However, Brown had to obtain arms and ammunition,
and, to keep the operation going he and his men needed food and
other supplies. The result was the raid on the government
arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The attacking party included
five blacks: Lewis Sheridan Leary, Dangerfield Newly, John
Anthony Copeland, Osborn Perry Anderson, and Shields Green. Two
of them were killed in the attack, two more were later executed,
and one escaped. The attack failed, and Brown and several others
were executed. Before his execution Brown said that, while they
might dispose of him quite easily, the Negro question itself
could not be easily dismissed. His prediction proved correct,
Brown's execution made him a martyr and at the end led to the
victory for which he had yearned.
CHAPTER 6
From Slavery to Segregation
Blue, Gray, and Black
John Brown's raid convinced the South that Northern
harassment of slavery would continue and that the tactics would
become even more desperate. At the same time, the election of
Abraham Lincoln was interpreted by the South as a swing of the
political pendulum in favor of the abolitionists.
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