Volume 3, No. 3 (Winter 2000) -- Black History Month Issue

John Brown. Was he a madman or martyr, murderer or saint? As we approach the bicentennial of Brown's birth on May 9, 2000, opposing opinions swirl around this controversial figure like the unsettling tornado depicted in John Steuart Curry's "The Tragic Prelude," a mural of Brown that graces the Kansas Statehouse.

Brown was many things, but first and foremost, he was an abolitionist who dedicated his life to ending slavery in the United States. Wanted for murders committed during the Bleeding Kansas slavery war, Brown was 59 years old when he led his "Provisional Army" of 21 men, 16 whites, five blacks, at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). His plan was to seize the guns from the United States Armory and Arsenal and execute raids throughout the slave-holding south, ultimately forcing an end to slavery.

The night of October 16, Brown and 19 of his men crept into the town, took control of the armory, arsenal and U.S. Rifle Works and rounded up several hostages. The raid had begun. Throughout the day on the 17th, Brown and his men battled townspeople and local militia companies and were finally forced to take refuge in the armory's fire engine house, today known as John Brown's Fort. On the morning of October 18, Colonel Robert E. Lee, in immediate command of a detachment of U.S. Marines, ordered Lt. J.E.B. Stuart to the door of the engine house offering one last chance to surrender. Brown refused. Twelve Marines stormed the building, captured Brown and the remaining raiders and freed the hostages. Brown's raid ended 36 hours after it had begun.

Taken to the jail and courthouse in Charles Town, Virginia, (now West Virginia) Brown was charged with murder, conspiracy to lead a slave rebellion and treason. During the subsequent trial, he was found guilty on all three charges and sentenced to be hanged. Brown was hung in Charles Town on December 2, 1859.

His raid had failed, but Brown had succeeded in focusing the nation's attention on the issue of slavery. In a note left with his jailer, Brown wrote, "I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away, but with blood...." The first shots of the American Civil War were fired sixteen months later.

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is located at the conflu-ence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers in the states of West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland, 65 miles northwest of Washington, DC, and 20 miles southwest of Frederick, MD, via U.S. Route 340.

The Visitor Center is located on Cavalier Heights about one mile west of the Shenandoah River bridge just off U.S. Route 340. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The park entrance fee – good for three days – is $5 per vehicle or $3 per person. Commercial Tour Fees are available on request (call 304-535-6299). Park Service shuttle buses transport visitors to the Lower Town Historic District.

The Lower Town Historic District sits on the point of land where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers converge. It was here that George Washington convinced the Federal Government to build an Armory and Arsenal, and it was here that John Brown led his ill-fated raid of October 16, 17, and 18, 1859.

Several park exhibits and museums occupy restored 19th century buildings in the Lower Town today.