How John Brown’s raid on the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry made the Civil War inevitable

John Steuart Curry's "Tragic Prelude." In October 1859, a small town at the junction of two rivers became the focal point of one of the most dramatic and consequential events in American history. John ...
Smithsonian Magazine

John Brown’s Day of Reckoning

"Had John Brown's raid not occurred, it is very possible that the 1860 election would have been a regular two-party contest between antislavery Republicans and pro-slavery Democrats," says City ...
WSAZ

This Day in History - 10/16/25

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - On this date in 1859, John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, WV, began. It ended up being a failed attempt by abolitionists to start a nationwide slave uprising by seizing the ...
Extra History on MSN

John Brown’s war: Justice or terror in Kansas?

In 1856, abolitionist John Brown led a midnight raid that left pro-slavery men dead and a nation shaken. Was it vengeance? Justice? Or terrorism? This video explores one of the most controversial acts ...