Facts about John Brown
Much of the general public in the North, however, especially in the Transcendentalists and Abolitionist circles, viewed John Brown as a martyr who had been sacrificed for the sins of the nation.
John Brown (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was one of the most radical opponents of slavery in antebellum America.
John Brown is buried on the John Brown Farm in North Elba, New York, south of Lake Placid, New York.
On the day of his death Brown wrote, "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.
Biographer Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. further shows that Brown's beloved father, Owen, had died on May 8, and correspondence indicates that John Brown and his family received word of his death around the same time.
John Brown did not intend to kill, setting out to rescue slaves not to harm their owners, although he was aware that fatalities could follow from use of violence.
Critics have yet to properly balance the decision of the Browns (not just John Brown) to take action despite the more conservative admonitions of Brown's sons John Jr. and Jason.
A marble bust of John Brown was unveiled, and Stearns himself called the gathering 'John Brown's party'.
The song "John Brown's Body" became the battle cry for northern forces and was elevated into a spiritual anthem when adapted by Julia Ward Howell into "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Elsewhere, as the proclamation was read, crowds burst into a rendition "John Brown's Body," with its heady chorus about Brown "mouldering in the grave" while "his soul keeps marching on" .
John Brown began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic.
After the outbreak of the American Civil War, John Brown's martyrdom was assured.
The baggage master, Hayward Shepherd, became the first casualty of John Brown's war against slavery.