Many
events contributed to the start of the Civil War, but none as significant
as John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in October 1859. This white
abolitionist's attempt to acquire weapons for a slave rebellion was
a failure, but it got the nation thinking seriously about the issue
of slavery, the differences between the north and south, and the possibility
of war.
President James Buchanan send Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee and a group
of marines to put an end to Brown's 21-man raid. 36 hours after it
began, Brown was captured and most of his men killed or injured. In
December, John Brown was hanged for treason.
Harpers Ferry has played other important roles throughout American
history. In 1803, Meriwether Lewis procured supplies from the armory
for his Louisiana Territory expedition. Being an important railroad
and weapons arsenal location on the North/South border, Harpers Ferry
was taken over eight times during the Civil War. The destruction of
the town was devastating and caused many residents to leave. After
the war, Harpers Ferry was the site of Storer College, an integrated
school focused on educating former slaves.
)
"Making
guns was one of the most important things at Harpers Ferry. George Washington
decided to buy land and build a gun factory (called an armory) at Harpers
Ferry in 1796. There were lots of different machines to make different
parts of the rifles. We saw one that carved the wooden stock automatically."--Amanda)
"This
is the Fire House at Harpers Ferry. It became known as John Brown's Fort
during his raid. His goal was to free as many slaves as possible and he
planned to use guns from the arsenal at Harpers Ferry to arm the slaves.
He hid in the Fire House, but the army broke in and captured Brown."--Harrison
Recommend
a face
John
Brown)
