On this day in 1859, abolitionist John Brown initiated a raid on Harper's Ferry to start a revolt in Southern states by taking over a U.S. arsenal in Virginia and arming slaves with the weapons there.

Brown did not receive the support from slaves that he was counting on for the raid to succeed. Many slaves did not trust the fact that a white man would be inciting them to rebel, and knew little about how to work firearms besides that. Some believed they were actually about to be sold.

Brown's raid was defeated by a company of U.S. Marines, killing two of his three sons. He was convicted of treason and hanged on December 2nd, 1859. Later, president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis cited the attack as grounds for Southerners to leave the Union, "even if it rushes us into a sea of blood".