Question

What was Lincoln’s view of John Brown’s action at Harpers Ferry?

Answer 1

Lincoln rejected John Brown’s Harpers Ferry raid as criminal and dangerous while acknowledging the moral outrage at slavery that motivated it. He consistently insisted Brown’s use of violence and attempted insurrection could not be justified and had to be punished under the law, because the Republic depended on upholding order. At the same time Lincoln said he understood the sincerity of Brown’s hatred of slavery and recognized that the raid intensified sectional tensions and made peaceful compromise less likely — a development Lincoln deplored even as he remained committed to ending slavery by lawful, political means rather than by private violence.