USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Although the raid failed, it inflamed sectional tensions and raised the stakes for the 1860 presidential election. Brown’s raid helped make any further accommodation between North and South nearly impossible and thus became an important impetus of the Civil War.

Detailed explanation-2: -Although the raid on Harpers Ferry was denounced by a majority of Northerners, it electrified the South-already fearful of slave rebellions-and convinced slaveholders that abolitionists would stop at nothing to eradicate slavery. It also created a martyr, John Brown, for the antislavery cause.

Detailed explanation-3: -During the Civil War, both the Confederate and the Union armies wanted control of Harpers Ferry. Not only did it have an arsenal and armory (a place to store weapons), but also the town was located at the meeting point of important railroads and at the meeting of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.

Detailed explanation-4: -Sixteen people were killed in the raid, including ten of Brown’s men. John Brown, Aaron Stevens, Edwin Coppoc, Shields Green, and John Copeland were taken to jail in Charles Town, Virginia, on October 19. Albert Hazlett and John Cook were subsequently captured and jailed with the others.

Detailed explanation-5: -16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown led 21 men down the road to Harpers Ferry in what is today West Virginia. The plan was to take the town’s federal armory and, ultimately, ignite a nationwide uprising against slavery. The raid failed, but six years later, Brown’s dream was realized and slavery became illegal.