1859, and with a force of 18 men, including his sons, he seized the United States arsenal and armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and won control of the town.After his initial success, he made no attempt at offensive action, but instead occupied defensive positions within the area(Oates 88). His force was surrounded by the local militia, which was reinforced on October 17 by a company of U.S. Marines under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee. Ten of Browns men, including two of his sons, were killed in the consequent battle, and he was wounded and forced to surrender. He was arrested and charged with various crimes, including treason and murder. He distinguished himself during his trial, which took place before a Virginia court, by his powerful defense of his efforts in behalf of the slaves(Oates 90). Convicted, he was hanged in Charleston, Virginia in December of 1859. For many years after his death, brown was generally regarded by abolitionists as a martyr to the cause of human freedom. By 1860, the North and the South had developed into two very different regions. Divergent social, economic, and political points of view gradually drove the two sections farther and father apart(Oates 99). Each tried to impose its point of view on the country as a whole. Although compromises had kept the Union together for many years, in 1860 the situation was explosive. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president was viewed by the South as a threat to slavery and ignited the war. During the campaign many Southerners had threatened that their states would secede from the Union if Lincoln was elected because they feared that a Lincoln administration would abolish slavery. Few people in the North believed them. A month before the election, however, Governor William Henry Gist of South Carolina wrote to the governors of all the Southern states, except Texas, that South Carolina would secede in the event of Lincolns election and asked wh...
