John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry

Robert Maner, Nicholas Santellan, Alex Cruz

Junior Division
Group Website
Process Paper: 478 Words

I.

How we picked our topic

My group and I started my selection on Abraham Lincoln. Then we started to look into him and
saw his stand on Slavery. We really did not want to do plan out slavery because it's so broad and
everybody in our class was doing it. So we talked to our teacher and he suggested that we look into
somebody that took a stand against slavery. That then brang us to John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.
This event might had not been the huge change in slavery but it was one of the events that led up to the
end of slavery in America. Our topic is important because it was one of the major leading points to the
end of slavery. Without this event slavery still probably would have ended but without all the events like
this slavery might have still been around today

II. Research
We started off really confused because we didn't decide what topic we wanted to do until late.
Then once we chose the topic we started with the basic search on google. After we looked through all
the basic searches we decided to search a little deeper, we made our searches more specific. At first
we were only looking for primary sources because we figured those would be the hardest to find. Then
after we spend a ton of time we got too secondary. We were so happy when we finish all our sources
but then the teacher said we had to annotate each source. That through us for a loop. We spent a good
two weeks just trying to annotate all of our sources.

III. Creating our project

At first, we wanted to create a exhibit. We talked about it for a little bit and then we realized
that everybody is doing a exhibit, so we decided to go with a website. Less people were doing the
website so we thought there was a better chance of winning. We were going to do a [Link] but then we
decided that Wix is really popular so we used one that not many people know of. The Website that we
are doing it on is Weebly.

IV. Thesis and connections to theme

Our thesis is about how John Brown took a stand to free all the slaves inside of Harpers Ferry.
It explains who, what, when, where, how, and why. It was one of the only chances that the slaves inside
of the federal armory had to escape. Even though none of the slaves inside of the armoury even had the
chance to escape. John Brown himself said that he didnt want to start a revolt, he wanted to free the
slaves inside of the military base.

Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Frye, Dennis E., ed. The Capture of John Brown. Civil War Trust. Last modified December 1855.
Accessed December 2, 2016.
[Link]
This site is important because it shows the main facts about the Harper's Ferry Raid. Some
people go so far in depth that they forget to include the main things that happened during the
raid.
Harpers Ferry. 1912. Photograph. Accessed 1912.
[Link]
-week/
We chose this picture because it a illustration from back then. It's better if it's from back then
because it might have looked different back then instead of today.
John Browns final speech, 1859. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Accessed
December 14, 2016.
[Link]
80%99s-final-speech-1859
This website is important because it show what happened to John Brown after the revolt.
Sanborn, Franklin Benjamin. The life and letters of John Brown, liberator of Kansas, and martyr of
Virginia. Boston, Massachusetts/America: Boston Robert Brothers, 1885. Accessed
December 13, 2016. [Link]
This is a primary source about John Brown. It it written in a book and it relates to the theme
because book was made just 26 years after the Raid on Harpers Ferry.
Stephens, Mary. Memorandum, John Brown, 1800-1859. Accessed December 13, 2016.
[Link]
Primary Source. I chose this source because it provides multiple examples, manuscript version
of when John Brown was in court, and a Biography of him. What I had learned from this source
is he spent two and a half of years traveling to New England and also raising money for his
anti-slavery battle/war
Testimony of Daniel Whelan. Civil War Trust. Accessed December 3, 2016.
[Link]
This site is important because it's a primary source of somebody saying what they were doing
during the Harper's Ferry Raid. It's important because he was a innocent bystander and he took
a stand against John Brown.

Secondary Sources:
Foner, Eric, and John Arthur Garraty, eds. John Brown. History.
[Link]
This secondary source helps explain what happened during the raid Before, and After the raid.
It explains in enough detail about what was going on with John Brown at the time.
Harpers Ferry MD. Photograph. Accessed December 19, 2016.
[Link]
This picture is a great view of what Harpers Ferry looks like today. It shows a lot of Historical
features that have not changed much in the last 100 years.
John Brown. 1899. Photograph. Accessed December 2, 2016. [Link]
We chose this picture because it was a primary picture of John Brown. Also this was picture
before they excited John Brown.
Jonathan R. Allen. The Civil War. Accessed January 5, 2017.
[Link]
I would like to use the quote Meteor of the War. Herman Milville called John Brown this
because he thought that he was one of the really big tipping points in the war.
Letter, n.d. Accessed December 13, 2016.
[Link]
We chose this site because it shows the letters of multiple people's thoughts of the raid on
Harpers Ferry. The letters were from the time too. These letters go with the topic because they
show what other people thought about John Brown, taking a stand against the slave owners in
the military base.
Letter, November-October 31, -8-16-21-26-30. Year 1859. In Browns prison Letter, edited by
Douglas Linder Linder, 1-4. N.p.: Douglas Linder, 2005.
Secondary Source. What I had learned from this source is that John Brown was surprisingly
comforting himself in jail, but with some small obstacles. I also learned that at the end of his
finally letter, it really gets depressing.
Letter to Mary Stephens, John Browns Raid on Harpers Ferry, October 16, 1859. Accessed
December 13, 2016.
[Link]
[Link]/.
Secondary source. What I have learned from this source is about how John brown charged into
a federal armory and hoped to win sadly he was hung for treason.
McGlone, Robert E. John Brown. HistoryNet. Last modified July 2009.
[Link]
This secondary source website explains John Brown's life and how he tried to help slaves. This
relates to to theme because it shows how he took a stand to try and stop slavery.