|
Harpers Ferry Raid
one of the major events that precipitated the Civil War. On October
16, 1859, an armed band of abolitionists
led by John Brown attacked the arms arsenal of Harper's Ferry
(then located in Virginia). The two-day raid was intended to help
create an independent stronghold of freed slaves in the mountains
of Maryland and Virginia. However, Brown and his band of sixteen
whites and five blacks were overwhelmed by federal troops. Seventeen
men died in the raid, and Brown and six surviving followers were
hanged before the end of the year.
|