John Brown's Raid

John Brown was a northern white abolitionist who used violence to protest against slavery. His most infamous protest was his raid on Harper’s Ferry Arsenal in 1859. John Brown gathered a group of slaves as well as abolitionists to raid the Arsenal and acquired weapons. They took southern hostages and killed several. After he was arrested, he was later to be executed. The north knew the wrong in John Brown’s actions, but supported him because he was an abolitionist. So they praised him as a martyr years later and erected a statue in his honor. The south became outraged because of the north’s foolish praise for the “martyr” and deemed John Brown as a madman.