HIST Midterm - John Brown

The Trial of John Brown (1859)

Began October 25, 1859, just nine days after his raid on Harper's Ferry. Conducted swiftly by Virginia authorities under Governor Henry Wise, the trial focused on charges of Treason Against Virginia, conspiring to incite a slave insurrection, and murder. Brown was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to death.

John Brown

Born in 1800, a descendant of New England Puritans. He was a strict Calvinist who adopted an Antinomian worldview, believing the elect could judge worldly institutions. He was an abolitionist who endorsed violence to fight the violent system of slavery. He led John Brown’s Raid on Harper's Ferry, VA, on October 16, 1859. He was hanged on December 2, 1859, becoming a martyr to the abolitionist cause.

Toussaint Louverture & Haitian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution was a large and bloody slave rebellion that created the first republic born of a slave revolt. Toussaint Louverture was the revolution's leader whom John Brown admired and ranked among history's greatest men. Brown admired those willing to use violence against a violent system.

American Colonization Society (ACS)

A philanthropic organization founded by Henry Clay. It aimed to send freed slaves to the country of Liberia. It was strongly opposed by abolitionists and African Americans, like David Walker and Frederick Douglass, who saw it as ineffective.

Walker’s Appeal

David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. It argued strongly against the American Colonization Society. It created panic in the South, where authorities made owning a copy a major offense. John Brown planned to republish and circulate the Appeal.

William Lloyd Garrison

An aggressive abolitionist who founded the newspaper The Liberator. He advocated the Doctrine of Immediatism (immediate abolition and equal rights) using Moral Suasion (non-violence). He called the Constitution "a covenant with death and an agreement with hell" because he believed it was pro-slavery.

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

A slave rebellion led by Nat Turner, who believed he was receiving direct revelations from God to end slavery. Turner and his 70 followers killed over 60 people. John Brown admired Turner’s willingness to use violent resistance and his fearlessness when facing the gallows.

Article 4, Section 2

This ID refers to the constitutional requirement historically enforced by the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. The FSL 1850 was a "new, aggressive federal law" that prohibited jury trials and habeas corpus, denied alleged runaways the right to testify on their own behalf, and allowed them to be seized without warrants. The burden of proof was placed on the alleged runaways. When: The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was enacted as part of the Compromise of 1850. Significance: This law reflected the extreme sectional division over slavery expansion and served as a major point of contention, particularly in the North. It directly spurred John Brown to act, leading him to found the League of the Gileadites in 1851. This organization, comprised mostly of African Americans, was committed to the armed obstruction of the Fugitive Slave Law, demonstrating Brown's belief that the Constitution was "pro-slavery, and beyond repair

Wilmot Proviso

A resolution introduced by Congressman David Wilmot in 1846 to prohibit slavery from expanding into the Mexican Cession (lands acquired from Mexico). Although it passed in the House, it stalled in the Senate, reflecting deep sectional divisions over slavery expansion.

Compromise of 1850

A series of bills intended to settle the issue of slavery in the Mexican Cession. Key elements included admitting California as a free state, dividing the remaining land into the Utah and New Mexico territories (using popular sovereignty), and enacting the new, aggressive Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

A new, aggressive federal law resulting from the Compromise of 1850. It allowed alleged runaways to be seized without warrants, prohibited jury trials and habeas corpus, and denied fugitives the right to testify on their own behalf. It directly spurred John Brown to found the League of the Gileadites to obstruct it.

League of the Gileadites

An organization founded by John Brown in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1851. Named for the biblical Mt. Gilead, the organization consisted mostly of African Americans and was committed to the armed obstruction of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

Proposed by Stephen A. Douglas, this Act created the Nebraska and Kansas territories and stipulated that the status of slavery in these lands would be decided by Popular Sovereignty (whoever settled there first). This decision led directly to the violence known as Bleeding Kansas.

Jayhawkers

Anti-slavery militia groups, often armed activists, who fought in Bleeding Kansas. John Brown fought alongside these forces.

Bleeding Kansas

A "mini-civil war" that resulted from the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, fought between pro-slavery settlers (like the Border Ruffians) and abolitionists. John Brown and his sons relocated there to fight, culminating in the massacre at Pottawatomie Creek.

Border Ruffians

Approximately 3,000 pro-slavery men from Missouri who rode into Kansas in March 1855 and illegally stuffed the ballot boxes to rig the vote deciding the fate of slavery, establishing a pro-slavery legislature.

The Caning of Sumner

An incident in which Senator Charles Sumner (an abolitionist from Massachusetts) delivered a harsh speech, "The Crime Against Kansas". In retaliation, Congressman Preston Brooks repeatedly hit Sumner with a cane, inflicting neurological damage. This event demonstrated the violent escalation of sectional tensions; the South cheered the action.

John Brown’s “Liberty Guards”

An anti-slavery militia created by John Brown in Kansas.

Pottawatomie Creek

The location in Kansas where John Brown and his sons, in May 1856, hacked five pro-slavery settlers into pieces with broadswords. This action marked Brown's introduction of "southern tactics to the northern side".

Dred Scott v. Sandford

A landmark Supreme Court Decision in 1857. The Court ruled that African Americans, free or enslaved, were not citizens and therefore could not sue. Furthermore, the ruling asserted that slaves were property under the 5th Amendment, meaning Congress could not restrict slaveholders from taking their property anywhere (making slavery potentially permissible everywhere).

The Secret Six

A group of ministers and abolitionists who met with John Brown and gave him substantial money to support his plan for the raid on Harper's Ferry.

Brown’s “Provisional Constitution”

A document read by John Brown to his recruits, outlining a new government with legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Article XLVI claimed the goal was not to overthrow the US government but simply to "Amendment and Repeal". It was used as critical evidence during Brown's trial to prove his intent to subvert Virginia’s government.

Frederick Douglass

A prominent speaker who represented the 300,000 free African Americans in the North. He noted that his own zeal for freedom was minimal compared to Brown's: “I would live for the slave, John Brown would die for him”.

John Brown’s Raid

Occurred on Sunday night, October 16, 1859, when Brown and 21 men seized the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, VA, intending to seize 100,000 guns and arm slaves for a guerilla campaign. The raid failed to attract mass slave support, leading to Brown’s capture, wounding, and eventual trial.

Colonel Lewis Washington

One of the hostages Brown and his men took during the Harper’s Ferry Raid.

Dangerfield Newby

A former slave whose wife was still enslaved in Virginia and about to be sold to Louisiana. He joined Brown's Provisional Army in hopes of saving his wife. He was killed during the raid while running to the armory, and his body was mutilated.

Governor Henry Wise

The Governor of Virginia who insisted that John Brown be tried in state court, fearing federal courts would not execute him. Wise pushed for a swift trial, agreeing to observe judicial formalities but "at double quick time".

Virginia’s Treason Statute

The law under which John Brown was charged, which defined treason as "levying war against the state" and mandated the death penalty by hanging. Brown’s defense attorneys argued he could not commit treason against Virginia because he was not a resident of Virginia.

Judge Richard Parker

The judge presiding over John Brown’s trial in 1859. He was from a prominent legal family, had ties to the Harper’s Ferry Armory, and was a slaveholder himself (enslaving 10 people).

Samuel Chilton

One of the defense attorneys paid for by abolitionists who arrived late in Brown's trial. He argued in his closing statement that Brown, as a non-Virginian, could not commit treason against the state, and that the Provisional Constitution suggested Brown was a man of unsound mind.

Barclay Coppoc

One of John Brown’s men who managed to escape capture during the raid. He made it back to Iowa, whose governor refused to extradite him, angering the South. Coppoc later died fighting for the Union in the Civil War.

Election of 1860

Abraham Lincoln's election was the final catalyst for secession in the South.

South Carolina Ordinance of Secession

The statement issued by South Carolina that formalized its withdrawal from the Union, which subsequent states based their ordinances on. They cited the combined threats of John Brown and Abraham Lincoln as factors driving their decision.

John Brown’s Body

A reference to the legacy of John Brown. After his hanging, he was seen as a Christ-like figure and a martyr to the just cause, with church bells ringing in the North. He was later called the "meteor of the war".