John BrownBy Fady Makram and Mauricio de Vries

Outline

Who is John Brown? What happened at Harpers Ferry? Why it got so much attention? (The

Kansas Nebraska Act and The Dread Scott Decision)

How is it related to the Civil War?

Who is John Brown?

He was born into a deeply religious family in Torrington, Connecticut, on May 9,1800.

He was raised by a father who strongly opposed slavery.

At age 5 he moved to Ohio, a state known for its antislavery views.

He became interested in the abolitionist movement in 1835.

He gave land to fugitive slaves. He and his wife agreed to raise a black

child. He participated in the Underground

Railroad. John Brown was hung for what he did at

Harpers Ferry on December 2, 1859.

John Brown kissing a black baby in his last moments.

Primary source of John Brown’s address to the people before his Sentence of Death

Harpers Ferry (1859)

He led 21 men including 5 blacks in a raid on a federal armory and arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia

He hoped to start and arm a slave revolt They captured Half the raiders were killed and the rest,

including Brown, were captured Southerners cheered his death but the

northerners saw him as martyr to the abolitionist cause

Statistics

Whites

Blacks

People who took part in the raid

21 people took part in the raid(2 of which were his sons):Black16 white

60 men were taken hostages by John Brown and his men

John Brown holding hostage at Bay with a rifle

Kansas Nebraska act (1854)

Law that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska

Allowed voters to decide whether or not to allow slavery

Renewed southern hopes of expanding slavery

Outraged anti-slavery Northerners

The Dread Scott Decision (1857)

The supreme court’s ruling that: African Americans were not considered

U.S. citizens Congress did not have the right to ban

slavery in federal territory.

Angered abolitionists: Made them realize action must be taken

The Relations

Harpers Ferry Raid

The Dread Scott Decision

The Kansas/Nebraska Act

The US Civil War

Relation to Civil War

John Brown’s actions were a short term cause to the Civil War and effected America on a social and political level.

made abolitionists realize that diplomacy was not going to get rid of slavery

showed the southerners that the north was ready to use force on a much larger scale

increased political tensions between the two

Painting of John Brown

Primary source of a song written about John Brown

Conclusion

Events such as The Kansas/Nebraska act and The Dread Scott Decision led to the Harpers Ferry raid

Which in turn lead to the Civil War