The abolitionist John Brown launched his raid on Harpers Ferry in October 1859, when 20 men seized an arsenal and held it for 36 hours. Brown was captured and tried, and on the morning of Dec. 2 ...

Last Sunday was the 163rd anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, which for me was an excuse to flip through W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1909 biography of Brown for the first time in years.

One of the most controversial figures in American history. John brown dedicated his life to the abolition of slavery; for him, any means used to achieve this goal were justified.