Missouri Compromise of 1820
You might wonder what two compromises thirty years apart could have in common (the other is the Compromise of 1850). The first was a deal allowing both Free and Slave States into the United States.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 actually began in 1819. Many of the people who had helped settle the new territory were slave owners. Slave owners wanted to maintain their slaves as property and have their territory join the Union as a State.
When Missouri first applied to join, the House of Representatives refused to allow it. Many of the members were not sure they wanted to allow slavery to spread legally to new states. Members from the Southern states supported the admission. Discussion did not stop until a compromise was offered. If the House of Representatives would allow Missouri to join the Union as a Slave State, Maine could join as a Free State. The proposal was accepted. Maine joined in 1820, and Missouri joined in 1821.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 did not solve the problems between slave and abolitionist camps. There continued to be divisions over which states could join and what their status would be. Iowa (Free State) was balanced by Florida (Slave State). It wasn't until the Compromise of 1850, that the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty was adopted for many of the western states.
The Missouri Compromise was criticized by many southerners because it established the principle that Congress could make laws regarding slavery. Northerners, on the other hand, condemned it for allowing the expansion of slavery (though only south of the compromise line). Nevertheless, the act helped hold the Union together for more than thirty years.
You might wonder what two compromises thirty years apart could have in common (the other is the Compromise of 1850). The first was a deal allowing both Free and Slave States into the United States.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 actually began in 1819. Many of the people who had helped settle the new territory were slave owners. Slave owners wanted to maintain their slaves as property and have their territory join the Union as a State.
When Missouri first applied to join, the House of Representatives refused to allow it. Many of the members were not sure they wanted to allow slavery to spread legally to new states. Members from the Southern states supported the admission. Discussion did not stop until a compromise was offered. If the House of Representatives would allow Missouri to join the Union as a Slave State, Maine could join as a Free State. The proposal was accepted. Maine joined in 1820, and Missouri joined in 1821.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 did not solve the problems between slave and abolitionist camps. There continued to be divisions over which states could join and what their status would be. Iowa (Free State) was balanced by Florida (Slave State). It wasn't until the Compromise of 1850, that the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty was adopted for many of the western states.
The Missouri Compromise was criticized by many southerners because it established the principle that Congress could make laws regarding slavery. Northerners, on the other hand, condemned it for allowing the expansion of slavery (though only south of the compromise line). Nevertheless, the act helped hold the Union together for more than thirty years.
Compromise of 1850
A plan was set forth. The giants — Calhoun, Webster, and Clay — had spoken. Still the Congress debated the contentious issues well into the summer. Each time Clay's Compromise was set forth for a vote, it did not receive a majority. Henry Clay himself had to leave in sickness, before the dispute could be resolved. In his place, Stephen Douglas worked tirelessly to end the fight. On July 9, President Zachary Taylor died of food poisoning. His successor, Millard Fillmore, was much more interested in compromise. The environment for a deal was set. By September, Clay's Compromise became law.
California was admitted to the Union as the 16th free state. In exchange, the south was guaranteed that no federal restrictions on slavery would be placed on Utah or New Mexico. Texas lost its boundary claims in New Mexico, but the Congress compensated Texas with $10 million. Slavery was maintained in the nation's capital, but the slave trade was prohibited. Finally, and most controversially, a Fugitive Slave Law was passed, requiring northerners to return runaway slaves to their owners under penalty of law.
Who won and who lost in the deal? Although each side received benefits, the north seemed to gain the most. The balance of the Senate was now with the free states, although California often voted with the south on many issues in the 1850s. The major victory for the south was the Fugitive Slave Law. In the end, the north refused to enforce it. Massachusetts even called for its nullification, stealing an argument from John C. Calhoun. Northerners claimed the law was unfair. The flagrant violation of the Fugitive Slave Law set the scene for the tempest that emerged later in the decade. But for now, Americans hoped against hope that the fragile peace would prevail.
A plan was set forth. The giants — Calhoun, Webster, and Clay — had spoken. Still the Congress debated the contentious issues well into the summer. Each time Clay's Compromise was set forth for a vote, it did not receive a majority. Henry Clay himself had to leave in sickness, before the dispute could be resolved. In his place, Stephen Douglas worked tirelessly to end the fight. On July 9, President Zachary Taylor died of food poisoning. His successor, Millard Fillmore, was much more interested in compromise. The environment for a deal was set. By September, Clay's Compromise became law.
California was admitted to the Union as the 16th free state. In exchange, the south was guaranteed that no federal restrictions on slavery would be placed on Utah or New Mexico. Texas lost its boundary claims in New Mexico, but the Congress compensated Texas with $10 million. Slavery was maintained in the nation's capital, but the slave trade was prohibited. Finally, and most controversially, a Fugitive Slave Law was passed, requiring northerners to return runaway slaves to their owners under penalty of law.
Who won and who lost in the deal? Although each side received benefits, the north seemed to gain the most. The balance of the Senate was now with the free states, although California often voted with the south on many issues in the 1850s. The major victory for the south was the Fugitive Slave Law. In the end, the north refused to enforce it. Massachusetts even called for its nullification, stealing an argument from John C. Calhoun. Northerners claimed the law was unfair. The flagrant violation of the Fugitive Slave Law set the scene for the tempest that emerged later in the decade. But for now, Americans hoped against hope that the fragile peace would prevail.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
"I wanted to write something that would make this whole nation feel what an accursed thing slavery is."
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom's Cabin opens on the Shelby plantation in Kentucky as two enslaved people, Tom and 4-year old Harry, are sold to pay Shelby family debts. Developing two plot lines, the story focuses on Tom, a strong, religious man living with his wife and 3 young children, and Eliza, Harry's mother.
When the novel begins, Eliza's husband George Harris, unaware of Harry's danger, has already escaped, planning to later purchase his family's freedom. To protect her son, Eliza runs away, making a dramatic escape over the frozen Ohio River with Harry in her arms. Eventually the Harris family is reunited and journeys north to Canada.
Tom protects his family by choosing not to run away so the others may stay together. Sold to another plantation in the south, Tom meets Topsy, a young, black girl whose mischievous behavior hides her pain; Eva, the angelic, young, white girl whose death moved readers to tears; charming, elegant but passive St. Clare; and finally, cruel, violent Simon Legree. Tom's deep faith gives him an inner strength that frustrates his enemies as he moves toward his fate in Louisiana.
The novel ends when both Tom and Eliza escape slavery: Eliza and her family reach Canada; but Tom's freedom comes with death. Simon Legree, Tom's third and final master, has Tom whipped to death for refusing to deny his faith or betray the hiding place of two fugitive women.
Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter marked the first exchange of fire in the Civil War. After seven southern states ratified their declarations of succession, the state of South Carolina demanded that Federal (United States) troops stationed at Fort Moultrie (in Charleston Harbor) abandon the fort. On December 26, 1860, however, Union Major General Richard Anderson moved his troops from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, because he thought Fort Sumter was more easily defended.
South Carolina subsequently seized all other Federal forts in South Carolina except for Fort Sumter. About two weeks later, U.S. president at the time James Buchanan authorized the delivery of reinforcements to Fort Sumter. The ship carrying the reinforcements was fired upon by batteries from the South Carolina shore and the reinforcements never made it. Over the course of the next few months, Confederate forces strengthened batteries around Fort Sumter. Furthermore, the new president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, appointed his first military officer, P.G. T. Beauregard, to command forces in Charleston. Ironically, Anderson and Beauregard were close friends and Beauregard even served as Anderson’s assistant after graduation from West Point.
Inside the fort, Anderson and his troops were running short on food and supplies as a siege began to form. New president Abraham Lincoln again tried to resupply the fort and notified South Carolina Governor Francis Pickins that he was sending in ships. In response, Confederate forces demanded the immediate surrender of the fort. After General Anderson refused the demand, Confederate forces began bombarding Fort Sumter at 4:30 in the morning on April 12, 1861.
Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter quickly took their toll. Badly outgunned and out manned, Anderson’s forces inside the fort initially returned fire, but were soon overwhelmed. After 34 hours, Major General Anderson agreed to evacuate the fort. No Union or Confederate soldiers were killed during the battle, though two Union soldiers would die as a result of a gun explosion during the surrender ceremonies on April 14. Both the North and the South became galvanized in their war efforts after Fort Sumter. President Lincoln’s request for the mobilization of 75,000 additional troops prompted the secession of four other states.
"I wanted to write something that would make this whole nation feel what an accursed thing slavery is."
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom's Cabin opens on the Shelby plantation in Kentucky as two enslaved people, Tom and 4-year old Harry, are sold to pay Shelby family debts. Developing two plot lines, the story focuses on Tom, a strong, religious man living with his wife and 3 young children, and Eliza, Harry's mother.
When the novel begins, Eliza's husband George Harris, unaware of Harry's danger, has already escaped, planning to later purchase his family's freedom. To protect her son, Eliza runs away, making a dramatic escape over the frozen Ohio River with Harry in her arms. Eventually the Harris family is reunited and journeys north to Canada.
Tom protects his family by choosing not to run away so the others may stay together. Sold to another plantation in the south, Tom meets Topsy, a young, black girl whose mischievous behavior hides her pain; Eva, the angelic, young, white girl whose death moved readers to tears; charming, elegant but passive St. Clare; and finally, cruel, violent Simon Legree. Tom's deep faith gives him an inner strength that frustrates his enemies as he moves toward his fate in Louisiana.
The novel ends when both Tom and Eliza escape slavery: Eliza and her family reach Canada; but Tom's freedom comes with death. Simon Legree, Tom's third and final master, has Tom whipped to death for refusing to deny his faith or betray the hiding place of two fugitive women.
Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter marked the first exchange of fire in the Civil War. After seven southern states ratified their declarations of succession, the state of South Carolina demanded that Federal (United States) troops stationed at Fort Moultrie (in Charleston Harbor) abandon the fort. On December 26, 1860, however, Union Major General Richard Anderson moved his troops from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, because he thought Fort Sumter was more easily defended.
South Carolina subsequently seized all other Federal forts in South Carolina except for Fort Sumter. About two weeks later, U.S. president at the time James Buchanan authorized the delivery of reinforcements to Fort Sumter. The ship carrying the reinforcements was fired upon by batteries from the South Carolina shore and the reinforcements never made it. Over the course of the next few months, Confederate forces strengthened batteries around Fort Sumter. Furthermore, the new president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, appointed his first military officer, P.G. T. Beauregard, to command forces in Charleston. Ironically, Anderson and Beauregard were close friends and Beauregard even served as Anderson’s assistant after graduation from West Point.
Inside the fort, Anderson and his troops were running short on food and supplies as a siege began to form. New president Abraham Lincoln again tried to resupply the fort and notified South Carolina Governor Francis Pickins that he was sending in ships. In response, Confederate forces demanded the immediate surrender of the fort. After General Anderson refused the demand, Confederate forces began bombarding Fort Sumter at 4:30 in the morning on April 12, 1861.
Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter quickly took their toll. Badly outgunned and out manned, Anderson’s forces inside the fort initially returned fire, but were soon overwhelmed. After 34 hours, Major General Anderson agreed to evacuate the fort. No Union or Confederate soldiers were killed during the battle, though two Union soldiers would die as a result of a gun explosion during the surrender ceremonies on April 14. Both the North and the South became galvanized in their war efforts after Fort Sumter. President Lincoln’s request for the mobilization of 75,000 additional troops prompted the secession of four other states.
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but handily defeated the two other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, a U.S. senator for Illinois.
Lincoln, a Kentucky-born lawyer and former Whig representative to Congress, first gained national stature during his campaign against Stephen Douglas of Illinois for a U.S. Senate seat in 1858. The senatorial campaign featured a remarkable series of public encounters on the slavery issue, known as the Lincoln-Douglas debates, in which Lincoln argued against the spread of slavery, while Douglas maintained that each territory should have the right to decide whether it would become free or slave. Lincoln lost the Senate race, but his campaign brought national attention to the young Republican Party. In 1860, Lincoln won the party’s presidential nomination.
In the November 1860 election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the Northern faction of a heavily divided Democratic Party, as well as Breckinridge. The democrats could not win because the two candidates split the party’s vote. The announcement of Lincoln’s victory signaled the secession of the Southern states, which since the beginning of the year had been publicly threatening secession if the Republicans gained the White House.
By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven states had seceded, and the Confederate States of America had been formally established, with Jefferson Davis as its elected president.
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but handily defeated the two other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, a U.S. senator for Illinois.
Lincoln, a Kentucky-born lawyer and former Whig representative to Congress, first gained national stature during his campaign against Stephen Douglas of Illinois for a U.S. Senate seat in 1858. The senatorial campaign featured a remarkable series of public encounters on the slavery issue, known as the Lincoln-Douglas debates, in which Lincoln argued against the spread of slavery, while Douglas maintained that each territory should have the right to decide whether it would become free or slave. Lincoln lost the Senate race, but his campaign brought national attention to the young Republican Party. In 1860, Lincoln won the party’s presidential nomination.
In the November 1860 election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the Northern faction of a heavily divided Democratic Party, as well as Breckinridge. The democrats could not win because the two candidates split the party’s vote. The announcement of Lincoln’s victory signaled the secession of the Southern states, which since the beginning of the year had been publicly threatening secession if the Republicans gained the White House.
By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven states had seceded, and the Confederate States of America had been formally established, with Jefferson Davis as its elected president.
Dred Scott Decision
What happens when a slave sues for his freedom, and it goes to the Supreme Court of the United States? You have the recipe for a decision which not only set the country on its ear, but helped set the stage for the Civil War.
Dred Scott was born in Virginia as a slave in 1799. His owners, the Blow family, moved west to Missouri in 1830. After arriving in St. Louis, they sold Dred to an army doctor stationed just south of that city.
Over the next 12 years, he accompanied Dr. Emerson to the Illinois and Wisconsin territories, both non-slave areas. Dred even married Harriet Robinson, another slave, but did not attempt to stay behind when his master was ready to move back to Missouri in 1842.
The next year the doctor died, and his widow hired Dred and his family out to work for other people. After three years of this life, the Scotts attempted to sue the government for their freedom.
The Circuit Court of Missouri ruled in Mrs. Emerson's favor the first time, but Dred appealed and won the second suit. Mrs. Emerson appealed to the State Supreme Court, which overturned that decision. Then she turned Dred over to her brother, John Sanford.
After a brief taste of freedom, Dred and his wife did not want to give it up. An Abolitionist lawyer agreed to represent his case before the Supreme Court. In the case, they were not only deciding Scott's status, but whether he even had the right to be heard before the court.
The Supreme Court's job was to know the Constitution of the United States, and rule whether other laws or decisions were in line with it. The first aspect of the Scott vs. Sanford case of 1857 was whether Scott was even a citizen of Missouri.
When the Constitution was written, enslaved people were not considered people, but an inferior race. It was decided that the framers of the Constitution had not included them under the classification of citizens. They lived and worked but had no voice or rights in the government. This ruling also applied to free blacks.
The second part of the decision was whether the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was even legal. To bar a person or group of people from being able to move freely through the country because of the property they owned was unconstitutional. The rights of a private property owner are protected by the Constitution. If a man could lose control of his personal property without due process under the law of a "Free State," it was illegal. The Supreme Court declared the Missouri Compromise void. Dred Scott lost his final battle.
When the decision was read, it inflamed passions on both sides of the issue. Tension between the states rapidly began to push the country to the brink of war. The issue at the heart of the problem was this: whose rights were greater, those of the states or the federal government?
In 1857, Mrs. Emerson gave the Scotts back to the Blow family. They in turn gave the Scott family their freedom. When Dred died the next year, he and his family were free. His court battles helped people to understand that slaves were not just property, but people. Their eligibility for citizenship in a country should not be based on the color of their skin. The questions of freedom and citizenship were dealt with by the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution less than ten years later.
What happens when a slave sues for his freedom, and it goes to the Supreme Court of the United States? You have the recipe for a decision which not only set the country on its ear, but helped set the stage for the Civil War.
Dred Scott was born in Virginia as a slave in 1799. His owners, the Blow family, moved west to Missouri in 1830. After arriving in St. Louis, they sold Dred to an army doctor stationed just south of that city.
Over the next 12 years, he accompanied Dr. Emerson to the Illinois and Wisconsin territories, both non-slave areas. Dred even married Harriet Robinson, another slave, but did not attempt to stay behind when his master was ready to move back to Missouri in 1842.
The next year the doctor died, and his widow hired Dred and his family out to work for other people. After three years of this life, the Scotts attempted to sue the government for their freedom.
The Circuit Court of Missouri ruled in Mrs. Emerson's favor the first time, but Dred appealed and won the second suit. Mrs. Emerson appealed to the State Supreme Court, which overturned that decision. Then she turned Dred over to her brother, John Sanford.
After a brief taste of freedom, Dred and his wife did not want to give it up. An Abolitionist lawyer agreed to represent his case before the Supreme Court. In the case, they were not only deciding Scott's status, but whether he even had the right to be heard before the court.
The Supreme Court's job was to know the Constitution of the United States, and rule whether other laws or decisions were in line with it. The first aspect of the Scott vs. Sanford case of 1857 was whether Scott was even a citizen of Missouri.
When the Constitution was written, enslaved people were not considered people, but an inferior race. It was decided that the framers of the Constitution had not included them under the classification of citizens. They lived and worked but had no voice or rights in the government. This ruling also applied to free blacks.
The second part of the decision was whether the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was even legal. To bar a person or group of people from being able to move freely through the country because of the property they owned was unconstitutional. The rights of a private property owner are protected by the Constitution. If a man could lose control of his personal property without due process under the law of a "Free State," it was illegal. The Supreme Court declared the Missouri Compromise void. Dred Scott lost his final battle.
When the decision was read, it inflamed passions on both sides of the issue. Tension between the states rapidly began to push the country to the brink of war. The issue at the heart of the problem was this: whose rights were greater, those of the states or the federal government?
In 1857, Mrs. Emerson gave the Scotts back to the Blow family. They in turn gave the Scott family their freedom. When Dred died the next year, he and his family were free. His court battles helped people to understand that slaves were not just property, but people. Their eligibility for citizenship in a country should not be based on the color of their skin. The questions of freedom and citizenship were dealt with by the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution less than ten years later.
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
Bleeding Kansas (1856)
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act infuriated many in the North who considered the Missouri Compromise to be a long-standing binding agreement. In the pro-slavery South it was strongly supported.
After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed in to settle Kansas to affect the outcome of the first election held there after the law went into effect. Pro-slavery settlers carried the election but were charged with fraud by anti-slavery settlers, and the results were not accepted by them.
The anti-slavery settlers held another election, however pro-slavery settlers refused to vote. This resulted in the establishment of two opposing legislatures within the Kansas territory. Violence soon erupted, with the anti-slavery forces led by John Brown. The territory earned the nickname "bleeding Kansas" as the death toll rose.
President Franklin Pierce, in support of the pro-slavery settlers, sent in Federal troops to stop the violence and disperse the anti-slavery legislature. Another election was called. Once again pro-slavery supporters won and once again they were charged with election fraud. As a result, Congress did not recognize the constitution adopted by the pro-slavery settlers and Kansas was not allowed to become a state. Eventually, however, anti-slavery settlers outnumbered pro-slavery settlers and a new constitution was drawn up. On January 29, 1861, just before the start of the Civil War, Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state.
Bleeding Kansas (1856)
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act served to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act infuriated many in the North who considered the Missouri Compromise to be a long-standing binding agreement. In the pro-slavery South it was strongly supported.
After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed in to settle Kansas to affect the outcome of the first election held there after the law went into effect. Pro-slavery settlers carried the election but were charged with fraud by anti-slavery settlers, and the results were not accepted by them.
The anti-slavery settlers held another election, however pro-slavery settlers refused to vote. This resulted in the establishment of two opposing legislatures within the Kansas territory. Violence soon erupted, with the anti-slavery forces led by John Brown. The territory earned the nickname "bleeding Kansas" as the death toll rose.
President Franklin Pierce, in support of the pro-slavery settlers, sent in Federal troops to stop the violence and disperse the anti-slavery legislature. Another election was called. Once again pro-slavery supporters won and once again they were charged with election fraud. As a result, Congress did not recognize the constitution adopted by the pro-slavery settlers and Kansas was not allowed to become a state. Eventually, however, anti-slavery settlers outnumbered pro-slavery settlers and a new constitution was drawn up. On January 29, 1861, just before the start of the Civil War, Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state.
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John Brown’s Raid On Harper’s Ferry
On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown led 21 followers—five black men and 16 white ones, including two of Brown’s sons—on a raid to seize the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), where the Shenandoah River joins the North Branch of the Potomac. More than one version exists of what his plans were for the weapons he hoped to make off with. Some say he intended to create a state of free blacks in the mountains of western Virginia and Maryland. Others say he hoped to create an army of former slaves and freemen to march through Dixie, forcing slave owners to free their slaves. Brown himself may not have been entirely clear on what the next step would be, but he had convinced a number of Northern abolitionists to provide financial support for his actions, here and elsewhere.
Brown’s raiders captured a number of prisoners, including George Washington’s great-grand-nephew, Lewis Washington. Local militia trapped Brown and his men inside the arsenal’s firehouse. During the short siege, three citizens of Harpers Ferry, including Mayor Fontaine Beckham. were killed. The first person to die in John Brown’s raid, however, had been, ironically, a black railroad baggage handler named Hayward Shepherd, who confronted the raiders on the night they attacked the town. On October 18, a company of U.S. Marines, under the command of Army lieutenant colonel Robert E. Lee, broke into the building. Ten raiders were killed outright and seven others, including a wounded Brown, were captured.
Brown Sentenced To Death
He was tried and convicted for murder, conspiracy to incite a slave uprising, and treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was hanged at Charles Town, the county seat near Harpers Ferry, on December 2. Among those watching the execution, "with unlimited, undeniable contempt" for Brown, was the future assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth.
Brown had denied any plan "to excite or incite the slaves to rebellion or to make insurrection." He never intended to commit murder or treason or to destroy property, he claimed—though earlier that year he had purchased several hundred pikes and some firearms.
"Now if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say let it be done," he said.
The "unjust enactments" included the Constitution, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott decision of 1857.
On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown led 21 followers—five black men and 16 white ones, including two of Brown’s sons—on a raid to seize the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), where the Shenandoah River joins the North Branch of the Potomac. More than one version exists of what his plans were for the weapons he hoped to make off with. Some say he intended to create a state of free blacks in the mountains of western Virginia and Maryland. Others say he hoped to create an army of former slaves and freemen to march through Dixie, forcing slave owners to free their slaves. Brown himself may not have been entirely clear on what the next step would be, but he had convinced a number of Northern abolitionists to provide financial support for his actions, here and elsewhere.
Brown’s raiders captured a number of prisoners, including George Washington’s great-grand-nephew, Lewis Washington. Local militia trapped Brown and his men inside the arsenal’s firehouse. During the short siege, three citizens of Harpers Ferry, including Mayor Fontaine Beckham. were killed. The first person to die in John Brown’s raid, however, had been, ironically, a black railroad baggage handler named Hayward Shepherd, who confronted the raiders on the night they attacked the town. On October 18, a company of U.S. Marines, under the command of Army lieutenant colonel Robert E. Lee, broke into the building. Ten raiders were killed outright and seven others, including a wounded Brown, were captured.
Brown Sentenced To Death
He was tried and convicted for murder, conspiracy to incite a slave uprising, and treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was hanged at Charles Town, the county seat near Harpers Ferry, on December 2. Among those watching the execution, "with unlimited, undeniable contempt" for Brown, was the future assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth.
Brown had denied any plan "to excite or incite the slaves to rebellion or to make insurrection." He never intended to commit murder or treason or to destroy property, he claimed—though earlier that year he had purchased several hundred pikes and some firearms.
"Now if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say let it be done," he said.
The "unjust enactments" included the Constitution, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dred Scott decision of 1857.
Southern States Secede
Before the 1860 presidential election, many Southerners had warned that if Lincoln won, the Southern states would secede, or withdraw from the Union. Supporters of secession based their arguments on the idea of states’ rights. They argued that the states had voluntarily joined the Union. Consequently, they claimed that the states also had the right to leave the Union.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede. Other states in the Deep South, where slave labor and cotton production were most common, also considered secession. During the next six weeks, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas joined South Carolina in secession. In early February 1861, the states that had seceded met in Montgomery, Alabama. They formed the Confederate States of America. The convention named Jefferson Davis president of the Confederacy.
Before the 1860 presidential election, many Southerners had warned that if Lincoln won, the Southern states would secede, or withdraw from the Union. Supporters of secession based their arguments on the idea of states’ rights. They argued that the states had voluntarily joined the Union. Consequently, they claimed that the states also had the right to leave the Union.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede. Other states in the Deep South, where slave labor and cotton production were most common, also considered secession. During the next six weeks, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas joined South Carolina in secession. In early February 1861, the states that had seceded met in Montgomery, Alabama. They formed the Confederate States of America. The convention named Jefferson Davis president of the Confederacy.