What was the legacy of John Brown?

John Brown was well known for his work as a passionate Anti-slavery abolitionist. He worked with The Underground Railroad and led the Pottawatomie Massacre. The Pottawatomie Massacre was an event where Brown, with men from his family, killed five pro-slavery settlers in Kansas on May 24-25 1856. This event was one of the things that led to Bleeding Kansas, a small civil war against pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates over who would control Kansas that occured 1854-1859.

'John Brown's last moments.' A painting by Irish-American artist Thomas Hovenden.

On December 2nd 1859, He was executed by hanging at 59 years old for the raid he and his 18 men did on Harpers Ferry. The raid on Harpers Ferry was a raid that lasted from October 16-18 1859 done by Brown and a group of armed abolitionists on Harpers Ferry in Virginia. (today, West Virginia.) The raid ended Brown and his men freeing all the enslaved people there, but ten of his 18 men were killed, including two of his own sons. They were also captured and set to be executed. Before his execution, he gave a speech to the court saying his actions were just and god sanctioned. The six abolitionist survivors of the raid were hanged along with him on the same day. The raid frightened a lot of slaverholders, solidifying in thier minds that abolitionists would stop at nothing to end slavery. Many northerners denounced the raid, likely because of the violence of it.

Before the raid, he was known for being a leader of many antislavery guerillas/fights during Bleeding Kansas.