Although the compromise led to a period of relative peace, tensions about slavery were never far from the surface. One of the most notable figures during the period between the compromise and the election of Lincoln as president was John Brown (1800–59). He first came to prominence in May 1856 during the Bleeding Kansas upheaval when the territory, which did not join the Union until 1861, was fought over by abolitionists and pro-slavers. In response to an attack by pro-slavers on the town of Lawrence, Brown murdered five pro-slavery men.
Three years later, he tried again to spark revolution amongst the slaves themselves. His plan was to seize weapons, march into the south, raise a rebel slave army, and retreat into the Appalachian Mountains from where his forces would launch raids upon the slave-owning states. Despite the irrationality of the plan, Brown raised money to fund it and, on October 16, 1859, he and 18 followers captured the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, located on the upper Potomac, from where he issued a proclamation to the slaves.
The federal authorities acted quickly; the army of Virginia, under Robert E. Lee, rapidly forced Brown and his supporters to surrender. Brown was tried at Richmond, Virginia, and executed by hanging as were six of his followers. The party that executed him, drawn from the Virginia Military Academy, was commanded by one of the great future figures of the Confederate army, “Stonewall” Jackson. Brown, in spite of his many faults, was an inspiration to many abolitionists, for whom the words in the song about his death—“But his soul goes marching on”—epitomized the struggle for emancipation.