Library

John Brown Speaks: Letters and Statements from Charlestown

by Louis DeCaro, Jr.,

Published 2015 • 244pgs.

ISBN: 1442236701

This collection of writings by John Brown in the fateful days after his raid on Harper’s Ferry showcase the depth of conviction of Brown’s character. Paired with Louis DeCaro’s narrative of the aftermath, trial, and execution of John Brown in Freedom’s Dawn: The Last Days of John Brown in Virginia, this book preserves the first-hand experience of Brown as he gave his life for the abolitionist cause.

Freedom’s Dawn: The Last Days of John Brown in Virginia

by Louis DeCaro, Jr.,

Published 2015 • 476pgs.

ISBN: 1442236728

John Brown’s failed raid on the federal armory in Harper’s Ferry Virginia served as a vital precursor to the Civil War, but its importance to the struggle for justice is free standing and exceptional in the history of the United States. In Freedom’s Dawn,  Louis DeCaro, Jr., has written the first book devoted exclusively to Brown during the six weeks between his arrest and execution. DeCaro traces his evolution from prisoner to convicted felon, to a prophetic figure, then martyr, and finally the rise of his legacy. In doing so he touches upon major biographical themes in Brown’s story, but also upon antebellum political issues, violence and terrorism, and the themes of political imprisonment and martyrdom. <

The Old Man: John Brown at Harper’s Ferry

by Truman Nelson,

Published 2009 • 324pgs.

ISBN: 1931859647

“Truman Nelson’s biography of John Brown is a refreshing and eloquent corrective to the common misconceptions about the character and actions of this extraordinary American hero.”—Howard Zinn

On October 16, 1859, John Brown led a historic attack on the Harper’s Ferry Armory. Nelson narrates the incredible events that unfolded that day and explodes the conventional dismissal of John Brown as a fanatic, presenting him as a revolutionary who, at the cost of his own life, helped bring an end to slavery.

After Brown’s execution, the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass said of him, “If John Brown did not end the war that ended slavery, he did at least begin the war that ended slavery. . . . Until this blow was struck, the prospect for freedom was dim, shadowy and uncertain. The irrepressible conflict was one of words, votes and compromises. When John Brown stretched forth his arm, the sky was cleared. The time for compromises was gone—the armed hosts of freedom stood face to face over the chasm of a broken Union—and the clash of arms was at hand. The South staked all upon getting possession of the Federal Government, and failing to do that, drew the sword of rebellion and thus made her own, and not Brown’s, the lost cause of the century.”

Truman Nelson (1911–1987) wrote many books, including The Surveyor and The Right of Revolution.

John Brown

by W. E. B. Du Bois,

Published 2014 • 310pgs.

ISBN: 0717803759

A moving cultural biography of abolitionist martyr John Brown, by one of the most important African-American intellectuals of the twentieth century.

In the history of slavery and its legacy, John Brown looms large as a hero whose deeds partly precipitated the Civil War. As Frederick Douglass wrote: “When John Brown stretched forth his arm … the clash of arms was at hand.” DuBois’s biography brings Brown stirringly to life and is a neglected classic.

The Life, trial, and execution of Captain John Brown, known as “Old Brown of Ossawatomie,” with a full account of the attempted insurrection at Harper’s Ferry

by Robert M. Dewitt,

Published 1859 • 124pgs.

ISBN: 1429729104

The life, trial and execution of Captain John Brown: Capt. John Brown ; His personal appearance ; John Brown’s business engagements ; John Brown as a farmer ; John Brown in Kansas — Facts and rumors concerning John Brown: John Brown’s moral character ; John Brown’s politics ; An introduction to John Brown ; John Brown’s camp ; John Brown’s first fight ; The battle of Ossawatomie ; The battle of the Spurs ; John Brown’s later history ; John Brown’s practical nature ; How John Brown got money — Notices of the other insurgents: My first introduction to Cook ; Charley Lenhart’s camp ; Cook quiet for a while ; Cook’s recent history ; John Kagi ; Edwin Coppie ; Realf ; The Browns of Kansas.

The insurrection at Harper’s Ferry, Sunday night, Oct 16, 1859: The first active movement ; Arrest of Colonel Washington and others ; The stoppage of the railroad train ; The state of affairs at daybreak ; Early casualties ; Arrival of troops-fist fightings ; Rescue of the workmen ; Later casualties ; The night scenes ; Negotiations next morning ; The building stormed ; Appearance of the prisoners ; Brown’s conversation ; Capture of arms ; Treatment of Brown’s prisoners ; Brown’s papers and stores ; The names of the insurgents.

Facts and incidents: Statement of Col. John A. Washington ; Military official account ; A conversation with Brown ; Meeting of the Court-charge to the Grand Jury ; John Brown’s idea of government — The trial: First examination of the prisoners ; The trial of John Brown ; Witnesses called ; Testimony renewed ; The defense ; Speech and sentence of Brown — Notices of Negro insurrections: The Negro insurrection in 1831 ; The Negro insurrection of 1856 — The execution of John Brown — John E. Cook’s confession — John Brown’s last letter to his family — John Brown’s will.

John Brown was tried in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County for treason, for conspiring with slaves to produce insurrection, and for murder.

The ‘Colored Hero’ of Harper’s Ferry: John Anthony Copeland and the War against Slavery

by Steven Lubet,

Published 2015 • 282pgs.

ISBN: 1107076021

On the night of Sunday, October 16, 1859, hoping to bring about the eventual end of slavery, radical abolitionist John Brown launched an armed attack at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Among his troops, there were only five black men, who have largely been treated as little more than “spear carriers” by Brown’s many biographers and other historians of the antebellum era. This book brings one such man, John Anthony Copeland, directly to center stage. Copeland played a leading role in the momentous Oberlin slave rescue, and he successfully escorted a fugitive to Canada, making him an ideal recruit for Brown’s invasion of Virginia. He fought bravely at Harpers Ferry, only to be captured and charged with murder and treason. With his trademark lively prose and compelling narrative style, Steven Lubet paints a vivid portrait of this young black man who gave his life for freedom.

John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry: A Brief History with Documents (Bedford Series in History and Culture)

by Jonathan Earle,

Published 2008 • 158pgs.

ISBN: 031239280X

Despised and admired during his life and after his execution, the abolitionist John Brown polarized the nation and remains one of the most controversial figures in U.S. history. His 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, failed to inspire a slave revolt and establish a free Appalachian state but became a crucial turning point in the fight against slavery and a catalyst for the violence that ignited the Civil War.

Jonathan Earle’s volume presents Brown as neither villain nor martyr, but rather as a man whose deeply held abolitionist beliefs gradually evolved to a point where he saw violence as inevitable. Earle’s introduction and his collection of documents demonstrate the evolution of Brown’s abolitionist strategies and the symbolism his actions took on in the press, the government, and the wider culture. The featured documents include Brown’s own writings, eyewitness accounts, government reports, and articles from the popular press and from leading intellectuals. Document headnotes, a chronology, questions for consideration, a list of important figures, and a selected bibliography offer additional pedagogical support.