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Story · A CLOSER LOOK

Lincoln responds to John Brown

December 3, 1859

Black-and-white head-and-shoulders portrait of Abraham Lincoln in suit and bow tie, from the NPS history page.

ABOUT THIS STORY

In the reported Leavenworth speech of December 3, 1859, Lincoln accepted Brown’s punishment while acknowledging their shared opposition to slavery. He rejected the use of violence and treason as the means.

He then turned the example toward those threatening to break the Union if Republicans won the presidency. The passage places Brown inside Lincoln’s argument about law, elections, and the survival of the Union.

December 3, 1859 · Leavenworth, Kansas

How it unfolded.

Abraham Lincoln →John Brown — The Meteor of the War →

  1. Lincoln responds to John Brown

    Lincoln’s response to Brown reveals the distance from which these trajectories began.

A CLOSER LOOK

The story behind it.

Lincoln’s response to Brown reveals the distance from which these trajectories began.

The day after the execution

The speech followed Brown’s hanging by a day. Lincoln was addressing a controversy still unfolding before the country.

A starting point for the thread

Placed beside Douglass’s response to Brown, this speech records a substantial difference before the later Lincoln–Douglass relationship developed.

START HERE

Lincoln Brown (opens in a new tab)

Source for Lincoln responds to John Brown: Lincoln Brown.

Sources for this closer lookLincoln Brown (opens in a new tab)

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.

Lincoln Brown (opens in a new tab)
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.

Black-and-white head-and-shoulders portrait of Abraham Lincoln in suit and bow tie, from the NPS history page.

National Park Service · Abraham Lincoln

Open the source (opens in a new tab)