Why Did John Brown's Raid
Between the years 1859 and 1863 John Brown’s rain on the Federal Armory at Harpers Ferry made him a hero in the North and a villain in the South. Brown’s raid was over in about 2 days. He wanted to start an armed slave revolt by seizing the Federal Armory. John Brown was hung for treason because of his actions. Brown’s plan was not to conduct a sudden raid and then escape to the mountains. Rather, his plan was to use those rifles and pikes he captured at the arsenal, in addition to those he brought along, to arm rebellious slaves with the aim of striking terror to the slaveholders in Virginia. In Document A from the New York Tribune (December 3, 1859), Horace Greeley states that slavery was a bad thing and that John Brown did a good thing