John Brown’s Abolitionist Raid On Harpers Ferry, 165 Years Later

Today, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is a hotspot for American history buffs. But 165 years before any tourists came to town, fighters here clashed in a prelude to the United States Civil War.

Wednesday, Oct. 16 marked the 165th anniversary of abolitionist John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, then a part of Virginia. In 1859, Brown — and at least 21 other men including Shields Green and John Henry Kagi — spent months planning an armed rebellion, with the goal of initiating a revolt that would free people enslaved across the South.

Brown and his colleagues descended upon a federal armory and arsenal in Harpers Ferry with the goal of distributing weapons to people who were enslaved in Virginia. That night, they overtook bridges to town, occupied weapons facilities and took hostage local slaveholders.

Brown and his colleagues had hoped their raid would serve as a catalyst for a wider rebellion, with more people joining their ranks.

But his plan never came to fruition, as two days later dozens of U.S. marines quashed the revolt. Brown was executed just months later, and the majority of his colleagues were killed in action or also executed.

The abolitionist raid received national press coverage as contentions over slavery and wider conflict mounted. Today, it is remembered as a precursor to a national war, and one of the first acts of coordinated armed resistance against chattel slavery in the United States.

From this, Harpers Ferry has long held a place in the public consciousness as a site of revolutionary potential, especially for Black Americans.

In 1906, African American civil rights leaders visited the town for the second meeting of the Niagara Movement, an early civil rights group described as a precursor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Harpers Ferry’s abolitionist history, combined with its presence of a higher education institution serving Black Americans, Storer College, led leaders to select the town as the site for their conference.

Today, the legacy of Brown’s raid and the abolitionist movement in Harpers Ferry is remembered through historical events hosted by the National Park Service (NPS) at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.

In the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 19 and Sunday, Oct. 20, the United States Marine Corps Historical Company will partner with NPS to host “living-history” exhibits, talks and demonstrations regarding Marine involvement in the conflict.

The park will also host a tour called “Clearing the Sky” on Oct. 18, Oct. 25 and Dec. 2.

The program will visit sites of importance to Brown’s raid and trial, including the Jefferson County Courthouse in Charles Town and the Jefferson County Museum, where artifacts from Brown’s life are held. The tour lasts roughly two-and-a-half hours.

For more details on NPS programming to commemorate the 165th anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, visit the organization’s website.