footnoteinhistory:162 years ago today, on October 16, 1859, fervent abolitionist John Brown and his
footnoteinhistory:162 years ago today, on October 16, 1859, fervent abolitionist John Brown and his men began their crusade at Harpers Ferry in an attempt to inspire a slave insurrection in the United States.“I want you to understand that I respect the rights of the poorest and weakest of colored people, oppressed by the slave system, just as much as I do those of the most wealthy and powerful. That is the idea that has moved me, and that alone… The cry of the distress of the oppressed is my reason, and the only thing that prompted me to come here.”“I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land can never be purged away but with blood.”“His zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light, his was as the burning sun. Mine was bounded by time. His stretched away to the silent shores of eternity. I could speak for the slave, John Brown could fight for the slave. I could live for the slave, John Brown could die for the slave.” -Frederick Douglass -- source link
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