John Brown's Body

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"John Brown's Body"

Song

By: Anonymous

Date: circa 1860

Source: "John Brown's Body" as published on The Civil War Music Site, <http://www.civilwarmusic.net/display_song.php?song=johnbrown> (accessed July 5, 2005).

About the Author: The original author of the song "John Brown's Body" is unknown. During the Civil War, the song was sung primarily by Union supporters. It borrows its melody from the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

INTRODUCTION

Opposition to slavery in the United States began with the importation of the first slaves to the American colonies. Slave insurrections occurred periodically, but were typically put down quickly and brutally. In the mid-nineteenth century, the debate over slavery became increasingly violent. Both sides engaged in terrorist activity, but Nat Turner and John Brown became the best known anti-slavery terrorists in American history because of the effects of their actions.

Nat Turner (1800–1831) was born into slavery in Virginia. Separated from his mother and then sold away from his wife, Turner turned to Scripture for guidance. In 1825, he had a vision in which white and black spirits engaged in battle as blood flowed in streams. Proclaiming himself a Baptist preacher, Turner described his vision to slave congregations and declared that he had been commissioned by Jesus Christ to act under his direction. In 1828, another vision told Turner to fight against the Serpent. Turner and six followers moved from house to house, killing whites in the early morning of August 22. Turner's group swelled to sixty men before being killed or dispersed by federal troops, militia, and armed landowners. Turner was hanged.

John Brown (1800–1859) grew up in an abolitionist family in Connecticut. In 1855, five of Brown's sons moved to "Bleeding" Kansas where they hoped to establish a free state. Brown joined them. After pro-slavery forces sacked Lawrence, Kansas, Brown and several of his sons murdered five pro-slavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek. Brown then traveled to Massachusetts to raise support for a plan to liberate slaves. He planned to establish a free state in the southern mountains from where he could attack slave owners and liberate slaves. In 1859, Brown and his sons attacked the army arsenal at Harper's Ferry. The Brown forces killed five men, including an African American, while suffering ten deaths. Brown, found guilty of murder, treason, and conspiring with slaves to rebel, was hanged. His execution made him a martyr to the abolitionist cause.

PRIMARY SOURCE

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,

But his soul goes marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

His soul goes marching on.

He's gone to be a soldier in the Army of the Lord,

He's gone to be a soldier in the Army of the Lord,

He's gone to be a soldier in the Army of the Lord,

His soul goes marching on.

(Chorus)

John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back,

John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back,

John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back,

His soul goes marching on.

(Chorus)

John Brown died that the slaves might be free,

John Brown died that the slaves might be free,

John Brown died that the slaves might be free,

But his soul goes marching on.

(Chorus)

The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down,

The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down,

The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down,

On the grave of old John Brown.

(Chorus)

SIGNIFICANCE

Nat Turner's insurrection shocked and frightened slave owners, especially in the South. As a result of the fear generated by the violence, most Southern states eventually passed strict laws to police their slave populations and prevent insurrections. Slaves were forbidden to hold religious services unless such services were led by a white preacher, a man who would typically stress Biblical prohibitions against killing. Slaves were banned from learning to read and write and from using guns. In the years after 1831, Southern defenders of slavery became much more vocal and attacks against abolitionists rose dramatically. Assuming that abolitionism had somehow caused the uprising, most Southerners abandoned the cause of emancipation with Virginia holding its last serious debate on ending slavery in 1832.

Brown considered slavery so entrenched in the U.S. that only violent revolution could eradicate it. His raid emphasized that slavery was a key element in the sectional crisis that fueled the secession of southern states. Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry is often called the opening shot of the Civil War.

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the United States (Union) and all territories held by Union forces. He signed the declaration on January 1, 1863. When the Civil War ended with the reunification of the states, the addition of the 13th and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution codified the abolition of slavery in the United States and granted rights of citizenship to former slaves.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Books

French, Scot. The Rebellious Slave: Nat Turner in AmericanMemory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.

Greenberg, Kenneth S. Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Reynolds, David S. John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man WhoKilled Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.

Rossbach, Jeffery S. Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, theSecret Six, and a Theory of Black Political Violence. New York: Brookings Institution Press, 2001.