Causes of the Civil War

The Republican Party is created and grows very quickly

The name “Republican” appealed to many groups and had a historical connection to Thomas Jefferson and Henry Clay

The most important plank of the party was that it was opposed to the extension of slavery – so the common ground for this party in 1856 was what is was against, not necessarily what it was for!

• John Brown had been active in Kansas, had no faith in the political system, and firmly believed that slavery was a sin which the country had to pay for in blood

• Brown openly helped slaves escape to Canada

• Brown moved to Maryland in 1859 and rented a farm

• He collected an army of 21 men

John Brown’s Raid On Harper’s Ferry

October 16, 1859• Brown and his men raid the Federal arsenal

at Harper’s Ferry• He intends to liberate the slaves of the South• The slaves do not rise up in revolt• Brown fortifies himself in the fire house in

Harper’s Ferry and waits – he should have fled to the hills

• Federal troops – Marines- arrive under the command of Robert E. Lee and Jeb Stuart

John Brown Is Hanged• Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859 in Charles Town• Over 5,000 militia come to Charles Town to maintain

security and/or to watch • Professor Thomas J. Jackson led the corps of cadets from

Virginia Military Institute to the hanging• John Wilkes Booth joined the Richmond Militia in order to

come to this hanging• Brown spoke before he was hanged and said that the

United States would pay in blood for its sin of slavery• John Brown becomes the Martyr of Abolition• Six of Brown’s men are hanged after him ( at a later date)• “John Brown’s Body” became one of the most famous

songs of the era