From October 16 to 18, 1859, American abolitionist John Brown attempted to initiate a slave revolt in Southern states by raiding an armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The raid is frequently cited as o
1897 illustration of U.S. Marines attacking John Brown's "Fort" on October 18
Artist Jacob Lawrence's conception of Brown trying to persuade abolitionist Frederick Douglass to join him in the raid on Harpers Ferry. Douglass refused, as he believed Brown would fail.
John Brown in 1859
1862 photograph of the Harpers Ferry arsenal; the "engine house", later called "John Brown's Fort", is on the left.
Shields Green
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Shields Green, who also referred to himself as "Emperor", was, according to Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave from Charleston, South Carolina, and a leader in John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, in
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
…officer to the slaves in a meeting held (for safety) in an abandoned quarry at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It was at this meeting that ex-slave "Emperor" Shields Green, rather than return home with Douglass (in whose house Green was living), decided to join with John Brown on his attack on the United States Armory…
Green awaiting his trial after the Harpers Ferry raid
In a stone quarry near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Shields Green, with dark skin, is at center, Frederick Douglass on the left and John Brown on the right. Watercolor by Richard Schlecht.
Shields Green, John Copeland, and Albert Hazlett in their cell in the Jefferson County jail
Death sentence of Shields Green, November 10, 1859