American Experience; John Brown's Holy War; Interview with historian Dennis Frye 2 of 6

two years ago however syria by the mid eighteenth thirties was also a large transportation center we need to remind ourselves that it's set in a very significant water gap that the potomac river had carved through the mountains of the blue ridge so as a natural furrow for east and west along the river way and the railroad the more nairobi have taken advantage of this and pressed into the water gap in the mid eighteen theories as to the chesapeake in ohio canal so two very important forum to transportation brought people and goods and supplies to and from harper's ferry body tim ferriss it was a delicacy in harpers ferry was to have the fresh oysters from the chesapeake bay coming up more refrigerated cars on a bomb or not iran are daily basis the last word is really hear about

it is without a lot of at thirteen harpers ferry sits in the bottom of the hole it is literally in the middle of a large gap a gap that was formed by the potomac river as it carves its way through the blue ridge and this gap in the mountains serve as a natural avenue transport east and west across the mouse and so the board of our road and just begun on a canal both very vibrant active formed transportation utilize this gap and brought supplies to and from the ferry on a daily basis in fact half the people harpers ferry enjoyed oysters from the chesapeake bay fresh oysters that came up or refrigerator freight cars or below railroad on a daily basis we can narrow this is situated as you know we were really

right in this right here we're going to get those calls you know harpers ferry sits in the bottom of the hole it literally is surrounded by three very high ridges that just make vertical since then the heavens from the bottom of the potomac and the shenandoah river the tourist come together there and it's located about sixty miles from the nation's capital are the blue ridge i'll rise majestically to about twelve hundred to fifteen feet above sea level and the town itself sits right in the bottom of this the source of the bottom what teacup surrender completely by mountains and there are women that really is through the water is he was going in a long hours there is going to be when one goes into harpers ferry the

town itself is indefensible anyone to do goes to harpers ferry simply looks up and sees that the mountains are the key to the defense if you have forces or troops holding the mountains and you can hold the immediate region you tend to defend harpers ferry from the bottom of the hole you will fail pj so we're playing around john brown came to harpers ferry for several reasons first and foremost united states army arsenault there were a hundred thousand weapons stored at the arsenal and a fall at fifteen i thought these are in any weapons as one armed us greats army during the civil war and so weren't intended to come and see those weapons they're at harpers ferry another advantage was

that the mountain surrounding our preferred brown intended to utilize those mountains as his fortress as a strong hold to conduct these operations and because the moms gathered at harpers ferry in what both north and south he would be able to use that as a means of supply and avenue of transport only force forces but also for the slaves that he intended to free and finally brown came to harpers ferry because it's in virginia virginia viola state the oldest state in the united states one of the largest slave owning states in the union for gm it was a breeding ground of slaves and manufactured slaves in virginia manufacturers slaves and then sold on the plantation owners and the wheezing and texas and arkansas but brown believe that by coming to harpers ferry and striking at the reader that he would have a very effective strike that would help is all slavery throughout the south now you don't think he was a city that he was going to get you every

slave that a more than just give us the art house that as others say so was such a strong believer in god on god spoke to him and god had chosen him brian believe that he was selected to bring an end to slavery this evil institution and his otherwise great nation and so brown believe that he had been called to come to harper's for it by god but god had chosen this destination forget and consequently so much love of the rate so much of the plan really was in and god's hands brown would pray he would cry incessantly he would speak to god daily he would read the bible looking for direction looking for what he should do and brown truly believe that by coming into harper's ferry armed that he would be in the hands

of god has raid would no longer be a re but will be the first strike against slavery throughout the south and that god would direct jimenez man and his followers to ultimate victory he could not fail with god on his side but so he's the current us army militia is common with your goal to the catcher your ears season of life john brown had appointed his plan was very definite but not complete the definite park was to bring him and his army in the harper's for capturing the weapons and get out of harper's for go into the mountains and begin the freedom of slaves but the question that historians ask is what went beyond coming in our preferred what was the plan after that and that's a mystery that brown apparently didn't share what that plan was we don't know his

actions of certain the mystified what the plan was after he came into harpers ferry perhaps again that one seed capture the armory martial art yet for possession of the town perhaps at that point the plan was god's plan now got more directly or what to do next fall and john brown did not come to harpers ferry to make himself or more it's impossible to think in those terms you cannot dictate martyr as brown had been killed in harpers ferry as he nearly was a kind of more or even if you get a he he almost ended up a corpse on that very cold damp brits for in the engine house what type of more are you if you're dead well he cannot plant is a martyrdom he can play an attack

he can play a worried he can't plan on removing the weapons from the army arsenal and then going into the mountains and conducting his campaign but once in harpers ferry and his plan goes awry he can't plan martyrdom he may have ended up just like his two sons dead on the floor that engine house any bullet could've killed john brown and a second rated comedy more the company's first intention to free slaves or so that he has to call it wasn't to the cash register had a whole lot to us james is a lawyer expected success on

many other occasions he has success he liked to tell a story that a different time than those live bullets had grazed him had actually pierce disco but noble had actually struck brown he remained an injured because god protected him god put a shield around john brown and with god's hand to protect him from harm he would succeed harpers ferry was intended as a success he expected it to be a success he expected to be the beginning of success and hence this idea of him coming to harpers ferry to create his own martyrdom is simply absurd ground on the us in the us constitution even more around hated politicians and he believed the politicians are

corrupted the true essence of american freedom and equality in fact he considered the united states' constitution a corrupt instrument and the declaration of independence truly did not apply to all people who are creative people this was one of john brown's biggest biggest selling point is that our constitution does not provide for the people of united states that our declaration is not truly to all freedom for our heads around believe that politicians on the leaders of america whereas he sometimes spoke of the leeches and he called our legislatures treasonable bodies who had corrupted and gone against the true value and meaning of freedom and equality and why utah and i was coming

there to attack you know one of the reasons that is an actual attack on the us john brown attacking harpers ferry literally was not just attacking slave but truly attacking the government of the united states of government that can go into slavery a government that permitted bondage a government they considered un human slavery legal that a human being could be considered property and that this was the official mall of the land john brown detested the wall of this land he hated it he despised that he scored and he believed any person who dared to follow that law was evil and corrupt a lot of john brown was the wall of god god's law dodd spoken to him god said that freedom is what we need for the people of united

states and you are my instrument exercise that new mall for this great nation it is brown represents one of the greatest conflicts that this nation experiences which is the wall of god vs the wall of man who's right how do you judge one above the other how can you determine that this law is a good law and this law is a bad law is it right for other humans to determine that walls are made and made for the purpose of all for the common man to protect the common man or is it as thoreau would say cannon individually right and a government role and john brown believed that his government did not represent the

people of the united states slaves by brown's definition not being slaves but being people and that government was wrong and needed to change so he comes in this is where he is davis says there's a debate about when brown decided upon harpers ferry we certainly know that by eating fifty eight he had selected that as a target brown himself to our knowledge had never been a harp or share on your head most of the men that would follow him he needed the scout the area he knew more information on the new intelligence and so he sent the young man to the harpers ferry area

arm john cooke to live in the area become part of the population not raise any suspicions about what might happen there and gain intelligence how many slaves lived in the year where were they located any of them interested in rebelling against their chains how many white people lived in the area was a populist well armed was it a violent populous or was it a population that expected nothing that have not experienced any uprisings and that was in basic comfort peace and quiet and satisfaction what were the movements of people to and from harper spare when was the armory open how many people guarding the army arsenal the trains when did they come to and from harper sphere

all of these activities in this hustling bustling town brown wanted to know he needed to know because he intended to attack when no one expected anything oh jesus john cooke disguised himself on several occasions as a person who was gathering information to write a book on the region and so he would go and meet with some of the pointers and state owners in the area talk with them about their family and their whole learn about themselves who they were learn about other people in the region but all the time would you really was doing was gathering information gathering intelligence for brown how many slaves lived here who's the head slave who might we be able to contact what kind of communication at work may we be able to establish and

so he really was posing as a literate man who intended to write literature about the area but his real purpose was to collect intelligence that brown would use to his advantage is we know that to cook john cooke actually spent some time with news washington ottawa's washington the great grandnephew of president george washington washington family had quite a number of holdings in jefferson county and so young lewis had inherited land there lived there his entire life and i actually had quite a number of slaves even more important lewis had inherited two very important artifacts from his great uncle one of these was a sword but frederick the great had given to george

washington and another was a set of pistols that the marquis de lafayette had given to washington cooking learned about these relics these are facts during one of his visits to washington and he determined perfect perfect symbols of our new revolution the original revolution there the father of our country and the new father of our country john brown who brings true freedom to all can use these symbols these weapons that were given to the original washington then we can for him by our movement and proclaim that we are the new revolutionaries that intend to bring freedom and justice to all americans fb sunday night

cold and dreary very faulty even summer rains perfect night for an attack no one expected anything the services the town are steadfastly resting and sleeping in their beds the coldest those are putting smoke and in the year mixing with the fall giving us a real so real feeling almost as f dodd himself had created the shroud over harpers ferry so that brown could come and unveil that night when brown and his men eighteen of them only eighteen total approach the bridge the wooden bridge across the potomac river they encountered a night watchman the bridge was a wooden bridge a watchman was not there to guard against john brown's org mercenaries are these are robbers he was

there to protect that bridge against its biggest enemy which was fire ryan and his men quickly seize the night watchman made them scared and they came to the armory and they're so far undetected and no they were rattled the gate of the armory and the long night watchman one watchman for this federal installation kane and was quickly seized by brown and in short order the armory and the arsenal were in the possession of john brown's made no shots fired know shouts heard in the evening john brown's attack on harpers ferry was working beautifully with us from paris at the arsenal just

a shaved head also wonders whether the community was totally unsuspecting even the united states government apparently did not expect anything a magic a place where they manufacture weapons for the defense of this nation a hundred thousand small arms in storage or the largest arsenals within this country and nobody is guarding that one man one individual night watchman that was it there was no other guard statistics would show that the odds were in john brown's favor at this one brown wins and the armory phone who's hands and nobody knew it deserves yet enemy am and what i will

do is talk about him just quickly spreading in and out to cover the bridges and maybe apply for work in a mostly factories and then we'll talk about the train laughter once maron had taken their mini martial he dispersed as many men go out to virginia's on to seize the rifle factory again they succeeded no one knew they were there no there are only installation in the hands of buyers he made sure that his main guard the bridge and the bridge or the shenandoah and also the bridge over the tall brown also was aware that a train was scheduled in to harpers ferry that morning cook told him

this he knew the railroads give libya know and sure enough at one twenty five am on monday morning browse that have been in the ferry now for about two hours we find the passenger train coming from the west heading toward baltimore the rise and harper sphere and stops as brown expected it to but then things began to go wrong very wrong one a watchman but brown smell and capture the state and warned the conductor of the train that they were thugs in harpers ferry ranch fees and that they were there to steal from the passenger on the train the past sunday so the conductor had the training hall we would not proceed across the bridge until they knew that it was safe the assistant bank

before who were ferraro hayward shepherd went out to investigate why is that what faltering what's happening here and shepherd was confronted by two rounds man and a friend a friendship unusual man and overcoats and shawls carrying weapons and so shoppers began to run and brown's men yellow moonlight hall and shepherds adrenaline begin pumping through his body and he continued to ride and again halt and sheppard did not stop so brown's man and raised their guns and fired at the slain man and he shot in the back but he failed the first shots the john brown raid had struck a free black a free black hayward shot an employee of the railroad as he was fleeing

brown's men that night that shot those shots in the night at shepherd apparently were well not to wait dr starke dr john starr who lived somewhere very near the armory in the rear were thinking something very unusual hearing gunshots at nearly two am on monday morning star a rose and looked out and notice activity lots of activity dark shadows and whispering movement our around the armory grounds highly unusual story would dress and come out to find out what the situation was and he will be confronted by brown's men who are you what are you doing here and you say i'm a doctor i think i heard shots has there been someone hurt and it would take another story to hayward shepherd and now he would look at

shepherd and explain the two rounds minute that that was more we could do nothing to assist hayward shepherd and at this point brown's men made a critical where instead of holding darker story of a hostage darker story just evaporated into the night but he did not return to his badge and he always he realized that armed men had captured the army leadership the harpers ferry and its citizens were in danger virginia that seem to be in danger perhaps the entire south and so's story began to spread the word that harper's ferry had been attacked and captured by abolitionist and he wrote to charles towne the largest nearby community the county seat of carefully counted about eight miles distant from the fair

and early in the morning church bells began ringing and of course in that time church bells we mean for no reasons for sale sunday morning meant that there was a fire a terrible fire somewhere and everyone would turn out the people in the streets and our story explains a different kind of fire this is a wildfire that may sweep across our entire region this is a fire fueled not by woodard by abolitionist we must get our forces to harpers ferry quickly and social local militia was organized and within a few hours began trending towards the ferry and soon john brown be completely sure and throws

a long rounds member status wombacher story was attending a workshop or he was very cognizant of the men that were around and apparently there were some conversation and brown's men freely admit it to start and others as we would soon were that they were there to free slaves they do not attempt to disguise this and so dr starr i got first hand the information that these were not just robbers thugs but these were men with a caucus calls to bring freedom to region us route itself and the intended to begin that cause at harper sir yes sir