What kept John Browns raid from being successful?

Answer 1

John Brown's attempt to invoke a slave rebellion in Virginia was doomed from the start. Here are a few of his errors that caused leaks in the plot & a lack of followers to help the cause:

* Funding for Brown to buy a farm in Maryland came from radical anti slavery abolitionists. Brown bought the farm under an assumed name, however, the more people who become part of the conspiracy, the more chances for "leaks";

* The primary funding of Brown's Conspiracy came from a group of leading & wealthy New England abolitionists called the "Secret Six". They men were Gerrit Smith, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Theodore Parker, George Sterns, Franklin Sanborn, and Samuel Gridley Howe;

* This group of men were tied in closely with evangelical Protestantism. They actively fought against the Fugitive Slave Law and believed in the value of righteous violence;

* John Brown had been an activist in the anti slavery movement. He worked furiously in Kansas over the issue, but when peace came there, He focused on a slave revolt, an idea that had been brewing within him for 10 years or more;

* Brown invited the freed slave, and now well known eloquent Afro American scholar, Fredrick Douglas to his farm in Maryland. He fully explained the details of the planned slave revolt to Douglas and invited him to join the plot in order that the slaves would have a Black leader to aid in the recruitment of slaves;

* Douglas, an intelligent & realistic man, urged Brown to abandon the plot as unworkable. Douglas could not sway Brown, so he left the farm;

* Brown was more successful in persuading the famous former slave and abolitionist, Harriet Tubman to help in the conspiracy. Tubman was a well known activist in the Underground Railroad and a vocal voice for Womens' rights. Brown and his financial backers referred to Tubman as "Moses";

* Tubman's success in aiding escaped slaves to Canada, and her reputation as a "hands on" abolitionist made her perfect for Brown. She provided him with maps and descriptions of the terrain in Virginia to help in the revolt. She also was to recruit former slaves in Canada to come to Virginia and help the revolt. No recruits from Canada could be found, however, to take that risk;

* Brown's left a paper trail of the conspiracy at the Maryland farm. His timing of setting the plan in motion came from God;

* Brown did not understand that his group of 18 men were not sufficient to cause much damage;

* Brown was correct in targeting the arsenal at Harper's Ferry as a source of arms, however, the arsenal in northwest Virginia was far from the areas from which to recruit slaves for the revolt. Harper's Ferry was located in an area of very few slave farmlands;

* Brown's best bet for recruiting large numbers of slaves were in the plantations of Southern Virginia. It was in that area that Nat Turner had attempted a slave rebellion in 1831;

* With a single day's rations, Brown headed for Virginia. He and his men easily captured the arsenal, but the people he sent out to recruit slaves, found no one who wanted to take the chance; and

* US Marine Colonel Robert E. Lee led his forces to end the revolt and take Brown prisoner. His trial was short and he was hung for treason.

Answer 2

John Brown's attempt to invoke a slave rebellion in Virginia was doomed from the start. Here are a few of his errors that caused leaks in the plot & a lack of followers to help the cause:

* Funding for Brown to buy a farm in Maryland came from radical anti slavery abolitionists. Brown bought the farm under an assumed name, however, the more people who become part of the conspiracy, the more chances for "leaks";

* The primary funding of Brown's Conspiracy came from a group of leading & wealthy New England abolitionists called the "Secret Six". They men were Gerrit Smith, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Theodore Parker, George Sterns, Franklin Sanborn, and Samuel Gridley Howe;

* This group of men were tied in closely with evangelical Protestantism. They actively fought against the Fugitive Slave Law and believed in the value of righteous violence;

* John Brown had been an activist in the anti slavery movement. He worked furiously in Kansas over the issue, but when peace came there, He focused on a slave revolt, an idea that had been brewing within him for 10 years or more;

* Brown invited the freed slave, and now well known eloquent Afro American scholar, Fredrick Douglas to his farm in Maryland. He fully explained the details of the planned slave revolt to Douglas and invited him to join the plot in order that the slaves would have a Black leader to aid in the recruitment of slaves;

* Douglas, an intelligent & realistic man, urged Brown to abandon the plot as unworkable. Douglas could not sway Brown, so he left the farm;

* Brown was more successful in persuading the famous former slave and abolitionist, Harriet Tubman to help in the conspiracy. Tubman was a well known activist in the Underground Railroad and a vocal voice for Womens' rights. Brown and his financial backers referred to Tubman as "Moses";

* Tubman's success in aiding escaped slaves to Canada, and her reputation as a "hands on" abolitionist made her perfect for Brown. She provided him with maps and descriptions of the terrain in Virginia to help in the revolt. She also was to recruit former slaves in Canada to come to Virginia and help the revolt. No recruits from Canada could be found, however, to take that risk;

* Brown's left a paper trail of the conspiracy at the Maryland farm. His timing of setting the plan in motion came from God;

* Brown did not understand that his group of 18 men were not sufficient to cause much damage;

* Brown was correct in targeting the arsenal at Harper's Ferry as a source of arms, however, the arsenal in northwest Virginia was far from the areas from which to recruit slaves for the revolt. Harper's Ferry was located in an area of very few slave farmlands;

* Brown's best bet for recruiting large numbers of slaves were in the plantations of Southern Virginia. It was in that area that Nat Turner had attempted a slave rebellion in 1831;

* With a single day's rations, Brown headed for Virginia. He and his men easily captured the arsenal, but the people he sent out to recruit slaves, found no one who wanted to take the chance; and

* US Marine Colonel Robert E. Lee led his forces to end the revolt and take Brown prisoner. His trial was short and he was hung for treason.