‘In supporting Brown and turning him into a folk hero the North raised the ante to open violence.’
It is my impression that the military forces of the federal union seized him and turned him over to the government of Virginia to be tried and executed. Please tell me how I am mistaken in this.
“It is my impression that the military forces of the federal union seized him and turned him over to the government of Virginia to be tried and executed. Please tell me how I am mistaken in this.”
I wouldn’t say that you are mistaken. But your comment only tells half the story. President Buchanan sent a military force to capture Brown and he was tried and executed. But he was simultaneously hailed as a hero in much of the North. Buchanan was regarded as a friend in the South. Lincoln was regarded as sympathetic to Brown’s supporters.
One of the more curious facts associated with Brown’s raid involves the force sent after him. The contingent of US Marines sent to capture Brown was led by an Army colonel who happened to be in Washington city to settle the estate of his father in law. The father in law was George Washington Parke Custis, adopted son of George Washington, and the Army colonel was Robert E Lee.