Hawk1981
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- Apr 1, 2020
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When it came time for an antislavery warrior who would stand up to the South, John Brown promoted himself precisely at the right moment and in the right cultural environment. There was a dire need for a self-reliant, sincere individual utterly dedicated to a cause, and Brown appeared to his admirers as a valiant rebel whose violence against the slave power was fully justifiable.
John Brown
Brown was well aware of the activities of the National Kansas Committee which had raised over $185,000 in cash and supplies for antislavery emigrants to Kansas. He hoped to exploit the widespread concern for Kansas by making a fund-raising tour of the East and by asking for support for his antislavery battles in Kansas, Brown hoped to redirect the support to his secret long-considered invasion of the South.
In January 1857, John Brown appeared at the office of Franklin Sanborn, the secretary of the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee. Sanborn was instantly impressed by the "tall, slender, and commanding figure," with a military bearing and intense Calvinism, Brown appeared to combine "the soldier and the deacon."
Franklin Sanborn as an author, journalist and reformer. He lived in Concord, Massachusetts and was closely acquainted with the American transcendentalists. He would write the early biographies of many of the movement's key figures. Sanborn was active in politics and was a member of the Free Soil Party.
Franklin Sanborn
Through Sanborn, Brown was introduced to Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Higginson was a pastor at the Free Church in Worcester and a radical abolitionist. He joined the Boston Vigilance Committee, whose purpose was to protect fugitive slaves from pursuit and capture. Higginson actively assisted slaves in their journey to Canada and participated in actions to free captured slaves, including one incident where the federal courthouse in Boston was stormed by a small group using a battering ram, axes and cleavers. Higginson was injured in that attack and proudly wore that scar for the rest of his life. Higginson took so strongly to Brown that he soon became his most radical supporter.
Thomas Higginson
Another antislavery minister that Sanborn introduced to Brown was Theodore Parker. Parker had gained notoriety as a clergyman so liberal that he was forced to preach in the Boston Music Hall. Though his religious views were widely divergent from those of the Calvinistic Brown, the two met on the common ground of antislavery violence. Parker had taken up arms in defense of fugitive slaves threatened with recapture, and he passionately supported slave revolts.
Theodore Parker
Another leading member of the Massachusetts Kansas Committee was Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe. Howe was a physician and social activist who had fought in Greece in its revolution against Turkey, and in Poland in its rebellion against Russia. He returned to America and became a pioneer for treating mentally and physically disabled people. He and his wife Julia Ward Howe, who would write the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", were involved in many reforms, including antislavery.
Samuel Howe
George Stearns was the President of the Massachusetts Kansas Committee. He had made a fortune as a factory owner and with his wife, Mary, lived in a mansion in Medford that was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Stearns and Brown instantly took to each other "like the iron and the magnet" his son recalled, as each "recognized the other at first sight and knew him for what he was worth."
George Stearns
While traveling in New England to raise funds, Brown and Sanborn visited Peterboro, New York to call on Gerrit Smith, a wealthy landowner and abolition supporter. Smith furnished money to cover the legal expenses of people charged with infractions of the Fugitive Slave Act, and had contributed funds to support antislavery emigrants to Kansas. Smith was supporting the Massachusetts Kansas Committee with a $1,000 annually.
Gerrit Smith
The committee agreed to turn over to Brown 200 Sharps rifles, ammunition and a promise of $500 for expenses. It was expected that Brown would use the weapons and funds to defend antislavery settlers in Kansas. It is unclear whether some or any of the "Secret Six" knew of John Brown's ultimate plan to capture weapons from a federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), and lead a slave rebellion in the South. Brown and the group met several additional times in 1858 and 1859 to raise funds and to discuss ways that he would attack the slave system.
John Brown
Brown was well aware of the activities of the National Kansas Committee which had raised over $185,000 in cash and supplies for antislavery emigrants to Kansas. He hoped to exploit the widespread concern for Kansas by making a fund-raising tour of the East and by asking for support for his antislavery battles in Kansas, Brown hoped to redirect the support to his secret long-considered invasion of the South.
In January 1857, John Brown appeared at the office of Franklin Sanborn, the secretary of the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee. Sanborn was instantly impressed by the "tall, slender, and commanding figure," with a military bearing and intense Calvinism, Brown appeared to combine "the soldier and the deacon."
Franklin Sanborn as an author, journalist and reformer. He lived in Concord, Massachusetts and was closely acquainted with the American transcendentalists. He would write the early biographies of many of the movement's key figures. Sanborn was active in politics and was a member of the Free Soil Party.
Franklin Sanborn
Through Sanborn, Brown was introduced to Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Higginson was a pastor at the Free Church in Worcester and a radical abolitionist. He joined the Boston Vigilance Committee, whose purpose was to protect fugitive slaves from pursuit and capture. Higginson actively assisted slaves in their journey to Canada and participated in actions to free captured slaves, including one incident where the federal courthouse in Boston was stormed by a small group using a battering ram, axes and cleavers. Higginson was injured in that attack and proudly wore that scar for the rest of his life. Higginson took so strongly to Brown that he soon became his most radical supporter.
Thomas Higginson
Another antislavery minister that Sanborn introduced to Brown was Theodore Parker. Parker had gained notoriety as a clergyman so liberal that he was forced to preach in the Boston Music Hall. Though his religious views were widely divergent from those of the Calvinistic Brown, the two met on the common ground of antislavery violence. Parker had taken up arms in defense of fugitive slaves threatened with recapture, and he passionately supported slave revolts.
Theodore Parker
Another leading member of the Massachusetts Kansas Committee was Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe. Howe was a physician and social activist who had fought in Greece in its revolution against Turkey, and in Poland in its rebellion against Russia. He returned to America and became a pioneer for treating mentally and physically disabled people. He and his wife Julia Ward Howe, who would write the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", were involved in many reforms, including antislavery.
Samuel Howe
George Stearns was the President of the Massachusetts Kansas Committee. He had made a fortune as a factory owner and with his wife, Mary, lived in a mansion in Medford that was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Stearns and Brown instantly took to each other "like the iron and the magnet" his son recalled, as each "recognized the other at first sight and knew him for what he was worth."
George Stearns
While traveling in New England to raise funds, Brown and Sanborn visited Peterboro, New York to call on Gerrit Smith, a wealthy landowner and abolition supporter. Smith furnished money to cover the legal expenses of people charged with infractions of the Fugitive Slave Act, and had contributed funds to support antislavery emigrants to Kansas. Smith was supporting the Massachusetts Kansas Committee with a $1,000 annually.
Gerrit Smith
The committee agreed to turn over to Brown 200 Sharps rifles, ammunition and a promise of $500 for expenses. It was expected that Brown would use the weapons and funds to defend antislavery settlers in Kansas. It is unclear whether some or any of the "Secret Six" knew of John Brown's ultimate plan to capture weapons from a federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), and lead a slave rebellion in the South. Brown and the group met several additional times in 1858 and 1859 to raise funds and to discuss ways that he would attack the slave system.