The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 440 - John Brown - Part 3 - Harpers Ferry

Episode Date: July 28, 2020

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the final chapter of abolitionist John Brown's life.SourcesTour datesRedbubble Merch

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bilingual American History podcast where each week I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American History to my nemesis. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. It's not it's only for me what you're doing. Gareth walked into screen when I like I'm hosting intro like you were hosting you did walk in a screen like you were being called out prices right or something and then out you walked there's not a lot of live performance going on so I'm trying to replicate it in some way and your support would be appreciated. Now we will go we will go from the top this time with lights and music everybody

places. I don't know what's happening. This is the dollop this is a bilingual American. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. People listening at home Gareth walked behind the wall and now he's completely missing his cue. You're listening to the dollop. Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. Okay and now he's coming up from the ground so it's all working and called it quote is jam-packed. Jam-packed? I'm the fucking hippo guy. My name's Gareth. My name's Gareth. Wait is it for fun? And this is not going to come to Tickly podcast.

Okay. This is like an up five part coefficient. My room's a place. Now hit him with a puppy. You both present sick arguments. No sleep down hippo. That's like a hippo. So here we are Dave. I'm assuming there's no more parts. Oh yeah we're gonna start a new topic today. What? I'm not doing part three. I decided to just move on to a different topic. Well that's good too because nobody feels the momentum. We're not at a point. We're doing a little essay I wrote and I don't actually need you to say anything this whole podcast. I just want you to listen and it's called The Greatness of Benito Mussolini. Oh dear. And the show

has taken a right turn. Hello I'm Michael Tracy. No listen. Jesus. John Brown part three or as I call it attack on Harper's Ferry. Now when we last left off there had just been the battle of Ossolotomy where John Brown and his fellow abolitionists inflicted a lot of damage on a far larger pro-slavery force. We should call him John Wick Brown after a hundred percent just a hundred percent John Wick Brown. Yeah the puppet slavery was his puppy. Although I guess it'll be well whatever you get the point. I get the point. I think slavery would be his puppy wouldn't it. No but no because it gets a kill. Yeah they kill it so he

would be it would be it would be the right it would be it would be the the rights where the his the rights. The organizational structure. Yes. The organizational structure of assassins would be his. Sure. No that's not who he's fighting you there. He's fighting he's just fighting certain corporate entities within the world of assassination needs. He's fighting the establishment. Boy I wish you had never brought the same here. Or he was just said same here. You just said John Wick Brown and left it at them. I should have gone with the puppy part. I can't push it. It was a this was a mess. Anyway after

John Brown's victory at Suwadami this showed that abolitionists could be dangerous. And John was really dangerous. Physical. Yes. And John Brown was the physical embodiment of that idea. And he took advantage of his new celebrity status and he headed east on a fundraising campaign. OK. All right. To get money to put back into the fight against slavery. He was looking for financial and material support to fund future anti-slavery battles. And Kansas at this point had cooled down a bit from when it was bloody Kansas in the previous. Yeah episode. The new governor pro-slavery the aggressive. Well it's still it still is

but the the the fights have slowed. You know what I mean. The battle level of violence. Right. The new governor John W. Geary demanded armies disband while offering clemency to both sides. So he's like look I'm not going to arrest you guys for killing each other. Right. But just the only condition is they just had to stop killing each other. So stop the violence. And then everybody gets away scot-free. I would keep up with the violence. I would take that I would take that deal so fast. Yeah. I would write. I'd be like hey look look we did it but it's kind of been bothering me that we killed all those people. So I'm going to

just take care. I think I might be a banker. I don't know who knows. Are you what. I don't know how hard is it to bank. I'm done with this side. That's what I'm saying. I'm going for the clemency. Maybe I'll be a banker. I don't know. Shopkeeper. They need those. Hey Clem. Whatever. Clem doesn't bother me. I'll be a banker week. We assistant manager. Clem to you pal. Why don't you why don't you open a bank called weak shit bank. We don't do anything. Well because I just don't think that that is a really smart advertising angle. Oh I have another idea if you're a bank. I'm going to lie down and cry bank. It's better than I

don't not looking for. I think I'll go to one that's already established. Thank you very much. I didn't say I was starting one. Try Wells Fargo there. I think they're my guess is that their practices are top notch and will be that way forever. Take care. OK. Bye bye. Bye. Wells Fargo's treatment of clients has more sequels than John Wick. Oh my God. It just it's just endless. It's a zombie bank. When when when America when the American government decides to shut down Wells Fargo you'll know we're not heading towards fascism. Right. Right. Yeah. I mean how many chances. How many chances. So we've been stealing your money a new

way. Well it should be called. It should be called. It should be called. Oh Wells Fargo. Oh Wells Fargo. Yeah. I like it. I like a bank that takes advantage of people and tries to get them kicked out of their homes during a pandemic. Yeah. Like you're just like hey don't I come to you for withdrawals. No no we come to you. All right. So so John with his just released sons Jason and John Jr. Remember he made that deal at the end of the last battle to get his back. So he waits for it to get out of his sons. Right. After one of his yeah I mean right. Yeah. Yeah. They had a real tough time. They were tortured and

brutalized. So they had East and they stopped in Ohio Illinois New York and Boston and then they reunited with their family in North Elba New York for the first time in 16 months. And this is all part of a fundraising thing. And in the first months of 1857 John traveled the Eastern Seaboard looking for funding. He introduced himself to influential people like the Secretary of Massachusetts State Kansas Committee abolitionist ministers and William Lloyd Garrison the founder of the anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator Liberator. And John entertained them with stories about his Kansas battles and

talked about Kansas's dire dire political situation. Right. So it still looks like if they hold the vote that it will become a pro-slavery state. He won over a lot of influential abolitionists. By the end of the fundraising run he had landed the backing of what would later be known as the secret six. Well somebody leaked it. They were transcendentalists who quietly provided the most money to him. Okay. Now as far as transcendentalists some were pacifists about half were pretty racist and others were aggressively progressive. So they kind of ran the spectrum. I'm surprised the racist snuck in there. Okay. They sneak in

everywhere. Well they're more just about I mean I don't know how to describe it it's like they're they believe in intuition almost. So John even befriended Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Both of you idolized John to a godlike degree. Wow. Just that's quite an intense band group. Yeah. You can I can just imagine the things I would like to make Henry David Thoreau do. A lot of Emerson also known for not being brilliant. Wait what? Henry David Thoreau is a douchebag. I mean I don't know if people are aware of that. He was not a great guy. Well Ralph Waldo Emerson was extremely intense. So if he's intense about

something that's very intense. Yeah. So you could probably get those guys to do shit they wouldn't otherwise do if they thought you're a godlike. Yeah. I'm just saying from a cult perspective. Anyway there were more and more journalists talking about starting a cult. A human centipede with Thoreau and Emerson. That's what I'm talking about. Okay. I felt like you're leading there. So more and more journalists were following John everywhere and they would embellish his stories for Eastern papers. Americans were now loving reading about John Brown the character regardless of their opinion on slavery. He was just an

entertaining thing to learn about. And probably within that even if you are pro-slavery and you're entertained by it that thaw is your you know that shows a different opens you up to a little different thinking potentially hopefully. Potentially but not a good one because he's remember he's violence personified so. Right. Their their previous idea of abolitionism is that they were all weak. Right. And now here's the first guy that's like oh by the way I'll fucking hit you with a pipe. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So in August 1857 John returned to Kansas where he found the slavery issue being resolved fairly

peacefully. The fighting seemed to be over feeling as though there was nothing left for him to do there. He went back to Iowa. Well and then he ended up staying there for three months because he got malaria and he had to recover and he also had a back injury. So he's there for three months. Jesus. After he had healed John decided to pursue. He must have a lot of time to think and he said this is the time. I'm going to he's going to go after his lifelong goal which as we've talked about before is to attack the arsenal of Harper's Ferry in Virginia. Okay. So a lot of guns are being made. Is as part of him just pioneering like he I

mean he's just like we said in the last episode I mean he's like I'm going to die for this. So he's really just like full on. Pedal to the metal. Yeah. I think he believes that it's a worthy cause to die for. He believes it is such an injustice that intel every man is freed than his then your life doesn't mean anything. He has a never ending checklist really. Now John had already shown the plan to Hugh Forbes who was a British soldier who fought the in the Italian Revolution and was now a journalist. Forbes wore a green velvet jacket fringed dough skin boots an ostrich feather in his hat and a cane with a silver knob. Hello I'm a

douchebag. Speaking of knobs. I would excuse me. Do you have a douchebag store here? I'm looking for a new jacket. Excuse me. I no no no a deer could have potentially died of natural causes. I want the female. Is that what he's getting? Is that what it is? Would it be deer boots? Is it dough? What's it? What's the you should know you're the animal guy but isn't it a dough is a female deer and what's the baby deer? A baby deer? Yeah. What's their name? A buck, a dough and a fawn. Right. Fawn. Fawn. Fawn. Yeah. So it's a he had a female deer boots. Okay. If you have a male deer boot it's not as good. Smells like dick. So the plan was to

attack Harper's Ferry with 25 to 50 men both black and white men and free slaves at the nearest large plantation then use this larger force and expand the fight. Right. So it's the kicking off it's his kicking off point for the war against slavery. And Dave making the bold assumption that all the slaves on the plantation are going to want to join your army of people who are going to fucking kill these people and try to end slavery. That's correct. A minor leap of faith. I think this is a sort of a blind point in history. I think you find a lot of men who have a righteous cause and and they think that all others within

that area will also jump to that cause and you know. But he's got I mean I'm making light because he's going to I mean if he shows up if he if he goes to that plantation I mean he's going to double his army right there. Yeah you'd hope so. Yeah. So Forbes to actually disagreed with the plan. Forbes did not think the slaves would respond during a surprise attack. So Forbes didn't think they would take arms. He thought they'd be shocked and maybe a little scared. Forbes also has an ostrich feather on him. I mean that's a great reason not to listen to anybody. It's a douche barometer.

Forbes idea was to lead small raids to free slaves one or two raids a week. Then after a while so many slaves would be fleeing north that capturing them would be futile and using and this would be like a terror raid. So using consistent terror and chaos would cause slave slaveholders to just abandon slavery. Well I know whose plan I'm voting for. Right so the two men disagreed and that really came down to their faith in what the slaves would do. Forbes believed the slaves should be notified in advance. What is it? If not the raids would lead to MRP. Send out e-bites. Whereas John was certain if the slaves were given a chance

at freedom during a raid they would rise up and grab weapons. Yes right I mean I would yeah I mean you never know obviously but one would assume that if you're like hey I have a better option than this you know I mean again this is like you've put people in a position where they have nothing to lose you would guess that they would you know. Yeah okay I see both sides. So John shrugged off Forbes' opinions believing over 200 slaves would join him on the first night at Harper's Fair. Man they're not going to are they? And it wasn't just about freeing slaves to him it was about terrorizing the South into complete

emancipation. So in March 1858 John met with Dr. Alexander Milton Ross in Boston. He was a Canadian born physician and scientist who had devoted his life to abolition after reading the book Uncle Tom's Cabin. Now for years Ross had made trips to the South posing as an ornithomologist doing research but he was actually arming slaves and directing them to underground railroad stations. So that was his cover he was a bird man and then what he was actually doing was arming and freeing slaves. Now Ross at this point had helped hundreds of slaves escape and had nearly been lynched when he was caught in Mississippi but

despite everything he had done Ross wrote of John quote I had been in the presence of many men whom the world calls great and distinguished but never before or since have I met a greater and more remarkable man than John Brown. Now there's something about a man and when you have a strident belief when you believe strongly in something people are attracted to that particularly when it's a righteous belief. So John was going to recruit more at an anti-slavery convention he was putting on in Captain Canada. Now at this point he only raised about six hundred dollars in Boston he'd hoped to raise more. He met

with Harriet Tubman to try to get her support to try to get her connections to get Canadian blacks who had escaped to fight in his his battle. So at this convention 34 blacks and 12 whites attended none of the biggest abolitionist leaders came however because John was technically still a fugitive and they were worried about the legal consequences of attending. I mean it is like all that he's going through to I mean the tons of people are going through but that you know and they're like I just don't want to I can't be seen with him it's like imagine being him. I just I just the fact that he like he's he's

literally already fought on the field and he's putting everything he is into this and these people like I can't go to I you know what I can't go to it it's like a convention and he's there I just I can even in a dark shed and near a creek. So at the convention John gave a very impassioned speech an election of officers for John's future a fugitive colony was held. The positions were given to both black and white men which was a revolutionary concept unheard of in 19th century America. They drafted and signed their own constitution with the central article being on racial equality not freedom racial equality

which we still do not have. Despite the symbolic success of the convention John only recruited one man for the Harper's Ferry raid and even worse John discovered that Hugh Forbes Mr. Osterchatman had told the plan to several Republican senators. So now the plan is out there in the open and this made John have to postpone the attack. And probably furious. Yeah and now he has to disguise himself. He started using an alias Schuble Morgan. Well so he hadn't planned on saying it until someone asked him obviously. And that's and that's the comic book name. Yeah. Did you get the latest? Did you get the

latest Schuble Morgan? My manored cobbler. What's his name? Schuble Morgan. Schuble Morgan. So simple cobbler fell into some nuclear waste and became John Brown. So he discusses what to do with his six secret Boston backers and they wanted to go to Kansas make his presence known there so that would distance himself from Harper's Ferry and make it seem like a Harper's Ferry thing is a rumor because I'm sure there's a lot of rumors. So like get out there do your thing. Everyone think now he's just in Kansas doing his thing. Yeah there's a lot of rumors about a guy like this. So on December 19th

1858 John learned a slave named Daniels was in Kansas and was asking for someone to rescue his family who were about to be sold in Missouri. So pretty common thing for slaves you have a family and then the owner does because he wants to or because he's in financial trouble and he just sells your family away you never see them again. So this guy wants to stop that. John didn't think a raid to stop one sale was worth risking it normally but possibly to attract attention and distract from the Harper's Ferry plan he formed a raiding party of white and black abolitionists and led them into Missouri. I do think at this point I

think he's always using white and black people together because I think that strikes more fear into the pro-slavery people. I think if it's all black people it's what they'd expect but I think when when when Annie and I think that's gonna that's what that's what makes the BLM protests so scary to the powers to be. When the races come together the other the people in power get fucking scared because then there's numbers involved. When the tactics of division don't work any longer they're like so he forms this raiding party and he leads them into Missouri. The group splits into two smaller units and they will do white

guys black guys. Okay you're right I'll stop pitching someone else let's pick teams let's do a dodgeball style. So they both go attack different places Daniel's owner was held at gunpoint and his family were freed. They also took some supplies from the owner for Daniel's family to have. A little cocky on the way out you know what I mean you're like also some of your tools oh Peter went off some of your tools and some of this food don't you move motherfucker and also your bench. I think I'm gonna take actually some people from your family now that I'm here because I'm just sort of screw you man. Pro slavery people would

later claim John took money, pocket watches, wagons and oxen so of course they use it to propaganda like no he's taking more than he should but he's really just taking what a family would need to survive. It's like what you had in a house fire when their insurance is asking you. Yeah totally totally so all together both units freed 11 slaves. One slave owner was killed when they reached Kansas with John's unit one of the slaves had a baby so now they're 12. Jesus okay. The baby was named John Brown. Wow. And by this way to this day if your if your name is brown your family's name is brown and you don't

name your child John whatever the gender you're failing. Okay sure. Papers on both sides of slavery condemned the raid because they were worried it would kick off another round of violence in Kansas and Missouri. The governor of Missouri took out a $3,000 bounty on John and President Buchanan took out a $250 bounty on John. Sorry wait there was a $3,000 from the governor and the president's like I'll do a small fraction of that with our federal budget. How about much less. All right. Take a bank less money. I'll leave the tip. This was in all the national papers the raid the the bounties at this point oh John

mocked the bounty when he heard about Buchanan's bounty as you just did. I bet he was yeah he said he said he was gonna offer $2.50 for the arrest of President Buchanan. Okay sure. People are like huh it doesn't make sense financially but we should try to arrest him. So our cat hasn't made its way here yet. It has not. So right it's blowing up at this point John couldn't get a lot of help from abolitionists in Kansas because they don't want fighting. One settler said quote he could strike a blow and leave the retaliatory blow would fall on us. Well then fight. Yeah I mean I think that's John's answer well then

why don't you pick up a fucking gun and fight because they're actually people's lives are on the line. So the raid also caused Missouri slave owners to move 20 miles from the border and higher guards. So they would move to Missouri now. Well they're already in Missouri but now they're moving 20 miles away from the border. Right. We're like we'll actually live in Missouri now. We're thinking of actually living here for a little while. Which is a which is a sort of a double thing on the battlefront. If you're fighting something that is deeply entrenched in capitalism and you cost it money to exist you're harming it. Yeah

and rich. I mean you know that is retreating to some extent. So like clearly yeah there's you know some things working. On January 20th 1859 John set off with the now freed slaves. He's trying to get them to Canada but it's a brutal winner. They had to allude capture the whole time on the journey. At one point they sought shelter in a tavern but news of the group being in the tavern quickly spread. One of John's men would write quote we now learned that there were about 80 ruffians waiting for us at the fort. We numbered 22. All told. Our men black and white. We marched down upon them. They had as good a position as

any 80 men could wish. But the closer we got the farther they got. So John's legend is now so big that the ruffians when it comes time to fight are running away. So they're all big talk. They're right. They line up. They get ready to do it. And then as the moment comes they get scared. Yeah. Yeah. Battling John Brown's like the high dive from the ground. You're like no problem. The guy who believes deeply in his cause is someone who's not going to back down. Well and the amount the amount that people talk about him you would be like there's just a lot of shit you feel like that too. Yeah. You would think he was

20 feet tall. So by the time this particular skirmish was over John Brown's men captured three of the pro slavery ruffians. So so 80 of them lined up and waited and then they all ran and they captured three and three were slow. The Leavenworth Times wrote quote old Captain Brown is not to be taken by boys and he cordially invites all pro slavery men to try their hands at arresting him. That's so now the pro slavery players papers are just mocking them. Right. And if you I mean yeah you would be intimidated by that. You'd be like I don't want to try. Yeah. So the escape this escape to Canada went on for

82 days. It was 1100 miles. Oh my God. But they did evade capture. They were helped all along the way by the Underground Railroad. The further east they went the more John found people who supported him. He was greeted with enthusiasm in Grinnell Iowa and given money and supplies. Total shitbird Alan Pinkerton gave him $500 in Chicago on March 12th 1859. The now 13 fling people because another baby was born on the trip. Sure. They entered Canada. I'm also naming it John Brown. Well that's very nice of you but that'll probably be very confusing. But I there's nothing else I would name it. You're the only

thing. Yes. But we already have a John Brown and I'm a John Brown. So that'll be three. It's a little heavy. I should point out I've also changed my name to John Brown. Terry there should we need to slow down on the John Browns everybody. I'll change my name. I'm changing my name to what you're changing it to. OK. This is untenable. Hi. Hi. I'm George Foreman. Oh that's got a good ring to it. These are all my George Foremans. Oh how many how many boys did George Foreman name George Foreman. It was like eight right. I think there's something I can't remember what it is. I don't think he actually did name them all that. Oh he

didn't. I don't think so. There's like he might have but I don't believe like they all go around being called George like I think. Right. I'm sure they went by their middle name. No but I think they were. I don't think you're something different. Yeah I do. I mean if if I really break it down if he name everyone that he was like George again George again and then I think it was that one of them was Georgina you'd just be like George you have a problem. Georgina. Yeah. Did he name the girls. I thought I who knows. Are you looking it up. Yeah. Because it's too. I would love closure of this. People need closure on this one. I agree. We're

not we're not 12. OK. George Foreman has 12 sons and children five sons seven daughters his five sons are George Jr. George the third known as Monk George the fourth known as Big Wheel George the fifth is getting better George the best fifth known as Red and George the sixth known as Little Joey God. I named all my sons George Edward Foreman so they would always have something in common. No I mean look I mean I love George for thinking up thinking is not the best. OK. Well I'm ready to meet up with Big Wheel and Little Joey. I don't know about you. Oh my God. Jesus. So yeah. March. George. I don't know

about you. Enough. How lucky is he that he stumbled into the onto the George Foreman grill. I mean as they all are as all of these celebrities are when someone's like Hey here's an idea and they're like I'll do anything. I had a George Foreman grill. I always I always enjoyed the Hulk Hogan plate better. That was between March and September. John relaunched his fund raising campaign throughout the north. He gave lectures livered speeches and recruited volunteers to take Harper's Ferry. In June he met with John Cook in Virginia. He was a friend who had lived in Harper's Ferry for over a year so he had

basically gathered vital information for John. Right. OK. Great. Next John needed to find a location to house his volunteers and then he was in Virginia and he and his sons met a local slaveholder and John introduced himself as Isaac Smith and said he was a farmer from New York and he'd come to Virginia because of the rich land and he wanted to set up. OK. The slaveholder went for the story and helped the Brown family secure a rental agreement at Kennedy Farmhouse which was just five miles from Harper's Ferry. So simple. Well but it seems like you and I see eye to eye pretty much. I may as well hook

you up. Thank you. Thank you dummy. And by the way you seem really obsessed with the ferry. We got a lot of great sites around here. OK. See you don't even think I mean don't be obsessed with that. We got some of the biggest bales of hay you ever seen. We got a donkey with the longest tail you're ever going to lay eyes on Mr. And we got a kid who's got a kind of third eye not fully but something's on his neck. It's weird. So there's a bunch of things to see here. The kid with the neck. Hey that tail I was telling you about not the tail the donkey tail not the story. Anyhoo's will be. What. Mostly just interested in

Harper's Ferry. Thanks. Yeah I'm telling you it's fun but man there's a lot of other stuff you can do. I don't want your third eye boy. Nobody does. That's the problem. Kid can't find a home. You think a boy with an extra half I'd be able to find what he's looking for. But shit that ain't the truth of this kid. He's a lost soul man. All right I'm fixing to get out of here. Go piss on something. All right. Later on man. That's all your that's what your plan is. Tonight. To go piss on something. I'm gonna piss on something then go drink a little bit then probably take another piss on a couple other things. Yeah. Well you won't come

or you still up your theories ass. No no no we got we got stuff. We're working stuff out for the ferry. All right. Working stuff. That's a weird way to put it. All right. Well if you need me I'm gonna be pissing while I walk for next half mile. After that I'll get on Tavern and then I'll be around pissing stuff later all over place. Okay. Good to meet y'all. Meeting you. Great. Great. Eighteen men then moved into the farmhouse and began preparations for attacking Harper's Ferry. John attempted to bring in more recruits and even wrote to Frederick Douglass but Frederick Douglass refused the invitation believing that it

was a suicide mission. The farmhouse quickly became a quote barracks arsenal supply depot mess hall debate club and home. So what we have here is the anti-slavery fight club. That's right. Yeah. They've set up their own infrastructure now. They're like they're an organization. They certainly are. And because there's 18 dudes living in a house which isn't it's not really something you want people to see. Yeah. They didn't want people who come suspicious of that. So John invited several of his daughters and daughter-in-law to live and act as lookouts. Okay. So he instructed volunteers to stay indoors

during the day so not to arouse suspicion. After several months of prep the day approached. John's team of volunteers resigned to the possibility of their deaths and they sent they wrote and sent their final letters to their families. Okay. Well. On October 15th 1859 John announced that the revolution would begin. Gentlemen I have an announcement. My guess is he stood up right. Yeah I would think he stood up. Okay. Sorry John continues. Oh I was going to say something and I stood up and it was the right time but now I sat back down so it's not. No John John I'm sorry. No but you interrupted me. I stood up with a

flurry. I stood up with a flurry as I do. You know when I stand up with a flurry I'm going to make a big thing. I'm going to do a big thing when I stand up with a flurry. This is good. Stand up now. And then you said something. God damn it now I'm up again. Yes. Listen you sons of bitches it's time for the revolution. Now it's beginning tomorrow we're doing this as I have always said as my words have always come to me from my spirit the shit is gonna fucking kick off. Now I see what's amazing is part of the way through that I was like this is a real quote. The next morning he led a Bible service in the farmhouse. He read his

favorite verses and prayed for divine aid in liberating enslaved blacks. Tasks were assigned to each volunteer. Some men were to stay at the farmhouse to help distribute weapons while the rest were split into pairs in order to march six miles to Harpers Ferry. And I'll stay back. I can I don't know if you remember. Yeah yeah yeah there's a coward ditch behind the there's a coward's ditch behind the farmhouse. We built that for you to get in Larry. No I was suggesting but I was suggesting maybe someone should know who's gonna take care of the shoes and the soup. You are you are you're the Austrian that always. Okay so there we go

so we've that we've got closures great. I don't know why you guys are really like kind of called to me lately like let's do this. I'm on board. You're a coward. You're a coward. Somebody has to mind the shoes. Yes there's someone has to be a coward. Yeah we can. I think history history will look back fondly upon what I've done to you gentlemen. Oh for sure. No history you're gonna get a big old plaque. Fund can dream can say. One pair is gonna cut the telegraph fires. Another pair of men would imprison the Ferry Bridge Watchman. Another pair would guard the bridge until morning. The same would happen at the Shenandoah Bridge. Two

were ordered to capture the engine house and another two would capture an armory. There were three pairs who would roam the surrounding countryside to free slaves and imprison their masters. This all began at 8 p.m. that night. It's quite a plan. So the plan had a pretty smooth start. The bridge was captured. The guards were taken prisoner. The armory was seized. It was all a success. Easy to do. Okay. When one watchman refused to turn over his key one of John's men forced the door open with a crowbar. John who at this point had now grown out a long snow white beard and looked quote like an apostle stared into the

uncooperative watchman's eyes and said quote I came here from Kansas and this is a slave state. I want to free all the Negroes in this state and if the citizens interfere with me I must only burn the town and have blood. Don't use one of your spells on me Merlin. So I thought that would freak anybody out. I'd be like yeah no take the keys. Yeah. Yeah. Yes you know I'm actually gonna look at the ground. I was actually just gonna join this group and I'm ready to do so. You guys are intense. This is nice. I'm gonna grow in my beard. So it took them about two hours to control the armory and have the entire arsenal. So now they

have all the... Not bad. So as I should say the guns are being made in this town and then they're brought to the and then they're brought to the army where they're stored and then they're shipped out right. So now he has control of the armory. Right. So in the countryside the other six men reached the farm of Colonel Lewis Washington who was the great-grand-nephew of George Washington. Okay. Now they were specifically sent there because of what they had, what he had. At midnight they took the Colonel and forced him to hand over the famous Lafayette Pistol. We've talked about Lafayette before on this podcast. He was

a French gentleman who fought in the American Revolutionary War and Washington loved him. And then also what else Lewis Washington had. This is all handed down from George. He also had a sword of Frederick the Great. Okay. So they're sent to this random firehouse near what Harper's Ferry to get this pistol and the sword. Because besides just defraying the slaves there's also, I think this goes to the fear factor. Like, oh they've all, like, they'll take anything. When you would hear this stuff, if you were out some place you'd be like, oh they have a grander plan. Like they're actually, they're

actually gathering things, known object. So as I said, these things have been given to George Washington and now they were in the hands of an ex-slave named Anderson, who was of course a black man. Okay. Very symbolic. Right. The colonel's slaves were declared free and he and his family were taken captive. They're next. Which is the greatest, the greatest turnaround. Yeah. Wait a minute, what do you mean? They can do whatever they want and you're coming with us, fuckface. So their next stop was another farm where they broke in, seized the farm earners young son and freed their six slaves. The free blacks were all assigned to

watch over their former masters to ensure they, they couldn't escape. Oh my god, just. Now all this, this information stuff is coming back to John what they've done, how the plans are working and he's starting to feel confident. But then problems started to arise. John's man had been ordered to you only use violence when necessary. While some freed slaves gladly accepted weapons and joined John's army, those at the farmhouses did not. They retreated back to their masters farms in fear. Interesting. So this goes back to your previous point and the argument he had with Hugh Forbes. Yeah. But he thought that everyone would fight

and that's, that's a huge flaw in this plan. So the captured, the captured slave holders are taken to the armory and held. So John stayed with the hostages in the armory and waited for the insurrection to come to life. He envisioned over 200 newly freed slaves and would join him by the end of the night. Sorry, I read that wrong. He envisioned over 200 newly freed slaves would join him by the end of the night. So he sent people to all these farms and all these places. Expect your plantation, smaller ones, knowing the number of slaves that are there and expecting that to become an armed force that then is then going to

create a larger fight. Well, that's not happening. There's only about 30 new recruits at this point. Wow. And without all these freed slaves, things are falling apart. The, the plan can't expand. John's men at this point recommend taking the wagons they had seized, which is three wagons of weapons. So that's a lot of fucking guns. Yeah. And they say, let's pull back, let's retreat. And then we'll, and then, you know, go to the next phase of the plan. John did not. Towns people learn a group of black and white men were trying to take over Harper's Ferry, but they had no idea who was leading the raid. Locals armed themselves

and received the backing of two militia companies from nearby towns. The next morning, local militia farmers, what? Militia companies? Oh, sorry. Right. Okay. Sorry. Local militias. Yeah. Sorry. In my head, they were like, you need a militia? Call the militia company. We've got a bunch of militias to hire them out to you for an afternoon. Militia company. We're pretty upfront about our business. The next morning, local militia farmers and shopkeepers surrounded the armory after locals realized it had been seized. Now, okay. So there's, this is where the, the Shenandoah River bisects the Potomac River. Okay. And so it's like

a corner. So Harper's Ferry is like in a corner there. And there's one bridge over the Potomac and there's one bridge over the Shenandoah. And then the armory is right there along the water. And then up a little ways, up the Shenandoah a little bit, not too far, very close. It's like part of the town, but still up a little ways is the rifle works where the guns are made. And the rifle works are sort of separated from the mainland by a 20 foot wide canal that kind of works as a natural moat. Okay. Right. Three of John's men had taken over the rifle works. Wow. And they were able to hold off one of the militias basically because the

moats there, they can just shoot each other. No one's going to try to rush across the moat. Right. Right. Yeah. That's, that's the moat theory. Exactly. So there were men posted on bridges and other locations, but the bulk of John's men were now in the armory, posted up. And now the armory is, I don't know, think of it as like a fort, right? There's different buildings and there's a gate and whatnot. So they're all posted up behind a high iron, iron rail walls or pylons or inside the firehouse with the hostages. One of the militias arrived from the West and saw the three men on the B and O bridge. And those two groups

start shooting at each other. So now we have our first gunfire. Right. Happening, being true. It's happening. Gunshots being traded. Now, Danger Field Newby was a black man and he was there with John Brown because he dreamed of freeing his still enslaved wife and children. He had himself already been freed by his white owner slash father. Oh, okay. Danger Field had been given a price to purchase the freedom of his wife and seven children by their owner. And he raised the money and then went to the owner and then the owner said, no, that's not enough and said the agreed on price that he'd been working towards for years was not enough

to free his wife and kids. So Danger Field Newby then realized, well, the only way to do this is by force. So he was now part of John's raid with his hope being to free his family by force. He's the oldest. He's 44 and he's also the largest he's 62. So the people of Harper's Ferry made guns, but they did not have ammunition. That's the best. So they started grabbing anything they could fit into a gun barrel. And this also includes the guys in the militia. What one man? Oh dear. I mean, I'm I can't believe I'm about to hear what makeshift bullets were in this time. My taste sticks. A six inch spike. A spike. He found a six inch spike.

He made a torpedo. He made a harpoon. A small torpedo. Yeah. I'm sorry. Harpoon. So Danger Field was shot by one of these spikes. It hit him in the throat, ripping it from ear to ear and killing him instantly. God damn. The mob, when they got a hold of Danger Field's body, they cut off his ears and testicles. They poke sticks into his bullet wounds and they shoved his body into a gutter where it could be eaten by Hawks. Another militia arrived and took over the bridge over the Shenandoah. So now both bridges are held by pro-slavery Harper's Ferry people. This shuts off all escape routes for John. So that plan

where the guys said, let's take the wagons, get the fuck out of here while no one knows, that's fucking, that's over. That's shit. That's never gonna happen. It stops anyone from coming also from the Maryland side to rescue them. So now it's pretty much the hands dealt. Yeah. Townspeople now gathered in the square on the porch of the hotel and on the platform of the train station. Inside the firehouse, John had 30 hostages, so he tried to negotiate. Two men came out of the fire, two hostages came out of the firehouse holding a white flag. Oh no, sorry, two men came out of the firehouse holding a white

flag. One was Will Thompson, who's John's son-in-law. They also had a message telling them that John would free the hostages if his men were given safe passage across the Potomac River. But the crowd did not hear the message because they rushed and attacked them and they beat Will and they dragged him to the hotel. The other man was slapped and beaten, as well as made to take drinks from their bottles. Because at this point, many of the townspeople were drunk. Just, Jesus Christ. It's happening again. The drinking's back. It's like, what if Rush Week was an era? Yes. John's men moved the 11 most important hostages to

his engine house, a sturdy structure with three heavy oak doors, and then John tried to negotiate again. He sent his son Watson, Aaron Stevens, and another hostage holding a white flag. This time, the crowd just shot Watson and Stevens, who collapsed. They had been shot in the face in the body. Watson somehow managed to get up to his knees and drag himself into the firehouse. Stevens, however, could not move. Then a hostage came out of the firehouse, picked up Watson, picked up Stevens, and took him to the hotel, helped them for a little bit, and then the hostage returned back to the firehouse. That's an

interesting one. One of John's sons would write that he thought that was because they were about to give up or a negotiation was happening, but he was watching from afar and he was like, so something, there's no reason a guy would go back unless an end was near. Oh, okay. I see what you're saying. Okay, right. Still kind of a mild move. Now, the crowd is growing larger and larger. People are hearing about this all over. They're coming. They're drinking more and more. Willie Lehman of Maine, who's just 20 years old, he had known the brown since he was 14, didn't have a great family life, and he sort of attached to them. He

came along. He climbed out the rear window of the firehouse and slipped between the bars of the wall and ran for the railroad tracks. He made it all the way to the Potamac and he waited in and just then someone in the mob saw him and yelled. The men on the railroad platform began shooting down as Willie swam for Maryland. He made it about 50 feet before he was shot. He then turned back and climbed upon a rock near the shore. A man named George Shoppert waited out to Lehman, who was on the rock, and Lehman pleaded, quote, don't shoot, I surrender. Shoppert then shot Lehman point blank in the face as he smiled. For the next few

hours from the platform, people would shoot down at Willie's body. Meanwhile, John's men now cut holes in the walls of the firehouse and started shooting out. Another man walked on the railroad loading trestle, got down. What are the odds that one drunk guy just rolled up there and put his penis in one of those holes? A hundred percent. Okay, thank you. Keep going. One hundo. Another man walked on the railroad trestle, got down on the knee, and looked into the armory through a door, or through a crack. The door of the farmhouse then opened and Edwin Coppock shot the man. Oliver Brown was besides him, that's one of John's sons,

and then another man who now had climbed on to the loading trestle shot Oliver in the chest. So now the crowd goes crazy because these raiders had shot an armed man. Okay, interesting. So John's son-in-law, Will Thompson, was dragged from the hotel while they beat and screamed at him. They made him walk out on the B&O bridge, and then they shot him many times from close range. His body was then thrown in the river where it snagged on driftwood, and once again, men from above shot at his body over and over. So it's like midday now, like a lot of the day has passed. Remember, there's those guys up near the

the rifle works, three men in there, and there's the militia shooting at them. But now everyone's getting drunk. So a lot of these towns guys, they are shit-faced, and they start heading up towards the rifle works. So they got that drunk confidence going around. And they're like, we got to get in there and get to us. Yeah, it'd be that hard to get in there. Yeah, just go through the water part. Where's Kay? He's gonna do it. Let's get in there. So now there's more guys, they're pushing to get in, they're drunk and angry, and the shooting goes up quite a bit. The townspeople then charged the back door and hit it with a

battering ram. Then everybody charged in. The militia, the townspeople, inside the three guys, there's one white guy, two black guys, they climb out a window facing the river, they drop down into the water. From up above, they shoot at them. John Kagey, who was the white guy, died almost immediately and sunk into the river. Lewis Leary was hit by several shots but not killed. He made it down to the shore, a bit down the river, where he was pulled out and put into custody. But he's pretty shot up. John Copeland Jr., a free black man who joined the fight, got to a large rock in the middle of the river. There he was seen and shot at from two

different places. He raised his hands up until a robot came out and he was taken prisoner. This is not going well, obviously. No, it's not going well. John Cook was on the other side of the Potomac and did not know what was happening. He climbed a tree overlooking the town and shot near the mob to divert their attention. They shot back and one of the bullets snapped a branch beneath him and he fell 15 feet to the ground and limped away. He was taken in by an Irish family. Remember, this is the guy that lived there, so he clearly knew people. An Irish family took him in and they told him all but seven of the men

in John's army were dead. Cook accepted defeat and found four members of John's army, including John's son Owen, at the schoolhouse hideout. They had plans to hide out in different places. Those men all escaped together and went north through the wilderness. John's son Oliver, he was the one who was shot in the chest. He had been bleeding out since being shot through the door. He begged John to shoot him and put him out of his misery. John refused and said, quote, if you must die, die like a man. All right, that's some old school paradigm. That's daddy issues. That's nothing to do with the moment.

John's men are still shooting out the holes in the wall. George Turner, a powerful landowner, was shot and killed. Shortly after, the slave-owning mayor known for his kindness towards blacks was shot and killed. The mob is now becoming hysterical. Several witnesses said many, if not most of them, were now very, very drunk. So like if they get shot, like just beer comes out more than blood. Oh, no. My vitals. And then other guys drink it. It's a whole whole. Don't worry, Teddy. You're gonna be delicious. A train arrives and it stops just out of town. It's another militia. Oh, shit. They march. They march in formation to the

firehouse and they were carrying scaling ladders. They put them on the back fence of the armory and climbed over and they were halfway across the yard before Brown and his men saw them. Most of the hostages were liberated by this raid, but the remaining men of John's army fired into the crowd until the militia commander ordered them to retreat. So when the evening came, yeah, so when the evening came, negotiation was attempted for the third time. Samuel Strider approached the armory with a white flag and he delivered a summons of surrender to surrender from Colonel Robert Baylor. John replied with the same

terms. He'd released the hostages if he and his men could cross the Potomac unharmed. Then Captain Thomas Sin, who was a militia guy, spoke with John. At one point, John yelled out for Oliver. So the guy came to the armory and he's actually talking to John and John yells out for Oliver and Oliver does not respond. And John said, quote, I guess he is dead. John made the same demands and they were once again rejected. At 11 p.m., 90 Marines led by Colonel Robert Eadley arrived. The company broke down the engine house door and Marines squeezed through the hole. John was dragged out of the firehouse covered in

so much blood, observers assumed he was already dead. He was taken to an office in the armory and banished. Reporters surrounded and questioned John. To every question he repeated the same response. He thought slavery was wrong. So he tried to stop it. It's very strange to have this, like it has like a post game vibe. Yeah, it does. Like it's weird that he, yeah, that like, like he's like a boxer or something where it's just like, well, what, what do you think it cost you the match out there today? Well, you know, they had a lot more men. I mean, it's just kind of, it's the army could get there. Certainly reporters could get

there. So yeah, it's like a whole, it's definitely got a, it's definitely got a post game vibe. Weird. But yeah, it is. It is really weird. So, and I like, he's right. He's right. I did this because slavery is fucking wrong. And he's basically, he's basically pointing the finger at everyone who's not doing anything with that statement. What are you guys doing? Southern journalists and reporters could not fathom how a white man could be so sympathetic towards slaves. And this is the N word coming. A Southern officer asked John, quote, suppose you had every nigger in the United States, what would you do? And

John Stanley responded, set them free. So to this, then that's shocking. And, and they, they literally can't wrap their brain around it. They literally cannot understand this thought process. Because to them, that's chaos. Like you're literally saying, I want chaos in the streets. Right. Right. Lewis, Lewis, Sheridan Leary died of his wounds the following morning. He was one of the guys in the rifle house who got shot and they picked up within a week. Articles about the raid at Harper's Ferry made headlines across the country. The Baltimore American reported that John Brown showed no signs of weakness, even with the

gallows staring him full in the face. John remained so dignified after being captured that slave owners praised him once they saw him in person. One pro slavery man said, quote, Captain John Brown has coolness, daring persistency, stoic faith and patience and firmness of will and purpose. Unconquerable. Certainly is, was one of the best planned and best executed conspiracies that ever failed. It's pretty, I mean, quite an impact to be able to get those lines out of those people. Well, at some point, you have to respect the total conviction. Yeah. Southerners didn't agree with any of his abolitionist views, obviously,

but they were moved by his admirable qualities of toughness, honor and daring. He had the characteristics of a, quote, true Southern gentleman. Right. Right. So the South was conflicted and confused. What would they do with the shockingly impressive abolitionists? So on October 18th, Virginia Governor Harry Wise, Virginia Senator James Mason, and Ohio Representative Clement Valingham conducted a three hour question. Governor Wise admitted, quote, John Brown is a bundle of the best nerves I ever saw cut and thrust and bleeding and in bonds. He is a man of clear head of courage, fortitude and simple ingeniousness. He is

a fanatic, vain, garrulous, but firm, truthful and intelligent. But just so wrong. John was taken to Charlestown prison to await trial. John's once northern abolitionist friends now completely distanced themselves in fear of arrest. There we go. Frederick Douglass fled the country. Others denied having any association with John for the rest of their lives. On October 25th, John was arraigned. He was escorted by 80 militiamen. He was arraigned on three charges, conspiracy to incite a slave insurrection, shouldn't be a crime,

treason against the state of Virginia and first degree murder. When he was making his plea, John declared, quote, under no circumstances will I be able to have a fair trial. If you seek by blood, you can have it. I am ready for my fate. I asked to be excused from this mockery of a trial. He was basically saying the state slave state of Virginia could not give him a fair trial. Right way to handle it too, because that is so true. Yeah, he refused to be insulted, quote, by cowardly barbarians who fall into power. Now, hold on there a minute, Mr. You're not allowed to choose to the

death penalty now. We will assign it upon process completion. Okay, let's just hear me out. You're worthless. In my view, you're shit people and just kill me and get it over with. Have a little shit trial in your little shit state and you shit people say what you want to say and no, no, put the bullet in my head or whatever you're going to do. Well, we will do that upon conclusion of your trial. We want you to have a fair trial. Can you sign the verdict, shit trial done by shit beasts? Can you do that for me? Is that possible? No, not if the notary is to do his, no, no, no.

That's a shit notary from a shit place. All right. Now, just you are a slippery pickle. I'll tell you that. Your whole system. I would like to talk for a minute. The whole foundation is built upon the money begotten from a crime. So you're, you cannot judge me. You literally are unable to judge me. I'm a judge. I'm a judge. My one job is. I don't recognize your whole fucking shit building. Look at the thing I'm wearing and the gavel. Nothing there. I have the wood thing to hit the gavel upon. Nothing there. Nothing there. I mean, well, this is first by a mile. Nothing there. You're just an asshole saying words. Nobody cares.

You are free to go. What the fuck did I say? Yes, shit. Oh, shit. So great. You fucked up. So John's lawyers who were assigned to him tried to plead not guilty by reason of insanity and John was like, Hey, guys, I'm not insane. I think slavery is illegal. I think it's an abomination. So I'm actually the one who is sane. Oh boy, well, he's far gone. He's actually insane, which we did not count on. And he said he would not lie in court and say he was insane. So the lawyers are like, well, John, let me just tell you what you've done to our playbook. You've just shit in it and thrown it in a fire. So he is found guilty on all three charges in a 45 minute trial and sentenced to death by hanging. Damn, that's a fast trial. Ralph Waldo

Emerson wrote in his journal, quote, if John Brown is hung, the gallows will be sacred as the cross. Hey, thanks for all the help, Emerson. I'm writing. I did what I could. On December 20, December 2nd, 1859, John wrote his final will in his cell, quote, I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away, but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed, it might be done. John refused to see a minister because he denounced any pro-slavery clergyman. How could you be a clergyman if you believed in slavery? Yes, fair. Isn't it crazy how religions always made so much sense?

At 11 a.m., he was walked through a crowd of 3,000 soldiers. The gallows were in a small field. Stonewall Jackson and John Wilkes Booth were there, as was Walt Whitman. And John Brown was hanged at 11, 15 a.m. On December 8, six days later, he was laid to rest in North Elba, New York, where he always wanted to be buried. His funeral was attended by family members and close friends. After John Brown's death, tensions in the South heightened because slave owners had grown paranoid and worried that other abolitionists would try to lead larger and more successful slave rebellions. The South reorganized and strengthened its malicious system to placate its white citizens' fears. On April 12, 1861, 16 months after John's

execution, Southern forces opened fire on Fort Sumner in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Civil War had officially begun. So it's really believed that John Brown was a big part of that moving towards an actual war. Like he did in Kansas, for America, he took it up a notch. And once the whites in the South realized, oh, wait, these guys will actually bring the fight to us. Well, then a switch flipped in a lot of their minds. This letter was found on Dangerfield Newby's body after the Harper's ferry raid. Dear husband, I want you to buy me as soon as possible for if you do not get me, somebody else will. The servants are very disagreeable. They do all that they can to set my mistress against me. Dear husband, you are not the trouble I see these

last two years. It has been like a troubled dream to me. It is said that the master is in want of money. If so, I know not what time he may sell me. Then all my bright hopes of the future are blasted. For there has been one bright hope to cheer me in all my troubles that it is to be with you. For if I thought I should never see you on this earth, life would have no charm for me. Do all you can for me, which I have no doubt you will. I want to see you so much. The children are all well. The baby cannot walk yet. The baby can step around anything by holding onto it very much like Agnes. I must bring my letter to close as I have no news to write. You must write soon and say when you think you can come. Your affectionate wife, Harriet Newby.

So just a dude who has a kid who's just learning to walk six other kids doing all sorts of other things. And he just wanted to not be a slave or have his family be owned by other people. That's all. I think one thing about John Brown, I think he's obviously a really, I think he might be America's greatest hero. But I also think that the men with him, the Lewis Leary's and the in the Dangerfield newbies get kind of left out of the whole thing. And there were a lot of white men that fought along with John Brown and there were a lot of black men that fought along with John Brown and that's how you fucking do it. That's how you do it. Let's read the names. John Henry Cagey, Jeremiah Anderson, William Thompson, Dauphin Thompson, Oliver Brown, Watson Brown, Stuart Taylor,

Willie Lehman, Lewis Leary, Dangerfield Newby. These are the men who were captured and then executed. John Brown, Aaron Stevens, Edwin Coppock, Anthony Copeland, Shields Green, John Edwin Cook, who was he escaped, he was one of the guys escaped, he was captured in Pennsylvania a few days later. Albert Haslett. These men escaped and were never caught. Barkley Coppock, Charles Plummer, Tidd, Osborne Anderson, Owen Brown, and Francis Jackson Miriam. And then, as far as the men on the other side who were killed, who gives a fuck? A giant pile of rusting, rotting bodies that deserve no mention. Oh, fuck. That letter is something. Cool times. All right. All right. Carry on. Say, say, what do we say? Say, don't. What's a car? Sources, The Legend of John Brown, a

biography in history by Richard Boyer, John Brown, W. DuBois, John Brown abolitionist, the man who killed slavery, sparked the Civil War and ceded civil rights. David Reynolds, The Great Lives Observe, John Brown, Richard Warch in Jonathan Fanton, article John Brown's Day of Reckoning, The Abolishest Bloody Raid, Smithsonian Magazine, Fergus Boardwitch, Unflinching, and The Washington Post by Denine Brown.