John Brown’s attempted slave revolt would have lasted a little longer, maybe succeeded in freeing a few hundred slaves, and would definitely get a lot more people killed (including those slaves). But it would still ultimately fail and get put down … especially once the ammo and explosives run out.
tbf, John Brown’s proposed slave revolt did have a plan for rapid expansion of the revolt. This is less a cure-all and more a kick-start.
They had a plan, yes… But the flaw in that plan wasn’t that they lacked firepower. I think the main problem was of communication. In order for the slave revolt to spread, enslaved people have to find out about it. And in that time period, word travels slowly … especially when slave owners have a vested interest in preventing their slaves from learning about it.
And, anyway, John Brown’s attempted slave revolt wasn’t the only slave revolt in US history. There were others, some of them much larger and more widespread. But all of those were also put down and crushed sooner or later. So, I think, even if John Brown’s revolt had become more widespread, it would still be ultimately doomed to failure.
They actually had pre-planned the uprising by word of mouth significantly before the actual strike. The raid on Harpers Ferry was to gain the weapons they would need. The issue is, since Brown’s core force never arrived, the slaves (correctly) assumed that the rebellion was snuffed out, and so did not rise up at all.
You may be right about the rebellion still being doomed, just wanted to emphasize that there was a plan that was not completely insane and unreasonable!
tbf, John Brown’s proposed slave revolt did have a plan for rapid expansion of the revolt. This is less a cure-all and more a kick-start.
They had a plan, yes… But the flaw in that plan wasn’t that they lacked firepower. I think the main problem was of communication. In order for the slave revolt to spread, enslaved people have to find out about it. And in that time period, word travels slowly … especially when slave owners have a vested interest in preventing their slaves from learning about it.
And, anyway, John Brown’s attempted slave revolt wasn’t the only slave revolt in US history. There were others, some of them much larger and more widespread. But all of those were also put down and crushed sooner or later. So, I think, even if John Brown’s revolt had become more widespread, it would still be ultimately doomed to failure.
They actually had pre-planned the uprising by word of mouth significantly before the actual strike. The raid on Harpers Ferry was to gain the weapons they would need. The issue is, since Brown’s core force never arrived, the slaves (correctly) assumed that the rebellion was snuffed out, and so did not rise up at all.
You may be right about the rebellion still being doomed, just wanted to emphasize that there was a plan that was not completely insane and unreasonable!