Why was John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry treason?
score:3
Section three of article three of the US Constitution states:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Three_of_the_United_States_Constitution1
John Brown was planning to overthrow the governments of the slave states or force them to abolish slavery.
Article four section four says:
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Four_of_the_United_States_Constitution2
If John Brown's abolitionist group seized control of a state's government it could be considered turning it into a non republican form of government. Thus the federal government might be forced to intervene, thus members of John Brown's group could expect that they might get involved in a civil war against the United states, thus "levying War against them" and committing treason.
[...] and [the United States] shall protect each of them [the States] against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Four_of_the_United_States_Constitution2
John Brown's followers should have been able to imagine that they constituted an invasion of Virginia, and that by planning a slave rebellion they were planning large scale domestic violence. Thus they should have been able to imagine that the federal government would be obligated to try to stop them and thus that their plans would likely result in "levying War against them" (the United states) and thus committing treason.
And of course the plan involved seizing the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry that could be considered "levying War against them" (the United states) and thus committing treason. Just as members of a dependent Indian tribe would be guilty of treason by attacking a federal fort or Indian agency or as southerners were guilty of treason when seizing federal arsenals, forts, and other installations.
And in fact President Buchanan ordered 90 marines from the US Navy Yard in Washington DC to Harper's Ferry where they defeated John Brown's raiders under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee of the Second United states Cavalry.
So John Brown and his followers were guilty of treason against the United States.
But John Brown and his followers were tried and convicted for Treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, murder, and inciting a slave insurrection.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_v._John_Brown3
And that kind of gets my goat. I can't help thinking that President Buchanan should have had Brown extradited to the District of Columbia to be charged with Treason against the United States.
IMHO the US constitution should be amended to say that no government dependent on the United states, such as a state, or Indian tribe, or county, or municipality, etc. etc. that ever committed in the past or commits in the future treason against the United States, shall ever again be able to have a statute defining a crime of treason against itself. And furthermore, if any official of any dependent government prosecutes, convicts, or punishes someone for treason against that dependent government while that dependent government is committing treason against the United States, that official shall be guilty of violating the civil rights of the persons so charged, and shall suffer penalties proscribed by federal law for violatign civil rights, or else penalties equal to the total of all the penalties inflicted upon every person he prosecutes, convicts, or punishes for treason against that traitorous dependent government, whichever is harsher.
Upvote:0
The difference between a store owner selling weapons to someone who then turns around and acts against the people and John Brown is that one engages in legal commerce of goods vs. someone who hands out weapons for the purpose of insurrection.
It might be argued that John Brown's trial was politically motivated. That Brown's actions in the powder keg that was the antebellum years had to be punished severely to avoid such actions being repeated.
So, if you want to buy thousands of weapons for yourself and your friends, do it. If you then take those weapons and hand them out to groups of people to protest/ demand/ impose some legal change/ commit crimes, you might be tried for treason.
Upvote:1
"Treason against the United States, shall consist..."
Nowadays, when we talk about the "United States," we talk about a whole country, the US of A.
But at the time of founding, and for some time thereafter, the "United States" meant "a bunch of individual states that were united."
It's not clear to me, at least, that John Brown was committing treason against the "United States" (as we now know it).But Brown was committing "treason" against a single state, Virginia. And he was clearly committing murder. So he was guilty of at least two out of the three charges.
In any event, he was tried, convicted and hanged by Virginia, not the United States. Such "Federal" troops as were involved, under people like Robert E. Lee and "Jeb" Stuart, were all southerners, and mostly Virginians, who would soon have their own fight against "Federal" troops. Ironically, the trial and hanging took place in a part of the future West Virginia, which would "secede" from secession."
To answer your other question, a gun seller is not supposed to sell a gun that s/he knows for sure, will be used to hurt others. If it's merely a suspicion, that would be different, legally.
Upvote:9
John Brown led a raid on a US military arsenal as part of an attempt to start an armed rebellion against the current established order. That's essentially waging war against the US government and at least attempting to aid enemies (as any slaves in revolt would be.) So by that token, it should be easy to understand why a charge of "treason" was reasonable.
His defense didn't particularly dispute that very well. People who supported him did so mainly not due to belief in his innocence but rather abhorrence for the institution that he was attacking.
TL;DR - He was essentially guilty of treason, but some felt that treason against an unjust institution was a moral act.
More post
- 📝 Why are military uniforms often flared or poofy above the knee?
- 📝 Did Jaques Chirac say “Without Africa, France will slide down into the rank of a third [rate] power”?
- 📝 Why did Sparta turn on its ally Elis during the First Macedonian War?
- 📝 Was Alexander Coffroth for or against slavery? And in what instances?
- 📝 Which war games did Napoleon practice with his generals?
- 📝 What was said about Vermont in the Paris negotiations of 1782?
- 📝 What happened to the undergrad students who attended the Feynman Lecture Series in 1961-63?
- 📝 What were medieval, Viking-Era, Scandinavian laws regarding rape?
- 📝 Are there any records of Turks settling in Anatolia before the 11th century?
- 📝 Could women be crucified under Roman law?
- 📝 Did any native US-Canadian tribes have written language before the advent of the Europeans?
- 📝 Was the strait of Malacca a potential "chokepoint" during the age of discovery?
- 📝 How Much Did World War Two Cost Financially?
- 📝 What is the manifestation of the Holy Roman Emperor reign in Italy?
- 📝 Which countries actually played a part in the foundation of the UN
- 📝 Was there ever a strategic concern about East German refusing to fight against West Germans (and vice versa) if the cold war had gone hot?
- 📝 Did imperialist propaganda inflate map size?
- 📝 Were there records kept of French nobility before the invasion of England in 1066?
- 📝 What were the needs of the US Navy that resulted in the production of both the Arleigh Burke class and Ticonderoga class in the 1980s?
- 📝 When were marching bands last used in warfare?
- 📝 Did Japan ever retaliate for the Russian attacks of 1806?
- 📝 What literary or philosophical works did the ancient Egyptians have that have influenced ancient civilizations or the modern word?
- 📝 What did early humans do with their long hair?
- 📝 When did Wang Mingzhang die?
- 📝 Which European nation had the most kings in the 18th century?
- 📝 Gold coin vs Silver coin exchange rate fluctuations in antiquity
- 📝 What kind of building materials did Cavendish use in determining the density of the earth?
- 📝 How did Aztec armor and weaponry match up to the Spaniards?
- 📝 How did the Czech Legion get home?
- 📝 How long was a journey "from the Varangians to the Greeks?"
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why was John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry treason?
- 📝 Was Col. John K. Waters (Gen. Patton's son-in-law) wounded in the buttocks or the stomach during Patton's raid on Oflag XIII-B near Hammelburg?
- 📝 Why was Charles I not pressed by *peine forte et dure* to force him to plead to treason in front of the High Court?
- 📝 Why was Nixon never tried for treason for allegedly sabotaging the 1968 Peace Talks?
- 📝 Why was John Paul Jones pardoned in Whitehaven in 1999?
- 📝 Why was June 24th chosen for the date of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 Why was France granted an equal status among victors of World War II?
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 Why was Poland spared from the Black Death?
- 📝 Why China was able to unify and not Europe?
- 📝 Why was Africa colonized last of the continents in the Age of Discovery?
- 📝 Why was Britain willing to return Hong Kong but not Gibraltar?
- 📝 Why was Spanish Fascist dictatorship left in power after World War II?
- 📝 Why was the Scout movement so successful?
- 📝 Why was the Council of Nicea held in Nicea rather than Rome or Constantinople?
- 📝 Why was it "acceptable" for Prince Charles to marry a divorced woman, when Edward VIII had to abdicate for marrying divorcee Wallis Simpson?
- 📝 Why was World War I ended on Nov 11 11:00, rather than immediately upon signing the armistice?
- 📝 In the Soviet Union, why was the Cheka renamed so many times?
- 📝 Why was "leaping into the river" a valid trial outcome to prove one's innocence?
- 📝 Why was the Japanese Army's fatalities inflicted:suffered ratio so low in the Pacific theatre?
- 📝 Why was capturing the south of Okinawa necessary?
- 📝 Why were the drawings of Colossus burnt after WW2 and why was its very existence "of course" kept secret?
- 📝 Why was there a surge in the US incarceration rate during the 1990s?
- 📝 Why was the Treaty of Versailles so harsh?
- 📝 Why was no Nobel Prize for Literature awarded in 1935?
- 📝 If the Ch’in dynasty was so short-lived, why was China named for it?
- 📝 Why was Switzerland not attacked during the two World Wars?
- 📝 Why was sugar cultivation more profitable in the Caribbean/Brazil than West Africa?
- 📝 Why was Germany not as successful as other Europeans in establishing overseas colonies?