The Harper's Ferry raid established by John Brown as a national figure led by abolitionists in October 1859, aimed to seize a federal armory to arm enslaved people for a rebellion.

Although the raid failed, it drew significant attention to the abolitionist cause and heightened tensions between the North and South. Brown was captured and executed, but his actions and martyrdom made him a symbol of the anti-slavery movement, galvanizing both support and opposition to abolitionism and deepening the national divide over slavery.