Categories: Civil War

John Brown’s Rifle

John Brown’s Rifle

This Sharps rifle, one of two on display in the Smithsonian History Museum in Washington, DC, was carried by John Brown during the fighting in Bleeding Kansas before the Civil War. It has no maker’s marks, but we are told it was carried by Brown in his campaign in 1856. In Kansas Brown perpetrated what would today be called terrorism. He pulled men from their homes in the middle of the night and killed them in cold blood. He wished to arm southern slaves with weapons like this one, and lead them to start a new nation in the south.

Learn more about John Brown and his raids on our DVD series, Causes of the Civil War

Joshua Horn

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  • The picture used in this article does not show a Sharp's rifle. The text of the post is inaccurate, misleading, and like much of this website, a shallow and obvious shill for selling DVDs, etc. to shallow minded suckers like Caleb.

    • It actually it is a custom Sharps Rifle. If you still disagree, feel free to take up your disagreement with the Smithsonian.

      https://www.si.edu/object/john-browns-sharps-rifle%3Anmah_440084

      You are far overestimating our DVD sales if you think we are in this for the money..... By your standard, based on the website you linked, you are just a shill to sell books. If there are actual errors on the site, feel free to point them out, but don't insult us and our readers based off of nothing.

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