ABSTRACT
Hugh Forbes, however, was not Brown’s only concern in January, 1858; the relative peace that reigned in Kansas and the success that Free State settlers had achieved at the polls in October caused him considerable anxiety.1 Realizing that a political solution in Kansas would compromise his ability to maintain a prominent position among the Eastern intelligentsia and effectively negate his ability to secure a legacy as a champion of freedom, Brown knew that he had to act quickly to secure support for the plan that Forbes had nearly compromised. His fi rst stop was the home of Frederick Douglass. Just as he had on previous occasions, Douglass welcomed the radical abolitionist into his home and attentively listened as Brown revealed the details of his latest plan. This was not the fi rst time that Brown articulated his ideas about a slave insurrection with Douglass, nor was it the fi rst time that Douglass welcomed Brown’s ideas about the necessity for violent confrontation in order to bring about the end of slavery.2 Brown had fi rst spoken to Douglass about a guerilla campaign to liberate Southern slaves in 1847 when they met in Springfi eld, Ohio. In his Life and Times, Douglass reveals that in 1847, Brown told him that from the mountainous region of the Allegany’s, he believed that he could
take twenty-fi ve picked man, and begin on a small scale; supply them with arms and ammunition and post them in squads of fi ves on the line of twenty-fi ve miles. The most persuasive and judicious of these shall go down to the fi elds from time to time, as opportunity offers, and induce the slaves to join them, seeking and selecting the most restless and daring.3
