In the article \u201cAttempted Negro Insurrection in Maryland,\u201d published in The Omaha Nebraskian,<\/em> Saturday, October 29, 1859, issue 41, the authors reported on information gathered from their dispatches from various locations such as Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington D.C.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Image – Newspaper – The Omaha Nebraskian” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Article entitled \u201cAttempted Negro Insurrection in Maryland,\u201d published in The Omaha Nebraskian, Saturday, October 29, 1859, issue 41. Courtesy of 19th Century U.S. Newspapers. Click for larger view<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n A dispatch from Baltimore, on October 18, reads: \u201cThe insurrectionists are commanded by Capt. Brown of Kansas notoriety. They numbered originally, seventeen white men and five negroes, several of whom were shot\u201d [1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another dispatch printed from Harper\u2019s Ferry, on October 19, focused on Brown and his men\u2019s actions before the raid, including their stay at Kennedy Farm, and directly quoted some of Brown\u2019s \u201cProvisional Constitution And Ordinances Of The People Of The United States,\u201d a copy of which was found at Kennedy Farm after the raid [2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n An article entitled “Harpers Ferry Insurrection,” published in the Vermont Chronicle <\/em>on October 25, began:<\/p>\n \u201cA strange insurrectionary movement at Harper\u2019s Ferry, is the event of last week. It commended on Sunday night and ended on Tuesday, with the death of most of the insurgents and the capture of others. The leader was John Brown, known in the history of the Kansas troubles as \u2018Ossawatomie [sic] Brown,\u2019 who seems to have acted under the strangest madness and delusion\u201d [3]<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n In \u201cHarper\u2019s Ferry Insurrection,\u201d published in the Liberator <\/em>on November 11, Granville Sharp provided a much different view of Brown, praising him:<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever may be thought of the wisdom or the expediency of the undertaking of John Brown, in contemplation of the probable result of it, there can be no doubt he was actuated by the noblest and most philanthropic motives that can dignify our nature is engaging in it, viz., the liberation of the slaves\u201d [4]<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Newspaper – The Vermont Chronicle” _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Article entitled “Harpers Ferry Insurrection,” Vermont Chronicle [Bellows Falls, Vermont] 25 Oct. 1859: 171. Image courtesy 19th Century U.S. Newspapers. Click for larger view<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ admin_label=”Image – Newspaper – The Liberator”] Article entitled “Harper’s Ferry Insurrection” by Granville Sharp, published in The Liberator, Friday, November 11, 1859, pg. 179, issue 45. In this article, Sharp praises Brown as being moved by “the noblest and most philanthropic motives.” Sharp asserts the the raid was “a noble struggle for liberty,” not “a vile attempt at insurrection.” Courtesy of 19th Century U.S. Newspapers. Click for larger view<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Like Garnet, Brown, and others, Sharp stated that \u201cthe slaves are perfectly justified by the laws of God and man in endeavoring to obtain their liberty by force and violence, if they can obtain it in no other way. And if they have this right, others are justified in assisting them in these endeavors\u201d [5]<\/a>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe Insurrection at Harper\u2019s Ferry,\u201d published in The Frankfort Commonwealth<\/em> on October 21, included the names of those killed and involved in the raid, as well as the larger impacts of the raid.<\/p>\n The article began with the statement: \u201cthe details by Telegraph of the insurrection at Harper\u2019s Ferry take up so much space as to prevent their publication in our paper\u201d [6]<\/a>.<\/p>\n The author(s) then provided their own summary and perspective on the events:<\/p>\n \u201cThe developments indicate a conspiracy on the part of a few Abolitionists to revolutionize the entire South by inciting an insurrection among the slaves, which conspiracy, however, we cannot but believe existed chiefly upon paper, and in the minds of a few zealots, whose acts prove them to have been stark mad. In fact, derangement alone can account for their preposterous attempt to effect a revolution in the Slave states with only 50 men, with the illusory hope, it is true, that the unarmed and undisciplined slaves would rise and successful strike for their liberation\u201d [7]<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.5″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Other Southern newspapers, such as The Richmond Enquirer <\/em>focused on the political nature of the raid. In their October 25 issue, The Richmond Enquirer <\/em>stated that instead of dividing the South, it has unified it:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Harper\u2019s Ferry invasion has advanced the cause of Disunion, more than any other event that has happened since the formation of the Government; it has revived, with ten fold strength the desire of a Southern Confederacy\u201d [8]<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The October 26 issue of The Daily Herald<\/em>, like the October 21 issue of The Frankfort Commonwealth <\/em>positioned the raid as an event that enslaved peoples wanted nothing to do with:<\/p>\n \u201cTwas no insurrection, and it is libel upon the slave in designating it as such. They had nothing whatever to do with it. There was not a single slave engaged but what was drawn in by compulsion<\/em>. The original insurgents consisted of some fifteen or sixteen white <\/em>men and a half dozen free negroes <\/em>from the North \u2013 brought there by old Brown\u201d [9]<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n As seen from just these examples, reactions to the raid ranged from surprise and indignation, approval and praise, anger, and reaffirmation of white supremacy.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Credits & References” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”References” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> \u201cAttempted Negro Insurrection in Maryland.\u201d Omaha Nebraskian<\/em> [Omaha, Nebraska] 29 Oct. 1859: n.p. 19th Century U.S. Newspapers<\/em>. Web. 21 Apr. 2019.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> \u201cHarper’s Ferry Insurrection.\u201d Vermont Chronicle<\/em> [Bellows Falls, Vermont] 25 Oct. 1859: 171. 19th Century U.S. Newspapers<\/em>. Web. 21 Apr. 2019.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Sharp, Granville. \u201cHarper’s Ferry Insurrection.\u201d Liberator<\/em> [Boston, Massachusetts] 11 Nov. 1859: 179. 19th Century U.S. Newspapers<\/em>. Web. 21 Apr. 2019.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> \u201cThe Insurrection at Harper\u2019s Ferry,\u201d The Frankfort Commonwealth<\/em>, 21Oct. 1859, Secession Era Editorials Project<\/em>, Furman University Department of History, history.furman.edu.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n![\"Article](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/02\/Article-Attempted-Negro-Insurrection-Maryland-cropped.png\")
<\/a>![\"Article](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/02\/Harpers-Ferry-Insurrection-Vermont-Chronical-1859-cropped.png\")
<\/a>![\"Article](\"https:\/\/oldsite.coloredconventions.org\/john-brown\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/32\/2026\/02\/Harpers-Ferry-Insurrection-Praise-1859-cropped-209x300.png\")
<\/a>References<\/h3>\n