Although thought of as a crazed mad man, John Brown was in fact a passionate abolitionist. John Brown was a man of action -- a man who would not be deterred from his mission of abolishing slavery. On October 16, 1859, he led 21 men on a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His plan to arm slaves with the weapons he and his men seized from the arsenal was destroyed, however, by local farmers, …showed first 75 words of 1296 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1296 total…enactments, I submit: so let it be done." Although initially shocked by Brown's exploits, many Northerners began to speak favorably of the militant abolitionist. "He did not recognize unjust human laws, but resisted them as he was bid . . . .," said Henry David Thoreau in an address to the citizens of Concord, Massachusetts. "No man in America has ever stood up so persistently and effectively for the dignity of human nature. . . ." John Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859.