John Brown was a radical abolitionist. He hates our slavery. He brought an antislavery campaign to Virginia. He gathered a band of men, including three of his twenty sons, five black men, and other white men. He decided to go and raid the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry. His hope was that he would arouse slaves and give them guns to make them revolt.
At the raid, Brown and his men killed five of the men and took hostages. Nearby men blocked them in the Harper's Ferry fire house until the Virginia militia fot there. Our heroes, General Robert E. Lee and Lt. Jeb Stuart ordered Brown to surrender, he refused. Lee then ordered his troops to charge. One marine was killed and another wounded, and 11 of Brown,s men were killed, including two of his sons.
He and the five survivors were tried for treason in Virginia. Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859. Directly before this, he handed someone a note that read, "The sins of this country can only be purged with blood."
