6. John Brown faced the death penalty following his failed raid in Virginia
John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry was the first step in a planned slave insurrection he hoped to foment in the slave states of Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and to the south. The arsenal was seized because it contained weapons which Brown intended to use to arm the slaves. Brown intended to raise an army starting with 500 freed slaves and black freemen and move southward from Harper’s Ferry through Virginia and North Carolina, stripping the south of its slaves, which would join his army. He was confident that he would be able to create a new state for the freed slaves, after the southern economy collapsed.
Frederick Douglas was appalled at the idea and said so, as did several of the northern abolitionists. According to some, Brown asked the assistance of Harriet Tubman in raising his initial army, with escaped slaves from Ontario. These sources claim that she delivered, but when Brown launched his attack against Harper’s Ferry he had 21 men under his command, only five of whom were black. His raid was an abject failure, fourteen people were killed (including ten of his men), and several others wounded. Brown faced trial for four murders, treason (against Virginia, rather than the United States) and other charges, and hanging if convicted.