John Brown

Hi again class. We are kicking off our third lecture covering the 1850s. This is number three of three. One make a quick note. This is the same day I taped fourteen point two the middle 1850s lecture. You might have noticed I left off any commentary on the very last slide with the means with Frederick Douglass quotes. I was going to kind of leave those for you to read. I was going to save time and not really go into depth with those. But I did mean to sign off on that. So I did my conclusion on the Lincoln slide. I really meant to do it on the Frederick Douglass slide. But please do look at that slide because the quotes are significant. They deal specifically with Frederick Douglass's position on the Dred Scott decision and his general outlook on the Constitution which I've talked about previously. But jumping back in the 1850s the year now is 1858. And one of the last things I told you in the 14.2 lecture was that Lincoln has jumped back into politics. Lincoln is really hot under the collar if you will up. Stephen Douglas as we've seen has essentially reopened the West to the expansion of slavery with his doctrine of popular sovereignty. Remember the idea behind popular sovereignty with the Kansas Nebraska ax as proposed successfully by Stephen Douglas was let's let the people that move there decide. Let's let them vote whether their territory will allow slave ownership or not. And Lincoln is still more. Upset and perturbed and whatever adjective I could use is alarmed. When the Dred Scott decision came down the pike because the Dred Scott decision the Tahnee court has claimed that the Congress has no authority to keep slavery out of the territories essentially you can't stop people from bringing slaves into the West. Lincoln has is re-entering politics in large part to fight this expansion of slavery. And Lincoln a long time Whig. Lincoln was a loyal member of the Whig Party. His absolute political hero was Henry Clay. Lincoln now finds himself joining the Republican Party. The Republican Party is essentially a free soil party. It is an anti-slavery party. It's not necessary abolitionist although if you're an abolitionist it's a pretty good home for you.

It is a party that says we do not want to allow the expansion of slavery. And Lincoln casts his lot with this new party. And Lincoln emerges as a candidate to challenge none other than Stephen Douglas for his Senate seat in 1858. Douglas again is one of the most powerful senators in the country. He's been doing a lot of he's he's had a very busy decade. He's been very influential. And Lincoln's going to challenge him in a Senate race.

And the course of this campaign Lincoln and Douglas agreed to a series of seven debates debates that would take place up and down the length of Illinois in seven different towns and cities. And this resulted in what history remembers as the Lincoln-Douglas debates. And we remember these as a really critical part of American political culture. The remarkable debate. So I want to emphasize to what extent they're different from today's debates. If you watch modern political debates today normally you'll see the candidates up there on the stage and they got their podium and there's moderators presenting questions to them. And normally the candidates get what you know two minutes. To respond to to make a statement right or to to answer a question or a prompt and then they'll give somebody rebuttal to counter rebuttal. Today's debates are very kind of. Talking point centered if you will come short soundbites if you will right. And there's a little buzzer you know to tell you you know how much time you have left or if you've run out of time or so so forth. What are these debates like. Well obviously they're not televised. This is about a century before television. So you're go into these debates out in the open. Big crowds lot of hoopla a lot of excitement because politics is a really big deal during this year. There's no expectation that the the audience members are going to be you know polite and quiet. You know you watch debates day and they'll say hold your applause until the end you know. You know we want to save time and all that sort of thing because we're on TV. The crowds make a raucous here. They laugh they shout they heckle. If you read transcripts of the debates you can find references to things that people are shouting out or when they laugh at something funny or things like that.

The structure the debates themselves is different. There's really no moderator at least nobody nobody pitching questions to the candidates. It's rather a series of speeches. In fact the candidates don't really talk directly to each other. They certainly talk about each other. The format of the Lincoln-Douglas debates went like this at any given debate. One of them's going to go first. The first man to speak speaks for an hour. The second guy the rebuttal. Whether it's Lincoln or Douglas will speak for an hour and a half. And then the original first speaker he gets another half hour to finish up. That's very different from the two minute version that candidates get today. And this was an age that really prized oratory that print that prized rhetoric and fine speechmaking thread. Remarkable. These guys you gave these these these lengthy speeches.

And it's interesting to see how Lincoln goes after Douglass during these debates. Lincoln starts posing a challenge to Douglass. Douglass after all is Mr. Popular Sovereignty right. Let the people decide. Douglass insists he's neutral on slavery. He doesn't care whether you vote for it or against it. Just let the people decide. Well Lincoln takes that position says all right. But what about Dred Scott. The Supreme Court told us that we can't keep slavery. Out of the territories we can't ban it. So what if the people who move to a territory what if they want to be a free territory and to become a free state. How can they ban slavery if we have to obey the dictates of the Supreme Court.

And that's the issue that that Lincoln wants to hammer home. And I'll return to that idea Douglass comes up with an answer. His answer basically amounts to this If you don't want to have slavery don't pass the laws necessary to keep slavery in place to the slave codes that you need. Does that work. Personally I don't think so. I think Lincoln has a good point here. And Lincoln is trying to. Challenge Douglas to show the contradiction in his position. He's doing this for a number of reasons. Certainly he wants to win. He wants to prove that Douglas's case is wrong or at least wrong. If you want to oppose the expansion of slavery.

He also I think is driving this wedge. Remember there is a growing split in the Democratic Party and the chiefs sides of that split are between James Buchanan who's willing to let Kansas become slave territory and Douglas who thinks that the pro-slavery settlers are going too far and are overrepresented. So the president and one of the most prominent members of his party Senator Douglas are at odds. Lincoln is driving a wedge between them.

There's probably a good argument here. In fact I think there is a good argument here that Lincoln is also trying to prove to his fellow Republicans that Douglas is not one of them because there's there's members of Lincoln's own party saying OK. Douglas doesn't see eye to eye with Buchanan. Maybe we could bring Douglas into our party. He's not happy. You know he there's a feud among the Democrats. We can't divide and conquer here. Well Lincoln doesn't believe Douglas is right for the Republican Party. In fact he doesn't believe he's right for the Senate. Lincoln thinks he should be elected instead of him.

Another key point I would like to make about the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

I pay attention to kind of popular discussions what people are saying we know social media things like that what people say about the Civil War the Civil War Europe and folks are very keen on sharing certain statements from the Lincoln-Douglas debate that Lincoln makes. There's people who.

Argue against Lincoln's reputation as an anti-slavery champion. As we later see his reputation as the great emancipator and they'll raise quotes from the Lincoln-Douglas debates in which Lincoln states that he does not believe in the total equality of whites and blacks that he thinks there is some kind of. White superiority over the black race. And they'll use it. Si si si Rankins ligands racist. He's not as great as you think he is. He doesn't really care about slavery. Well that's complicated.

Lincoln certainly hates slavery. We know he does. He's for as long as he can remember Lincoln said he hated slavery. What do we do with this idea about racial ideas. Well I tend to pass terms like racism. In most cases they we think of a racist as as a hater as a member of a hate group one who engages in hate speech. Right. Against a particular group.

I think there's a. I have to say softer version of racism where maybe you have someone has racial biases but not necessarily malice. Not necessarily hate towards someone for being fair. Lincoln and many people from his era have racial biases.

And have.

We could say. Even demeaning assumptions about people of a different color of condescending assumptions about people of different races. Now it's worth noting too that Lincoln changed over time and. African-American activists who met with him remarked about how he treated them with complete equality. One thing we can't escape. So in these online discussions that I follow. People love to harp on these words and rarely do they understand until somebody tells them why Lincoln is making these statements. Why is he just coming out of the blue and says I want to tell you how I feel about Africa. African blacks or whatever. As a race Lincoln in fact has been race baited by Stephen Douglas. And what people often fail to realize is Lincoln to many. Voters of his time. Sounds like a radical.

Slavery is a controversial issue. In the 1850s.

Abolitionism and Lincoln is not a true immediate abolitionist. But remember I said that if abolitionism is controversial. Abolitionists true abolitionists were in a minority. A lot of people thought abolitionists are rocking the boat. They're stirring up trouble. They're making trouble for the country. And there are many people who worried that abolitionists if they manage to undo slavery would also upset the racial status quo. There were people who were worried about bringing about some kind of racial social equality. Now it's worth noting that so Douglass is trying to paint Lincoln into a corner. Douglass is actually trying to make Lincoln. More like us than he really was assuming we're all know. Racial egalitarians if you will. Douglass wants to make Illinois voters especially southern Illinois voters think Lincoln is a racial radical. Illinois is a state in the 1850s in terms of its politics was kind of a microcosm of the nation because southern Illinois had lots of southern settlers originally and northern Illinois had mostly northern suburbs. So depending on which town you're in is either kind of a home field advantage for Lincoln or Douglas.

And Douglas wants to paint Lincoln as a racial radical. You want blacks and whites to be able to marry one another and things like that. Now for us in 2020 it's like yeah. What's wrong with that. But it's it's radical in Lincoln's day and age. And Lincoln will backpedal on this. And he says things which normally people don't quote like you know just because I don't want a black woman for a wife doesn't mean she should be a slave. Basically I can just leave her alone just because I'm against slavery. Doesn't mean I'm I'm for all the things you stand for doesn't mean I'm not either. Lincoln doesn't really say that but.

In some respects this is about a hypothetical you know slave woman. In some respects she is not my equal. This is a close paraphrase but in her right to eat the bread she earns with her own hands. She is my equal. For Lincoln people are equal before the law even if they're born differently. Different physical capabilities different mate mental capabilities different talents etc. People are equal before the law. Lincoln absolutely cherished the ideas that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence especially that idea all men are created equal. And Lincoln fundamentally believes whatever regardless of racial prejudice he believes that people should be equal before the law and he believes that owning people is fundamentally against American principles.

So the seven debates took place. The election took place. Douglas was successfully re-elected. Douglas won re-election. Lincoln lost now. At Harpers Ferry I spent two summers working in Harpers Ferry one of our rangers would tell people Lincoln lost those debates. You never heard of Senator Lincoln did you. Well Lincoln lost the election. I'm going to get on my soapbox now. Lincoln lost the election. It's another thing over to claim he quote unquote lost the debates. This isn't a forensics tournament. Nobody's grading. Nobody's awarding points. The only points are votes.

And here's something to look at as originally written the Constitution said that the state legislatures will choose. Senators not the people not the popular vote. Today the popular vote elects senators but the winner. In the Senate race will be decided by the Illinois legislature voted on by the people.

And historians have looked at the numbers and one of the things that Lincoln had working against him was that. Illinois political districts really need to be redrawn. Illinois was settled mostly in the south first moving northward and southern Illinois which was stronger Democrat really. Should have. Illinois really should have been redistricted better. And it was going against Lincoln in terms of long story short based on how people voted. Based on the number of votes cast for the Illinois state legislature it's fair to say that in a redrawn map a map that better reflected the population of Illinois Lincoln could have won this. Now that's not really that that's kind of a side issue. Did did did Lincoln lose the debates quote unquote. Why are these important if Lincoln didn't win. Lincoln has gone toe to toe with one of the most important senators in the country. This puts him on the map. A few people would have heard of him on a national level at this point. He has gone toe to toe with one of the most powerful Democrats in the country. He's given him a run for his money and it puts him.

In the ranks of possible future Republican candidates for the presidency it helps make Lincoln's name it helps put his name on the map.

And it's going to be a springboard for Lincoln moving forward in his presidential campaign. OK. I got him myself. Eventually he will run for president.

We're going to switch to yet another topic. I like to spend a lot of time on and that is John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. This is a topic I've got a lot to say about. It's fascinated me for the longest time. And as I mentioned earlier I spent two summers working for the National Park Service at Harpers Ferry. Very important place in American history for all sorts of reasons. But this raid in 1859 led by John Brown is the biggest reason why Harper's ferry's name. Stands out in American history. Harpers Ferry. Sits at the confluence of two rivers. Let's take the photograph. That's a photograph I took from Maryland Heights. The river closest to you in the photograph that is the Potomac River and the river in the background is the Shenandoah. They come together in that little triangle of land. Between them is where Harper's Ferry sits at the bottom of the hill. It's actually surrounded by hills. You've got Camp Hill in the photograph to your left. There is Loudon Heights and where I'm standing in the photograph is Maryland Heights. If you look at a map of the United States Harper's Ferry used to be Virginia. It's now part of West Virginia. And if you look at a map of West Virginia look for the far eastern part of east west West Virginia. The eastern part of West Virginia it's got a little tail. The very tip of that tail is where Harper's Ferry is.

Why is Harpers Ferry important why is it significant. Well before John Brown came to town. Harper's Ferry was home to a United States armory. An arsenal. That means it was a place that made and stored weaponry for the United States Army. There were two such national armories. One was in Springfield Massachusetts the other in Harpers Ferry West Virginia. Today West Virginia George Washington actually helped pick this out as the spot for an armory.

So they make guns there. They store guns there. And that is a primary reason why John Brown makes it his target for a raid in 1859. Brown has since grown a beard that we associate him with. That he's so recognizable by. He has put together a small force of twenty one men plus himself some of them are white. Some of them are black. Some of them are men who have escaped slavery or paid their way out. Several. The men are his adult sons. Brown has a plan. His plan calls for taking over seizing control of the armory. Gain a hold of all the guns stored there. His next step as he foresees it is to spread word throughout the countryside and to encourage a slave revolt. He wants slaves to rise up kind of Spartacus style flock to him become part of his his slave army. John Brown is basically going to declare war on slavery. And it seems that Brown is hoping to head into the Appalachian Mountains of Harpers Ferry is that the very northern tip of the Shenandoah Valley. The valley is formed by the Blue Ridge and the Appalachian Mountains. He's going to get weapons recruit slaves go up into the mountains and well it's not super clear. You know fortify himself there. He's probably maybe hoping for a snowball effect. You know as as his his campaign moves along more and more slaves will flock to his banner.

He also has big crates filled with pikes a pike is a kind of spear and what he anticipates is that you know he wants to get enough arms guns to arm his new slave followers should they come to his call. And those that don't know how to use a firearm because there's a lot of rules keeping slaves from having any kind of access to weapons he can arm them with these pikes.

John Brown sought to recruit Frederick Douglass to his cause and met with Douglass to discuss his plan. Now Douglass. Turned him down not because he was against it in principle but because he thought this was not a good plan that it would fail. Harper's Ferry is surrounded by high ground on all three sides and he warned Brown you'll be going into a perfect steel trap. But Brown was dead set on his mission. And so. Launched his raid the night of October 16th 1859 his men filed across a bridge over the Potomac River. So if you turn your attention to the painting in the lower left. In the lower right of that painting you'll see a covered bridge and they would cross that bridge and at night gone through the town and seize control the armory. There was one guy on guard duty watching it. So that took him captive. They had they inflicted their first casualty as they go through the town. Anybody who kind of wanders into their dragnet they capture. They take prisoner. Now a man by the railroad station they told him to halt. He turned around and ran. Somebody fired a shot killed the man. That man's name was Heyward Shepard. The art he worked for the railroad as a baggage handler. The irony is he was a freed slave. He was a former slave. He was African-American. It was dark. That couldn't tell the first man killed. Irony of ironies. And John Brown's raid is a black man a former slave. Brown and his men spread out through the town by by dawn. The people of Harpers Ferry realized that the armory and arsenal was. In enemy hands somebody looks like armed. White and black men has taken it over. Brown also goes down to the countryside capturing some slave owners trying to recruit their slaves to.

What happens next is some of the townsfolk grab guns and start fighting back. Start gun fighting. John Brown and his men. And soon word spreads out into the countryside that there's an attack on the armory and it seems like it's a slave revolt because there's armed black men among them. And so the militia is called out. Maryland and Virginia turn out. Militia units. And one of the things Southerners living in a slave society always worried about. One of the reasons why they had to be prepared to defend themselves. They lived in fear in the back of their minds about a slave revolt just like this. So the militia turns out and they begin driving John Brown and his men at. Back and imagine them fanning out in the lower painting kind of like in a V formation and then being driven back being driven back to this corner of land at the tip of the triangle.

John Brown and his men took cover. Inside a small brick building that house the fire engines for the armory. And I don't know if you'll be able to see my cursor. When I show this if you can. This is right where that brick building was. They fought it up inside there. They make it. That's where they make their stand. At this point it's a bit of an impasse because Brown and his men have been driven inside. They're trapped now but nobody wants to storm the building you know because they're in a well-protected strong building. What happens next.

Word went out to Washington D.C. that the federal armory was under attack. The Buchanan administration dispatched the nearest troops that they had on hand the dearest forces they could find were Marines stationed. At the Washington Navy Yard.

And the senior officer the most senior officer they could find to take command of this force was an army officer a cavalry colonel by the name of Robert E. Lee. He just happened to live. His family home was the plantation across the river from Washington called Arlington. That's the same Arlington Army. Arlington National Cemetery. So we have a cavalry colonel and he is leading Marines to restore order in Harpers Ferry. The Marines arrived. They took control. They find out the situation. The Raiders have been driven into this brick building that you see in the photograph. They never photograph a.

The Raiders are trapped in there and the next step is to capture them. They're fortified inside the building. They're armed. They also have hostages. So this is like a modern SWAT situation if you will. Right. You know we've got. We've got gunmen. They've got hostages they've taken cover what do we do. Li. Offers to the Marine not to the. I'm sorry Lee tells the militia captains. He says if you want. You know my men have restored order to your men want the honor of storming the place. Good luck. You know this is a.

This is a significant thing. There's there's you know this is your town do you want to you know the honor of defending it. In this last stage and the militia captains flatly tell them no you get paid to risk your life. You guys do it. So the Marines are going to be the ones standing ready to storm the engine house.

John Brown and his men get one chance to surrender. Lee has a young officer with him who served under him. His name is Jeb Stuart. James Ewell Brown. Stuart You'll see both Lee and Stuart on the next slide. Stewart goes up to one of the doors of the engine house and to talk terms to to talk to Brown. Kind of like you know you might send in a police negotiator. Brown opens the door a crack and. Brown says that he's willing to leave Harpers Ferry.

That he will turn over the hostages the hostages are safe if they allow him to march out of Harpers Ferry free and clear. Then we can you know resolve this standoff. Stewart says that's not going to work. You guys surrender or we're coming after you. Brown slammed the door in his face. Stewart stepped out of range. Waved his hat and that was the signal for the Marines to storm this brick building. They went in. They went in with sledgehammers and for some reason the sledgehammers were not enough to break down these wooden doors. So a group of them grabbed. The ladder and they use that as a battering ram to bash through one of the doors and then they go inside. This is a pretty dangerous operation. This is like what the Army the Marines train for. This is what SWAT team members train for. You know you're entering a a defended building. This is who wants to be the first man. This is very very dangerous.

The first man in. Was Marine Lieutenant Israel Green and other men followed behind him. I think the third man behind him was a private named Luke Quinn. Luke Quinn was shot and his wound turned out to be mortal. Luke Quinn died. That's a picture I took of his grave uphill from the town of Harpers Ferry. He's the only Marine killed in this fight.

The Marines break through Israel green goes after John Brown one of the hostages points them out to bring Green lunged at Brown with his sword. Now Green wasn't carrying a normal sword. A tough sword meant for combat. He was wearing a dress sword which really wasn't good for a weapon at all. And it bent it bent like a hairpin against it hit something. It hit something like a belt buckle or something on brown and it bends in half. Well Green wasn't discouraged by that. He took his bent sword and started beating Brown with it. And the Marines are behind green and they start bayoneting the Raiders if they try to offer any resistance. And pretty soon they've overwhelmed the Raiders.

And the traders those that are left alive inside the building are captured. All the hostages are successfully freed. You can take a look here of the stats from the raid the casualties 10 readers were killed seven were later captured and executed five of them escaped and were not caught. One Marine was killed in this action.

Brown was among the survivors. He was taken prisoner and the decision was that he was going to be tried by the state of Virginia. You could say this was a federal offense but they made it a state matter. He was taken to nearby Charles Town Virginia not to be confused with Charleston. Virginia Charlestown is just a few miles away from Harpers Ferry. Brown was put on trial for murder treason treason against the state of Virginia. And inciting slave rebellion. All three of those carried with them a capital sentence. All of those would get you the death penalty.

Now many people have speculated about John Brown and his mindset. And as I mentioned in a previous lecture it's not uncommon for people to speculate or ask. You know he was he crazy. Was he insane.

I can't. No. You know we can speculate about his mental state. I can tell you hover from you know my cop-out answer if you will. John Brown was legally fit to stand trial. He would. He did not meet the legal definition of insane. The legal definition basically is do you understand. You know right from wrong. Do you understand the consequences Iran's actions. Brown absolutely does. Men who met brown men like the governor of Virginia who showed up and interviewed him. Hated his cause hated what he did but they were impressed by the keenness of his mind. They certainly didn't believe he was crazy deluded maybe in their opinion. But in a legal sense we cannot call Brown insane legally insane. He certainly defended himself quite eloquently says if I was doing this on behalf of white people if I was trying to free white people from bondage you know I would be a hero. But I'm I'm trying to defend black people who are.

Mistreated in this country. He speaks very eloquently. He was found guilty on all the charges. He was sentenced to hang. And his hanging was December 2nd 1859.

He was led to a gallows on the side of the hanging was surrounded by troops by militia because there were worries that abolitionists from the north would descend on Harpers Ferry and tried to liberate him.

Brown rode in a wagon on city on his own coffin was led up to up the steps of the gallows. He passed a note to one of the men on the platform and this is the original note and here's the key part of this. I John Brown I'm now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had as I now think vaguely flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done. This is John Brown's prediction. He's tried to wage a war against slavery. It's got the war to end slavery is going to be far bloodier. Now he realizes but he predicts. That's the crime of slavery will have to be purged away with blood. He foresees conflict on the horizon just like the horizon in the John Brown painting we discussed. John Brown met his end. John Brown was a divisive figure. He's a divisive figure to this day. He's controversial. People have passionate opinions about him for and against. Was he a patriot. Was he a hero. Was he a traitor or was he a traitor. Terrorist. You can find all sorts of opinions among people. He was very divisive in his own day. Southerners were absolutely up in arms over John Brown's raid. They felt threatened because here was a white man with support from other northerners. Who launched an armed attack trying to stir up a slave rebellion one of their greatest fears. The idea of slaves rising up against them. So the heart of the south went into this new militant mode. They started taking the militia more seriously. They started taking military preparedness more seriously.

Because they imagine some sort of possible conflict or threat to their society. Northerners were divided. Some northerners wanted nothing to do with Brown. Thought it was a OK. Yeah. Hang on. We agree he deserves it. Some northerners said he was wrong. Even as they sympathized with his cause. Abraham Lincoln was part of this group. Lincoln said Yeah we agreed with John Brown that slavery is wrong. We disagreed with his methods. And Lincoln said it was just that he had killed people. It was right to hang him for his crimes. There were a lot of people trying to use John Brown as a weapon as a way to de-legitimize the Republicans and anybody against slavery.

And there were even some northerners who flat out adopted John Brown as a hero.

Who saw him as a martyr as a saintly figure. Who struck a blow gallantly against slavery and gave his life trying to end slavery. Now sonor saw the Southerners saw some northerners far from all southerners saw northerners who praised John Brown. And celebrated John Brown. And they start to become more paranoid because here are the northerners here people from the north celebrating the guy who attacked us. So paranoia is ramping up in the slave states hostility between free and slave states. Is ramping up. And John Brown has played a critical role in further inflaming the passions between both sides and increasing the likelihood of civil war. And it's civil war what we will be talking about in our very next lecture. So this concludes the 1850s. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I enjoy it. As always stay safe stay healthy. Good luck with all of your studies. And tune in for the next lecture.