Front Matter

Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-51443-9 - John Brown’s War Against Slavery Robert E. McGlone Frontmatter More information

John Brown’s War Against Slavery

Drawing on both new and neglected evidence, this book reconstructs Old John Brown’s aborted “war” to free the 3.8 million slaves in the American South before the Civil War. It critiques misleading sources that either exalt Brown’s “heroism” and noble purpose or condemn his “monomania” and “lawlessness.” McGlone explains the sources of Brown’s obsession with slavery and his notorious crime at Pottawatomie Creek in “Bleeding Kansas” as well as how the Harpers Ferry raid fig- ured into Brown’s larger vision and why he was captured in the federal armory there. John Brown’s War Against Slavery chronicles how this aged American apostle of violence on behalf of the “downtrodden,” this abolitionist “fanatic” and “terroriser,” ultimately rescued his cause by going to the gallows with resolution and outward calm. By embrac- ing martyrdom, John Brown helped to spread panic in the South and persuaded Northern sympathizers that failure can be noble and politi- cal violence “righteous.”

Robert E. McGlone holds a PhD in history from UCLA and is currently Associate Professor of History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is the author of scholarly articles, which have appeared in the Journal of American History and Civil War History. He has also contributed to several collected volumes and encyclopedias, including His Soul Goes Marching On, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, and the Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery.

John Brown’s War Against Slavery

ROBERT E. McGLONE University of Hawaii, Manoa

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi

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First published 2009

Printed in the United States of America

A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data McGlone, Robert E. John Brown’s war against slavery / Robert E. McGlone. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-521-51443-9 (hardback) 1. Brown, John 1800–1859. 2. Abolitionists – United States – Biography. 3. Antislavery movements – United States – History – 19th century. I. Title. E451.M37 2009 973.7116092–dc22 2008054806 [B]

ISBN 978-0-521-51443-9 hardback

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Contents

Manuscript Depositories: Abbreviations page vii Acknowledgments ix

1. An Exalted Defeat 1

Part I: Inclinations of Head and Heart 2. The Connection 21 3. First Son 52

Part II: Rebirth 4. Pilgrim 73 5. Steward 96 6. Terroriser 114

Part III: Jeremiads 7. Monomaniac 145 8. God’s Reaper 179

Part IV: Strategies 9. Propagandist 203 10. Conspirator 220 11. Insurrectionist 246 12. Witness 277

Part V: Messages 13. God’s Emissary 309

Notes 329 Index 433

Manuscript Depositories: Abbreviations

BPL Boston Public Library, Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Boston, Massachusetts Higginson-Brown Collection J. P. Quincy Papers Lysander Spooner Papers Thomas Wentworth Higginson Papers CHS Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Illinois John Brown Collection Frank G. Logan Collection Ricks Collection CUL Columbia University Libraries, Butler Library, New York, New York The Oswald Garrison Villard Collection HEHL Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, California James William Eldridge Collection Horatio N. Rust Collection HLHS Hudson Library and Historical Society, Hudson, Ohio Samuel Lyle Adair Collection Clark-Brown Collection Clarence S. Gee Collection HU Harvard University, Houghton Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts Franklin B. Sanborn Folder KSHS Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas Samuel L. and Florella Brown Adair Collection John Brown Collection Richard J. Hinton Papers Huxtable Donation George Luther Stearns Papers Velma Sykes Collections U.S. District Court, Second Judicial District, Territory of Kansas, Journal of Judge Sterling G. Cato’s court

vii

viii Manuscript Depositories: Abbreviations

LOC Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Henry Alexander Wise and Family Collection MHS Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts John Brown Papers Samuel Gridley Howe Papers NAR National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C. Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General NYPL New York Public Library, New York, New York Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection John Brown Miscellaneous Papers Lee Kohns Memorial Collection OHS Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio John Brown, Jr., Collection PHS Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ferdinand J. Dreer Collection Miscellaneous John Brown Papers SUL Syracuse University Library, George Arents Research Library, Syracuse, New York Sol Feinstone Collection VSL Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia WRL Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio WVDCH West Virginia Department of Culture and History, Morgantown, West Virginia Boyd B. Stutler Collection (formerly housed at the University of West Virginia) WVUL West Virginia University Library, Morgantown, West Virginia Virginia v. John Brown trial documents YUL Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut Miscellaneous John Brown Manuscripts

Acknowledgments

I am pleased to acknowledge scholarly debts I have accumulated over many years. My interest in John Brown dates from a question that my mentor, Donald B. Meyer, asked during my comprehensive exams about John Brown’s Secret Committee of Six. Meyer had inspired me to choose history as a pro- fession by illustrating daily in his lectures that history could be a continuing adventure. But he could not then have guessed how far and how long I would later travel in pursuit of Old Osawatomie Brown. After Meyer’s departure from UCLA, Norris Hundley graciously supervised my doctoral dissertation. The seminars of Doyce B. Nunis taught me respect for the craft of history. Colleagues at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, have shared my interest in issues raised by the Brown story. Idus A. Newby closely edited and helped me cut an earlier draft of the present study. Richard Rath and Marcus Daniel asked the right questions of it. Peter Hoffenberg and Dick Rapson encour- aged my work on issues related to autobiographical memory. Craig Howes and Stan Schab of the Center for Biographical Research at the UH made the Center’s resources available to me, as did its founder, George Simson, before them. Kathy Ferguson’s conference papers on Emma Goldman broadened my perspective on radicalism. Former colleagues Cedric Cowing, David Farber, Louise McReynolds, and my late friend Fritz Rehbock read papers that became chapters or articles. Over the years, historians elsewhere have contributed in various ways to the book. Jim Mohr of the University of Oregon repeatedly prodded me to return to the project with his provocative insights on conference papers. My debt to Paul Finkelman, a leading Brown scholar, and his wife, Byrgen, for their support, encouragement, and incisive editing cannot be overstated. Larry Friedman, the biographer of Erik Erikson, shared conference platforms with me, as did Catherine Clinton, Michael Fellman, Jim and Lois Horton, Leonard Richards, and Ron Walters, among others. Bertram Wyatt-Brown’s astute com- ments on my papers were invaluable.

x Acknowledgments

In four research trips across the country years ago, I incurred many debts. Park Service historian Dennis Frye gave me a personal tour of Harpers Ferry, and John Cotter showed me Brown’s Adirondack home at North Elba, New York. Curator Thomas L. Vince introduced me to Hudson, Ohio, where Brown grew up, and to the essential document collections housed at the Hudson Library and Historical Society. Bob Richmond and others at the Kansas State Historical Society were equally hospitable, as were John Rhodehamel and the folks at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, and Jim Murphy at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus. A computer-savvy researcher, John Barker, located and obtained electroni- cally the maps and photos I wanted in the book and transmitted them with the permission letters for their use to the Press. Archivists Debra Basham of the West Virginia State Archives, Jill Slaight of the New York Historical Society, Melissa Cronyn of the Center for Media Services of the National Park Service, and Eva Guggemos of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale were especially helpful and efficient in the search for images. I am honored to add my book to the distinguished list of Cambridge University Press. My sincere thanks to Lew Bateman; his assistant, Emily Spangler; and Mark Fox at Cambridge, as well as my project manager at Newgen Imaging Systems, for their guidance in preparing the manuscript. Family members have helped me gather information and have offered wise counsel. Ever tactful, Doris Neumann and Leslie and the late Carroll Johnson sustained their enthusiasm for the project throughout. My wife, Marion, who keeps me in touch with current realities, often traded vacations for research forays and put up with late hours to see the project to completion. A better lifeline to the present I cannot imagine.