Which abolitionist led the raid on Harper's Ferry?

Which abolitionist led the raid on Harper's Ferry?

• A. John Brown
• B. Frederick Douglass
• C. Harriet Tubman
• D. Sojourner Truth

Answer: (A)

John Brown is the abolitionist who led the raid on Harper’s Ferry. In 1859 he and a small group seized the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry with the aim of arming enslaved people and sparking a revolution against slavery in the South. The capture failed, Brown was tried for treason and murder, and he was executed. This event is closely tied to Brown’s name and to the growing sectional tensions that would soon lead to the Civil War. The other figures mentioned were important abolitionists and reformers in their own right, but they did not lead this particular raid.

John Brown is the abolitionist who led the raid on Harper’s Ferry. In 1859 he and a small group seized the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry with the aim of arming enslaved people and sparking a revolution against slavery in the South. The capture failed, Brown was tried for treason and murder, and he was executed. This event is closely tied to Brown’s name and to the growing sectional tensions that would soon lead to the Civil War. The other figures mentioned were important abolitionists and reformers in their own right, but they did not lead this particular raid.