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Story · A CLOSER LOOK

John Brown’s final warning

December 2, 1859

Archival black-and-white portrait of John Brown, clean shaven, wearing a dark coat and high white collar.

ABOUT THIS STORY

On December 2, 1859, Brown wrote that the crimes of the country would be purged only with blood. The warning came after the failure of his raid and before the Civil War.

This is the passage at the beginning of the comparison with Lincoln’s Second Inaugural. The words can be encountered here in full before following that connection.

December 2, 1859 · Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia)

How it unfolded.

John Brown — The Meteor of the War →

  1. John Brown’s final warning

    A written note on the day of his execution anticipates the terrible price of slavery.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Original texts.

Execution-day note Full text

John Brown · December 2, 1859

I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.

Transcription with modernized punctuation; this is the written note, not a scaffold speech.

contemporary document · public domain

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A CLOSER LOOK

The story behind it.

A written note on the day of his execution anticipates the terrible price of slavery.

An execution-day document

The warning is preserved as a written note. Brown’s November courtroom address is a separate document.

Before the war

Brown’s death preceded the opening of the Civil War by more than a year. The later scale of the conflict gives this short text its place in the thread.

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Source for John Brown’s final warning: Brown.

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FOLLOW THE CONNECTIONS

There’s a thread here.

HOPPER THREAD · 4 CONNECTIONS

Brown, the war, and the price of slavery

Brown’s warning, Sherman’s experience, and Lincoln’s later words form a question I want to explore.

Archival black-and-white portrait of John Brown, clean shaven, wearing a dark coat and high white collar.Black-and-white head-and-shoulders portrait of Abraham Lincoln in suit and bow tie, from the NPS history page.Engraved portrait of William Tecumseh Sherman in military uniform, with his signature beneath, from his memoir.Archival photograph of the crowd and platform at Lincoln’s second inauguration at the U.S. CapitolArchival photograph of the crowd and platform at Lincoln’s second inauguration at the U.S. Capitol

Explore the original.

Follow the original source to explore the work in its own context.

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Sources & credits

Introductions are grounded in the sources below. Collection notes and reading prompts provide an editorial starting point; personal opinions are identified in the collection’s content.

Archival black-and-white portrait of John Brown, clean shaven, wearing a dark coat and high white collar.

National Park Service

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