to begin an armed slave revolt, rallying nearby black and white abolitionists, and raided an arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He intended to use the rifles and pikes he captured at the arsenal, in addition to those he brought along, to arm rebellious slaves with the aim of striking terror in the slaveholders in Virginia. He planned to send agents to nearby plantations, rallying the slaves. They would free more slaves, obtain food, horses and hostages, and destroy slaveholders' 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.[9] Due primarily to intelligence leaks, the raid failed; 10 were killed and 6, including Brown, were captured (lead by future confederate general Robert E. Lee), then executed by hanging. Before his execution, John Brown addressed the court: ''I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty, land: will never be purged away; but with Blood. I had as I now think: vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed; it might be done. [...] Had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends, either father, mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or any of that class, and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment." 1