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This Day in Civil War History October 16th, 1859 John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry ^

Posted on 10/16/2010 4:28:16 AM PDT by mainepatsfan

Civil War

Oct 16, 1859:

John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry

Abolitionist John Brown leads a small group on a raid against an arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in an attempt to incite an insurrection and destroy the institution of slavery.

Born in Connecticut in 1800 and raised in Ohio, Brown came from a staunchly Calvinist and antislavery family. He spent much of his life failing at a variety of businesses--he declared bankruptcy at age 42 and had more than 20 lawsuits filed against him. In 1837, his life changed irrevocably when he attended an abolition meeting in Cleveland, during which he was so moved that he publicly announced his dedication to destroying the institution of slavery. As early as 1848 he was formulating a plan to incite an insurrection, and he shared the idea with Frederick Douglass.

In the 1850s, Brown traveled to Kansas with five of his sons to fight against the proslavery forces in the contest over that territory. On May 21, 1856, proslavery men raided the abolitionist town of Lawrence, and Brown personally sought revenge. On May 25, Brown and his sons attacked three cabins along Pottawatomie Creek. They killed five men with broad swords and triggered a summer of guerilla warfare in the troubled territory. One of Brown's sons was killed in the fighting.

(Excerpt) Read more at history.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; thecivilwar
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If you haven't visited Harpers Ferry, VA I highly recommend it.
1 posted on 10/16/2010 4:28:21 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
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To: mainepatsfan

“an attempt to incite an insurrection and destroy the institution of slavery.”

If free elections lose their meaning in America, we’ll need an insurrection to destroy Obamaville.


2 posted on 10/16/2010 4:39:09 AM PDT by Canedawg (Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that have not wit to be honest.- Poor Richard's Alm.)
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To: mainepatsfan

John Brown was full of the Lord, just doing God’s will.


3 posted on 10/16/2010 4:40:08 AM PDT by Walts Ice Pick
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To: mainepatsfan

Antebellum.


4 posted on 10/16/2010 4:48:19 AM PDT by KingLudd
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To: Walts Ice Pick

A fanatic is a person who does what the Almighty would do if he were in possession of all of the facts.


5 posted on 10/16/2010 5:14:56 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Great Season Tampa Bay Rays! (Now, kindly send Carl Crawford to Boston.))
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To: Canedawg
If free elections lose their meaning in America, we’ll need an insurrection to destroy Obamaville.

Because after all it worked so well in 1860.

6 posted on 10/16/2010 5:17:44 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur (Hey mo-joe! Here's another one for your collection.)
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To: Walts Ice Pick

Well, he was not encumbered by realism.

“Although Brown spent years dreaming of the raid, he apparently put little thought into the specifics of its execution. He made no attempt to notify the slaves that he hoped would join him, and he had little idea what to do with the armory he planned to capture.”


7 posted on 10/16/2010 5:18:09 AM PDT by ctdonath2 (+)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
A fanatic is a person who does what the Almighty would do if he were in possession of all of the facts.

Does that include Muslim fanatics or just Christian ones?

8 posted on 10/16/2010 5:19:17 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur (Hey mo-joe! Here's another one for your collection.)
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To: Non-Sequitur

You seem to be a RINO at heart.


9 posted on 10/16/2010 5:25:59 AM PDT by Canedawg (Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that have not wit to be honest.- Poor Richard's Alm.)
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To: Non-Sequitur

Any and all. It’s an old saying.


10 posted on 10/16/2010 5:29:14 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Great Season Tampa Bay Rays! (Now, kindly send Carl Crawford to Boston.))
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To: Non-Sequitur
If free elections lose their meaning in America, we’ll need an insurrection to destroy Obamaville.

Because after all it worked so well in 1860.

The post was directed towards John Brown's insurrection, which, in the end, succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

11 posted on 10/16/2010 5:41:48 AM PDT by Castlebar
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To: mainepatsfan

My wife and I were coming back from a trip to NY state some yrs. ago.
We stopped in Gettysburg to take in the history. I had a relative that was involved in Pickett’s Charge and wanted to see that historical ground.

It was far more sobering than I imagined it would be.
Spent the night in Gettysburg, and drove to Antietam and toured the battlefield of the bloodiest battle of the War.

Pulling out of the parking lot I turned right instead of left onto the
Old Harpers Ferry Road instead of going left that would have taken me back to the new highway.

So glad I did.
The road is two lane, like driving in the mountains, following the Potomac River. Absolutely gorgeous .
You can still see the barge canal, locks of the old C&O canal.
At the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers sits Harpers Ferry.
On the Potomac side, old storefronts that may well have been standing from Civil War days.
The Shenandoah River is a series on rapids/falls over steps. Unusual and beautiful.
We were running out of time so only drove through Harpers Ferry but it’s a step back in time.

Thanks for the reminder, I want to go back and spend some time in Harpers Ferry and surroundings.


12 posted on 10/16/2010 5:42:19 AM PDT by Vinnie (You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Jihads You)
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To: Canedawg
You seem to be a RINO at heart.

Free elections lost their meaning in 1860 when the Southern states used one as an excuse to launch a protracted and bloody rebellion. There is nothing conservative about agreeing with that.

13 posted on 10/16/2010 5:49:38 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur (Hey mo-joe! Here's another one for your collection.)
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To: Non-Sequitur
Photobucket
14 posted on 10/16/2010 5:51:02 AM PDT by Canedawg (Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that have not wit to be honest.- Poor Richard's Alm.)
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To: Canedawg

That’s a nifty place ya got there.


15 posted on 10/16/2010 6:02:48 AM PDT by RedwM
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To: Non-Sequitur

Excuse ? They lost the elections, didn’t like it and thought it was worth fighting and dying for. To me, that’s as conservative as conservative gets.


16 posted on 10/16/2010 6:04:02 AM PDT by major-pelham
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To: mainepatsfan
I never understood how VA could charge him for treason, even way back in 6th grade or what ever year it was.

Then I saw his cabin and grave in the Lake Placid, NY area (a few years before the '80 Olympics) and was really confused about the treason thing.

17 posted on 10/16/2010 6:11:55 AM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: major-pelham
They lost the elections, didn’t like it and thought it was worth fighting and dying for. To me, that’s as conservative as conservative gets.

You define 'conservatism' as "If I don't get my way I'm going to take my ball and go home. Then I'm going to hold my breath until I turn blue?"

18 posted on 10/16/2010 6:14:52 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur (Hey mo-joe! Here's another one for your collection.)
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To: Calvin Locke
I never understood how VA could charge him for treason, even way back in 6th grade or what ever year it was.

That's always puzzled me, too. How do you commit treason against a state you weren't born in and had never lived in? As if the murder charges weren't enough to send him to the gallows, they had to toss in bogus 'treason against the Commonwealth' charges. That would be like charging every German, Japanese, and Italian POW during WW2 with treason and executing them.

19 posted on 10/16/2010 6:17:52 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur (Hey mo-joe! Here's another one for your collection.)
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To: Walts Ice Pick
John Brown was full of the Lord, just doing God’s will.

Sure, if you believe in this kind of God:
"The devil and wicked men are so held in on every side with the hand of God, that they cannot conceive, or contrive, or execute any mischief, any farther than God himself doth not permit only, but command. Nor are they only held in fetters, but compelled also, as with a bridle, to perform obedience to those commands."

"...when God makes angels or men sin, he does not sin himself, because he does not break any law. For God is under no law, and therefore cannot sin."
John Brown was full of something, but I don't think it was the Lord.
20 posted on 10/16/2010 6:34:02 AM PDT by aruanan
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