John Brown's Raid...........What if.......

W. Richardson

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Mt. Gilead, North Carolina
If John Brown's Raid had been successful and a violent slave insurrection had taken place throughout the South, would the United States Government have been required to suppress it?


Respectfully,
William

One Nation, Two countries
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If John Brown's Raid had been successful and a violent slave insurrection had taken place throughout the South, would the United States Government have been required to suppress it?


Respectfully,
William

One Nation, Two countries
View attachment 184375
You betcha.
But unlikely, the South was good at suppressing slave insurrections and slaughtering any remote suspects.
 
If John Brown's Raid had been successful and a violent slave insurrection had taken place throughout the South, would the United States Government have been required to suppress it?


Respectfully,
William

One Nation, Two countries
View attachment 184375

Imho, only if the federal laws were violated and operation of the courts were suppressed or if the state requested federal help, otherwise it would be up to the state forces to quell the insurrection in its borders.
 
Imho, only if the federal laws were violated and operation of the courts were suppressed or if the state requested federal help, otherwise it would be up to the state forces to quell the insurrection in its borders.
Looking at the Milita Act of 1792(emphasis mine) Buchanan could have responded by calling out the militias to a massive slave insurrection.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the United States shall be invaded, or be in imminent danger of invasion from any foreign nation or Indian tribe, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, to call forth such number of the militia of the state or states most convenient to the place of danger or scene of action as he may judge necessary to repel such invasion, and to issue his orders for that purpose, to such officer or officers of the militia as he shall think proper; and in case of an insurrection in any state, against the government thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such state, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) to call forth such number of the militia of any other state or states, as may be applied for, or as he may judge sufficient to suppress such insurrection.
 
Looking at the Milita Act of 1792(emphasis mine) Buchanan could have responded by calling out the militias to a massive slave insurrection.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the United States shall be invaded, or be in imminent danger of invasion from any foreign nation or Indian tribe, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, to call forth such number of the militia of the state or states most convenient to the place of danger or scene of action as he may judge necessary to repel such invasion, and to issue his orders for that purpose, to such officer or officers of the militia as he shall think proper; and in case of an insurrection in any state, against the government thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such state, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) to call forth such number of the militia of any other state or states, as may be applied for, or as he may judge sufficient to suppress such insurrection.

I interpret that to mean that either the state legislature or the governor must make a request to the president for federal assistance.
 
I interpret that to mean that either the state legislature or the governor must make a request to the president for federal assistance.
I agree, but if there is a massive slave insurrection(OP says "violent slave insurrection had taken place throughout the South"), they are interested in making a request.
 
I agree, but if there is a massive slave insurrection(OP says "violent slave insurrection had taken place throughout the South"), they are interested in making a request.

I agree. I misread your response. The Insurrection Act of 1807 would cover the use of the federal troops if need be.
Act of March 3, 1807:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws, either of the United States, or of any individual state or territory, where it is lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection, or of causing the laws to be duly executed, it shall be lawful for him to employ, for the same purposes, such part of the land or naval force of the United States, as shall be judged necessary, having first observed all the pre-requisites of the law in that respect."
 
I agree. I misread your response. The Insurrection Act of 1807 would cover the use of the federal troops if need be.
Act of March 3, 1807:
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws, either of the United States, or of any individual state or territory, where it is lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection, or of causing the laws to be duly executed, it shall be lawful for him to employ, for the same purposes, such part of the land or naval force of the United States, as shall be judged necessary, having first observed all the pre-requisites of the law in that respect."
That too. Several paths for intervention. In the real raid, the US forces were involved. I am not sure what authorization if any was used.
 
Perhaps another question might be, "If Brown succeeded in starting a wide-spread slave insurrection, what would have been the consequences?"
 
I think we have covered the could intervene part of the question, but the OP is
"would the United States Government have been required to suppress it? "
IMHO the attack on federal property satisfies the would have been required question. In addition, a request by a State also satisfies that question via the militia act. In and of itself, a massive insurrection will also satisfy the question via the insurrection act.
 

That would cover Virginia but W. Richardson's "what if" is "throughout the South" so unless the slave revolt attacked federal properties in other states then each state legislature or governor affected by the revolt would have to request federal help.

edit - I was typing this without realizing you had minutes before said basically the same thing.
 
The size of any such insurrection would have mattered greatly. I can't imagine this spreading beyond a few plantations in the area. How would the slaves coordinate their activities and distribute weapons? Nearly all of them were illiterate, and had never been off the plantation except possibly to go into the nearest town for supplies. John Brown's white abolitionist followers were not illiterate, but they were not military people, and they were few in number. I don't see them managing an organized revolt of any great size that could have become a serious challenge for any trained military unit to crush rather quickly.

So, the most probable end result from a larger revolt seems to be exactly the same result as the one we got, except for a substantial number of slave fatalities. Calm would have superficially been reimposed, but the Southern public would still have become more worried than ever about the future. Like a typical terrorist action, the primary damage would have been psychological.
 
The size of any such insurrection would have mattered greatly. I can't imagine this spreading beyond a few plantations in the area. How would the slaves coordinate their activities and distribute weapons? Nearly all of them were illiterate, and had never been off the plantation except possibly to go into the nearest town for supplies. John Brown's white abolitionist followers were not illiterate, but they were not military people, and they were few in number. I don't see them managing an organized revolt of any great size that could have become a serious challenge for any trained military unit to crush rather quickly.

So, the most probable end result from a larger revolt seems to be exactly the same result as the one we got, except for a substantial number of slave fatalities. Calm would have superficially been reimposed, but the Southern public would still have become more worried than ever about the future. Like a typical terrorist action, the primary damage would have been psychological.
how did Spartacus do it? they would have learned by doing
 
Every "what if" scenario is revealing about the person who suggested it. Generally they reveal that the suggester wishes the scenario had taken place.
 
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