John Brown, born on this day in 1800, was a militant abolitionist who advocated for and practiced armed insurrection to overthrow the system of slavery in the U.S. He became the first American executed for treason after raiding Harpers Ferry.
Brown first gained national attention when he led small groups of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis of 1856. He was dissatisfied with the pacifism of the organized abolitionist movement, stating "These men are all talk. What we need is action - action!"
In October 1859, Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (modern day West Virginia), intending to start a liberation movement that would spread south through the mountainous regions of Virginia and North Carolina.
Although Brown's group successfully seized the armory at first, his raid was defeated by a combination of volunteer militia and state forces led by Robert E. Lee, who later commanded the Confederate States Army. Seven people were killed, two of whom were Brown's sons Oliver and Watson, and at least ten more were injured.
Brown had intended to arm enslaved people with weapons from the armory, but only a small number of locals were willing to join him, possibly due to an unfamiliarity with firearms. Within 36 hours, those of Brown's men who had not fled were killed or captured by local farmers, militiamen, or U.S. Marines.
Brown was hastily tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, the murder of five men, and inciting a slave insurrection. He was found guilty on all counts and was hanged, becoming the first person executed for treason in the history of the United States.
"I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land can 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."
- John Brown
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anyone else remember being told as a kid that gum would take 7 years to pass through your body if you swallowed it? kinda wack how many myths like that were designed to give children anxiety about nothing
Fr, you could literally just tell a kid 'have anxiety abkut nothing' in a stern voice and get the same effect
me after eating watermelon as a kid hearing that if you swallowed watermelon seeds, a plant would grow out of your stomach
(naturally, I assumed it would be like the chest burster from Alien)
There's this scene at the end of The Fountain where plants grow out of Hugh Jackman. It's ok