Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Allen C. Browne
Taken: April 1, 2016
Caption: John Brown
Additional Description: This 1872 painting (detail) of John Brown (1800-1859) by Ole Peter Hansen Balling hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

“There were those who noted a touch of insanity in abolitionist John Brown; he believed he had been called by God to embark on a personal crusade to end slavery. Brown and five of his sons were actively engaged in the bloody guerrilla war being waged in Kansas in 1855-56, between proslavery and anti­slavery factions. But in 1857, Brown began making plans for the 1859 raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, an event that would make him both infamous and immortal. The scheme to comman­deer firearms with which to arm a slave rebellion failed, and Brown was captured, tried, and hanged. His insurrection found favor among many northern abolitionists. In response, southerners viewed Brown as a sign that they must either break their allegiance to the Union or be destroyed by an increasingly fanatical North.” — National Portrait Gallery
Submitted: November 11, 2016, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p368889
File Size: 2.674 Megabytes

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