ABOLITIONIST JOHN BROWN HANGED BY STATE OF VIRGINIA
Charles Town, Virginia (JFK+50) On December 2, 1859, John Brown*, having been found guilty of treason, murder and insurrection in leading a failed raid on Harper's Ferry, was hanged by the State of Virginia. The execution, witnessed predominantly by soldiers, came at 11:15 a.m.
Brown hoped to spark a slave revolt in Virginia by capturing the United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry and supplying slaves with the weapons to be used to gain their freedom.
He and his "provisional army" of less than twenty individuals were either killed or captured by the United States Army under leadership of Colonel Robert E. Lee.
Brown's trial, held in Charles Town resulted in the guilty verdict on November 2, 1859. On the morning of his execution, John Brown handed a note to his guard. The note read...
Charles Town, Virginia (JFK+50) On December 2, 1859, John Brown*, having been found guilty of treason, murder and insurrection in leading a failed raid on Harper's Ferry, was hanged by the State of Virginia. The execution, witnessed predominantly by soldiers, came at 11:15 a.m.
Brown hoped to spark a slave revolt in Virginia by capturing the United States Arsenal at Harper's Ferry and supplying slaves with the weapons to be used to gain their freedom.
He and his "provisional army" of less than twenty individuals were either killed or captured by the United States Army under leadership of Colonel Robert E. Lee.
Brown's trial, held in Charles Town resulted in the guilty verdict on November 2, 1859. On the morning of his execution, John Brown handed a note to his guard. The note read...
"The crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood."
After the beginning of the American Civil War, Union soldiers went into battle singing...
"John Brown's body lies a mouldrin' in the grave, but his soul goes marching on."
*John Brown (1800-1859) was born in Torrington, Connecticut. In 1836, JB operated a tannery in Franklin Mills (Kent) Ohio. In 1846, he moved to Springfield, Massachusetts where he set up a wool commission business. In 1848,JB moved to North Elba, NY and went to "Bleeding Kansas" in 1855 to join the anti-slavery settlers.
"The Last Moments of John Brown"
by Thomas Hovenden (1880s)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
