WI John Brown Killed in Raid

Important note. Not everyone is American, and fair chance is that the majority have no clue who someone with a very generic name is. Give people a chance to get a clue about what you're talking about instead of excepting everyone to know minor characters of American history
 
OTL, John Brown was wounded by sword during his capture; supposing the wounds were worse, and he died before he could be sentenced to hang?

Just possibly the secession movement is a bit weaker the following year - maybe GA and LA don't secede right away - but this is far from certain.

Expressions of sympathy for Brown during his trial caused a lot of Southern anger, but it was only one of many factors.
 
Just possibly the secession movement is a bit weaker the following year - maybe GA and LA don't secede right away - but this is far from certain.

Expressions of sympathy for Brown during his trial caused a lot of Southern anger, but it was only one of many factors.

OTOH, if the Brown raid had made less impact--as it certainly would have had Brown been killed on the spot [1]--the Republicans might have been more likely to nominate Seward instead of Lincoln. (Even here one should not exaggerate the significance of Harpers Ferry; Seward had other things working besides his largely undeserved reputation for radicalism working against him, like the opposition of the Know Nothing element in the Republican Party, which thought him altogether too pro-Catholic and pro-immigrant).

[1] To quote an old soc.history.what-if post of mine,

"David Potter has suggested that the significance of the raid would have
been much diminished if Brown had died there--most of the public would
have regarded Brown as a mere madman or desperado. There was little
sympathy, except among extreme abolitionists, for promoters of slave
insurrections. (Indeed, even the *Liberator* at first referred to Brown's
efforts as "misguided, wild, and apparently insane.") It was Brown's
conduct in the six weeks after he was captured--e.g. his great speech on
the occasion of his sentence, his unfailing dignity and composure from the
time of his capture to the time of his death, etc.--that electrified the
nation. (And that includes some southerners--e.g., Governor Wise of
Virginia: "He is a man of clear head, of courage, fortitude, and simple
ingeniousness. He is cool, collected, and indomitable, and it is but just
to him to say that he was humane to his prisoners." Of course many
southerners thought Governor Wise was taking chivalry a bit too far... )"
 
Important note. Not everyone is American, and fair chance is that the majority have no clue who someone with a very generic name is. Give people a chance to get a clue about what you're talking about instead of excepting everyone to know minor characters of American history

Unimportant note: Googling "John Brown" takes about two seconds, and the very first item it gives you is the Wikipedia article about the person in question.
 
Also the link is in the first post.

I believe that this link was a subsequent addition in answer to the criticism (the post was listed as "edited').

In any event, I have seen plenty of posts about historical figures with whom I was unfamiliar. I think it is more profitable to either (1) look up who they are, or (2) ignore the thread and go on to another one, rather than (3) complain about the poster giving insufficient factual background.
 
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