Digital History Exploration with categorized links to information regarding the 1959 raid, the trial and the public response. Material can be used for Mock Trial or to explore the following questions: Why did John Brown, alone among northern abolitionists, choose violence as the way to end slavery?, What impact did he have on the coming of the Civil War?, Was he successful in achieving his goals, was he a failure, or was his legacy more ambiguous?, Could slavery have been abolished in this country without violence?
The December 1940 release of Warner Brother's Santa Fe Trail was billed as a western featuring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, it focused more on John Brown in Kansas and Harper's Ferry. Little of the film was even remotely accurate as Raymond Massey's portrayal of Brown played up the "crazed lunatic" interpretation. It turns out that John Brown's grandaughter sued Warner Brothers over the movie and his Great-Great-Grandaughter has a blog to tell us about it.
The film accidentally slipped into the public domain and is available at YouTube and the Internet Archive. Teachers can use it to show how history can be depicted. Have students read any traditional narrative of the Harper's Ferry Raid, then watch the ten minute segment of the film to see the difference
Very comprehensive lesson plan including detailed instructions, lessons and role descriptions for students to assume roles in the process of reviewing primary documents. Lesson provides six roles for students to assume. Great way to have students see Brown from a specific perspective. WATCH OUT - some links to primary docs have broken, may have to relocate. That shouldn't dissuade you from using this lesson, the documents can be found by Googling their names.
