John Brown was born in Connecticut and raised in Ohio. His father was an abolitionist who helped slaves escape on the Underground Railroad. For years John Brown moved around Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. He was unsuccessful at many occupations, including tanner, shepherd, farmer, and real estate trader. He began actively supporting the abolition of slavery after abolitionist printer Elijah Lovejoy was killed in 1837. In 1855 Brown moved to Osawatomie, in the territory of Kansas, and became the leader of a local military unit. On May 24, 1856, Brown and others, including four of his sons, attacked a proslavery settlement on Pottawatomie Creek and massacred five men. Three years later, Brown set out to incite a slave revolt and free slaves in Virginia. With arms and money supplied by New England abolitionists, Brown led a group of men on an attack of a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in October 1859. The group easily seized the arsenal, but no slaves came to help them. The U.S. military arrived, cornered Brown, and killed two of his sons in the fight. Brown was forced to surrender to Colonel Robert E. Lee. He was later tried, convicted of treason, and hanged in Virginia.
