General Tubman and John Brown
By Norman Dasinger, Jr
US House Bill 1842- To Require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the Bicentennial of Harriett Tubman
Section 9 of HR 1842 dated March 11, 2021 states “During 1859 Tubman aided abolitionist John Brown by recruiting supporters for his raid on Harpers Ferry; a planned insurrection against slaveholders in Virginia and Maryland.”
On October 16, 1859, John Brown began his effort to initiate a slave revolt by taking over the United States arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). Doubt has been raised as to whether Brown believed his implausible, undermanned attack could succeed or whether he knew it was doomed yet wanted the publicity it would generate. William Lloyd Garrison said, “His raid into Virginia looks utterly lacking in common sense.” On October 20, 1859
, The Richmond Dispatch echoed Garrison’s opinion with its review of Brown’s deadly foray, “Is it possible that the animosity of the North against us has reached such a degree of all consuming hate as to drive any of her citizens upon such efforts and make them blind not only to his vile wickedness but to his utter folly.”
Brown had originally asked Harriett Tubman to join him at Harper’s Ferry and part of his violent group. She met Brown in Canada in 1858. Prior, Tubman had claimed to have seen Brown in one of her prescient dreams. During the previous winter, Tubman told her friend Franklin Sanborn, editor of the
Boston Commonwealth, of a reoccurring dream she was having of. . . “the head of an old man with a long white beard, gazing at her.” According to Rebecca Brooks in a September 13, 2011 story, “When she [Tubman] first laid eyes on Brown’s face, she realized she had seen it before. “
Brown considered her as one of his more important recruits and referred to her as ‘General’ Tubman. Following their meeting, both of them began speaking to wealthy individuals and sympathetic organizations. On May 8, 1859, Brown appeared at the Concord, Massachusetts Town Hall and spoke of his preceding aggressive action in Kansas but alluded to a wider war. Bronson Alcott, an observer that day, wrote, “Our best people listen to his words. Emerson, Thoreau and [State Supreme Court] Judge Hoar” many residents opened up their wallets “without asking particulars . . . He was the manliest man I ever saw.”
Brown’s ‘wider war’ plans included the implantation of an alternative to the US Constitution. He had many copies of the document printed and kept at a hideout a few miles from Harper’s Ferry. It contained forty-eight articles and included a preamble: “We, citizens of the United States, and the Oppressed People, who, by a recent decision of the Supreme Court are declared to have no rights. . . Do, for the time being, ordain and establish ourselves, the following Provisional Constitution and Ordinances, the better to protect our Persons, Property, Lives, and Liberty”. Tony Horwitz in his 2011 book
Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War wrote, “Brown’s Provisional Constitution . . . was not just a governing document. It was a scare tactic.” As proof, article 43 included this provision: “Carry arms openly. All persons known to be of good character, and of sound mind and suitable age, who are connected with this organization, whether male or female, shall be encouraged to carry arms openly.” Horwitz also added, “According to Brown’s son Salmon, fifty years later: ‘He wanted to bring on the war. I have heard him talk of it many times’.” In what appears to have been a keen retrospective description
The Richmond Enquirer on October 25, 1859 wrote, “The Harpers Ferry invasion has advanced the cause of Disunion more than any other event that has happened since the formation of this Government.”
Apparently, Harriett Tubman was fully briefed on Brown’s 1859 intentions.
The Eastern Shore Journal on December 12, 2020 reported, “She even suggested he should raid Harper’s Ferry on July 4. Though it’s generally thought Tubman was fully committed to participating in Brown’s Raid, she disappeared at the crucial moment. Why she failed to join Brown remains a puzzle.”