What was john brown's role in the civil war?

Answer 1

John Brown and his son's first showed up after the Kansas Nebraska act was passed in 1854. There was a bloody contest for control of Kansas and the newspapers of the time declared Blood Kansas. Ir was a war between pro slavery forces and antislavery settlers from free states. John Brown was part of the blood of Kansas. Brown and others in his camp feared that settlers from free states would loose the political struggle for control of Kansas unless they fought the pro slavery forces. Brown had taken an oath to fight for his cause against slavery at a prayer meeting in 1837.

On the night of May 24 Brown led a party of seven vigilantes, including four of his sons, in attacks on pro slavery men living along Pottawatomie Creek. We must "fight fire with fire" he told his followers better a score of bad men should die than one man who came here to make Kansas a free state should be driven out." John Brown was indicted for murder but never brought to justice, but his new found celebrity allowed him to pursue a goal that he had thought about since 1840. He dreamed of invading the south with an antislavery force that would raid plantations, free slaves and arm them for guerrilla war against slave owners. He needed money to do this and becoming a hero in Kansas would help him, he thought, to get to his goal. By 1859 he had a plan and he would take himself and his recruits to seize the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, VA. He thought that it would cause slaves in the area to rise up against their masters and come to him to be given guns so they could start a war. Three of Brown's sons Owen, Oliver, and Watson joined their father in this idea of taking Harper's Ferry.

On Sunday October 16 Brown and 21 men ( 16 whites, 4 free blacks and one slave) prepare to attack Harper's Ferry. They had taken several prominent men in the area hostage including Colonel Lewis Washington a descendant of George Washington and enlisted his slaves in the cause. Some thought they were being stolen and would be sold to other masters. They were confused and afraid and didn't go along with Brown's ideas. Before dawn on Oct. 17 two of Brown's men shot and killed Shepherd Hayward a free black man who worked as a baggage handler for Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He became the first to die in the raid. Soon militia units were summoned from nearby towns and a company of US Marines under the command of Lt. Colonel Robert E. Lee came to reclaim the armory. The first of Brown's men to die was Dangerfield Newby a former slave from VA who had hoped to free his wife and children enslaved on a plantation 30 miles south of Harper's Ferry. He carried with him a letter from his wife. Angry townspeople mutilated Newby's corpse and left it to be eaten by hogs.

As militiamen poured into Harper's Ferry Brown and his men left the armory and took refuge in the nearby fire engine house. He soon sent his son Watson out to make a deal that would allow them to leave Harper's Ferry, but the white flag was ignored and they were shot down. Watson made it back to the fire house, but he was wounded again by incoming fire and killed. His brother Oliver was also shot and begged his father to kill him to put him out of his misery. Brown told his son " if you must die die like a man."

Robert E. Lee reached Harper's Ferry on the morning of the 18th and he sent his aide Lt. James Ewell Brown ( Jeb) Stuart to have Brown surrender. Stuart had been in Bleeding Kansas and remembered Brown "who had given us so much trouble". Lee did not expect Brown to surrender so Stuart had orders to wave his cap and the the "storming party would advance, batter the doors open, and capture the insurgents at the point of the bayonet." One Marine died in the assault and two raiders were bayoneted. Brown was knocked to the ground with a sword and arrested. On December 2, 1859 Brown was hung for his crimes. One young militiaman from Maryland named John Wilkes Booth wrote afterward " I looked at the traitor and terrorizer with unlimited undeniable contempt."

So, Brown did not play any direct role in the Civil War because he was dead. Yet, his thinking did live on and he became a hero to some for his actions. One of the popular songs of the Civil War was John Brown's Body. Southern troops would often sing it as they marched along because they saw the death of Brown not as man trying to free slaves, but standing up to federal troops.

Answer 2

John Brown was an abolitionist. He wanted to help more slaves escape to freedom. John Brown decided to raid federal arsenal in Virginia and then seize all the weapons stored there. Then he would arm the slaves in the surrounding areas. HIs army would then move south along the Appalachians, freeing slaves as they went. Brown planned to take hostage or kill any southerner who got in his way. He urged his abolitionist friends for money so he could train and supply a small army. After two years of fundraising, John Brown's army contained 22 men -- including himself and his 3 sons.

Answer 3

His raid on the US government arsenal made the South feel that the Abolitionists were in favour of violent revolution.

This heightened the tension betwen the two sections.

Some like to claim that these were actually the first shots of the Civil War.

Answer 4

John Brown and his son's first showed up after the Kansas Nebraska Act was passed in 1854. There was a bloody contest for control of Kansas and the newspapers of the time declared Blood Kansas. Ir was a war between pro slavery forces and antislavery settlers from free states. John Brown was part of the blood of Kansas. Brown and others in his camp feared that settlers from free states would loose the political struggle for control of Kansas unless they fought the pro slavery forces. Brown had taken an oath to fight for his cause against slavery at a prayer meeting in 1837.

On the night of May 24 Brown led a party of seven vigilantes, including four of his sons, in attacks on pro slavery men living along Pottawatomie Creek. We must "fight fire with fire" he told his followers better a score of bad men should die than one man who came here to make Kansas a free state should be driven out." John Brown was indicted for murder but never brought to justice, but his new found celebrity allowed him to pursue a goal that he had thought about since 1840. He dreamed of invading the south with an antislavery force that would raid plantations, free slaves and arm them for guerrilla war against slave owners. He needed money to do this and becoming a hero in Kansas would help him, he thought, to get to his goal. By 1859 he had a plan and he would take himself and his recruits to seize the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, VA. He thought that it would cause slaves in the area to rise up against their masters and come to him to be given guns so they could start a war. Three of Brown's sons Owen, Oliver, and Watson joined their father in this idea of taking Harper's Ferry.

On Sunday October 16 Brown and 21 men ( 16 whites, 4 free blacks and one slave) prepare to attack Harper's Ferry. They had taken several prominent men in the area hostage including Colonel Lewis Washington a descendant of George Washington and enlisted his slaves in the cause. Some thought they were being stolen and would be sold to other masters. They were confused and afraid and didn't go along with Brown's ideas. Before dawn on Oct. 17 two of Brown's men shot and killed Shepherd Hayward a free black man who worked as a baggage handler for Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He became the first to die in the raid. Soon militia units were summoned from nearby towns and a company of US Marines under the command of Lt. Colonel Robert E. Lee came to reclaim the armory. The first of Brown's men to die was Dangerfield Newby a former slave from VA who had hoped to free his wife and children enslaved on a plantation 30 miles south of Harper's Ferry. He carried with him a letter from his wife. Angry townspeople mutilated Newby's corpse and left it to be eaten by hogs.

As militiamen poured into Harper's Ferry Brown and his men left the armory and took refuge in the nearby fire engine house. He soon sent his son Watson out to make a deal that would allow them to leave Harper's Ferry, but the white flag was ignored and they were shot down. Watson made it back to the fire house, but he was wounded again by incoming fire and killed. His brother Oliver was also shot and begged his father to kill him to put him out of his misery. Brown told his son " if you must die die like a man."

Robert E. Lee reached Harper's Ferry on the morning of the 18th and he sent his aide Lt. James Ewell Brown ( Jeb) Stuart to have Brown surrender. Stuart had been in Bleeding Kansas and remembered Brown "who had given us so much trouble". Lee did not expect Brown to surrender so Stuart had orders to wave his cap and the the "storming party would advance, batter the doors open, and capture the insurgents at the point of the bayonet." One Marine died in the assault and two raiders were bayoneted. Brown was knocked to the ground with a sword and arrested. On December 2, 1859 Brown was hung for his crimes. One young militiaman from Maryland named John Wilkes Booth wrote afterward " I looked at the traitor and terrorizer with unlimited undeniable contempt."

So, Brown did not play any direct role in the Civil War because he was dead. Yet, his thinking did live on and he became a hero to some for his actions. One of the popular songs of the Civil War was John Brown's Body. Southern troops would often sing it as they marched along because they saw the death of Brown not as man trying to free slaves, but standing up to federal troops.

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Answer 5

No, John Brown was killed before the start of the Civil War.

Answer 6

No, Brown was an abolitionist who was executed for treason before the start of the war.