Brown, John

Cultural  

1. An abolitionist of the nineteenth century who sought to free the slaves by military force. After leading several attacks in Kansas, he planned to start an uprising among the slaves. In 1859, he and a small band of followers took over a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in Virginia. A detachment of marines reclaimed the arsenal and captured Brown, who was tried for treason, convicted, and hanged.

---

Discover More

Robert E. Lee, soon to be commanding general of the main Confederate army, led the marines who captured Brown.

In death, Brown became a martyr for abolitionists. “John Brown's Body,” a popular song in the North during the Civil War, had this refrain: “John Brown's body lies a-mold'ring in the grave; His soul goes marching on.”

Example Sentences

To have a majority of even one MP, Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner and the rest of his team have to do better - far better - than Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, John Prescott, Jack Straw, David Blunkett and the rest.

From BBC

This “wonderfully digressive” tale of James Jesse Strang — an early American con man — “is littered with thumbnail histories of 19th-century cross-dressing, John Brown, John Deere, the Brontës, bloomers, the Underground Railroad, mesmerism, newspaper exchanges, the Illuminati and much else,” our reviewer, Chris Jennings, wrote.

From New York Times

Said Brown: “John knows literally everything about that playbook. He’s a guy that prepares himself very, very well. That’s something we all know in the building, it’s something we all respect about him. We know he knows everything.”

From Los Angeles Times

In addition to Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman, Brown’s admirers included the poet Julia Ward Howe, wife of the “Secret Six” member Samuel Gridley Howe, who took a popular folk song about Brown, “John Brown’s Body,” and turned it into “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

From New York Times

The slaves were accompanied by an associate of Brown, John Kagi, whose sister, Barbara Mayhew, lived in the cabin with her husband, Allen.

From Washington Times