American society in the 19th century was a society where opportunities and crises coexisted. After winning the Revolutionary War, American society entered a period of rapid development, and the whole society flourished. At the same time, through a series of diplomatic and military means, the United States has been able to continuously expand its territory, and the expansion of territory means an increase in resources, which in turn provides a foundation for the development of American national strength. But in this thriving situation, a huge undercurrent was surging up, and the division between the North and the South of the United States on the major issue of slavery became more and more serious, with the South, which represented the interests of plantation owners, wanting to preserve slavery, and the North, made up of bourgeois business owners, demanding the abolition of slavery throughout the country.
John Brown was a staunch abolitionist, born on May 9, 1800, the son of his father, Owen Brown, who was a staging post on the Underground Railroad. As a result, he was educated in abolitionism from an early age and was determined to contribute to the complete abolition of slavery in the United States. He swore in 1837: "Here, before God, before these witnesses, from this time in my life, I dedicate my life to the great cause of the abolition of slavery!" ”（here, before god, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, i consecrate my life to the destruction of sl**ery!”）
John Brown.
In 1856, he came to Kansas with several of his sons to fight to make it a free state. He led six followers, four of whom were his sons, to oppose the entry of slavery supporters into the Kansas area by killing five pro-slaves and killing them on the streets in one night. This event came to be known as the "Portawatomi Great" and led to a further escalation of civil conflict in the Kansas area, with large and small battles occurring one after another, creating the "Bloody Kansas".
A caricature that appeared in newspapers after the events in Kansas.
In 1859, while the issue of slavery was still being debated in the U.S. Congress, John Brown staged another attack that shocked the nation. This time, his "performance" was not held anywhere else, but in the South, the stronghold of slavery. John Brown orchestrated an attack on a mountain military fort in Virginia, hoping to ignite a Southern slave uprising. On October 6, he led 18 followers to attack and take control of the armory at Hubbs Ferry, Virginia, as a base from which to start a wave of slave revolts. But it backfired, and the slave revolt he had hoped for did not materialize, and was replaced by the people of the South, the local armed forces, and the army led by General Robert Lee. They surrounded him layer by layer, and during the siege 10 of Brown's followers *** he himself was forced to surrender.
General Robert Lee.
In December 1859, a Virginia court sentenced John Brown to death for treason, and he and several of his followers were eventually hanged. Before the execution, John Brown wrote: "I, John Brown, now believe that only blood can cleanse this sinful land from sin. I used to think to myself—as I do now—that perhaps he would be cleansed away without much bloodshed. I used to think that I could do a little without a lot of blood, but now I don't think that's realistic. ”
John Brown's sacrifice was not in vain, and his actions inspired more people who aspired to the abolition of slavery, and more and more people joined the ranks to fight for the abolition of slavery. At the same time, his actions led Southerners to believe that they could no longer live safely in the Union, and many Southerners saw the attack as Republican-backed sabotage of the South. In this context, the relationship between the North and the South of the United States had reached an irreparable point, and finally in 1861, the Southern states announced their withdrawal from the Union to form the American Confederation, and the American Civil War officially began.
Flag of the Confederate States of America.
Black soldiers in the Civil War.