john brown’s final note

Charlestown, Va, 2d December, 1859.

I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty, land: will never be purged away; but with Blood. I had as I now think: vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed; it might be done.

About this document

Handed to jailer Captain John Avis on the morning of December 2, 1859, these are John Brown’s final, prophetic words before he was led to his execution. It represents a departure from Brown’s previous way of thinking.  Compared to the Declaration of Liberty, which asserted the right of even the enslaved to defend themselves against the encroachments upon their rights, Brown’s final note suggested that simply rescuing the enslaved from their bondage was no longer going to be enough to eradicate slavery. Brown had come to the conclusion, after all of his efforts, that only violent action, probably only large scale war, would be what it took to defeat slavery once and for all.

primary source info

Physical Form: Brown’s original handwritten note is held at The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City.

Text version:

https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/glc044630801 [registration required]

Collection Information: The Gilder Lehrman Collection

editor’s note on the transcription

The text as presented here retains Brown’s punctuation and formatting as originally written in his own hand.