Minority Report of
Senate
Committee Investigating the Attack at Harper's Ferry
June 15, 1860
Mr.
DOOLITTLE, in the absence of Mr. COLLAMER, submitted the following
VIEWS
OF THE MINORITY,
[Prepared by Mr.
COLLAMER]
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The treasonable conspiracy of John
Brown and his
associates, and its fatal development at Harper's Ferry, in Virginia, in
October last, has become matter
of history, and all its details are too well known to require
recapitulation.
While the excitement, alarm, and suspicion
were rife
in the public mind, the Senate adopted the resolutions raising the
committee of
inquiry in relation thereto. Their only legitimate purpose was to
inquire
whether anything had transpired which required further legislation by
Congress
for future security. Though drawn in very general and undefined terms,
in some
part almost implying the exercise of judicial inquisition, yet from an
unwillingness to incur the imputation of embarrassing full
investigation, no
one objected to their adoption. In the exercise of the same feeling we
have made
no objection to the great latitude of inquiry taken by the committee.
We,
however, distinctly understand that if the resolutions and their
peculiar
phraseology were drawn or are used for any other purpose than that of
furnishing to the Senate information for its own legislative action, it
is a
perversion and departure from the only justifiable purpose of their
adoption.
The objects of inquiry, as stated in the
resolutions,
are the following, which are stated, not in the order of the
resolutions, but
in the order of their consecutive relation) for the purpose of their
more
orderly answer, to wit:
First:
The facts in relation to the invasion and seizure of the
armory and arsenal at Harper's Ferry.
Second:
Whether it was in pursuance of an organization, and the
nature and purpose thereof.
Third:
The arms and munitions there possessed by the insurgents,
and where and how obtained.
Fourth:
Were any citizens, not present, implicated in, or
accessory thereto, by contributions of arms, money, ammunition, or
otherwise.
In relation to the first inquiry, the
testimonies
taken before the committee discloses no material facts but such as
appeared on
the trial of the conspirators, and have been long since published and
are fully
known. They are briefly as follows:
On the night of the 16th
day of October, 1859, John Brown, together with sixteen white men and
five
negroes as conspirators, took armed possession of the United States
armory at
Harper's Ferry, in Virginia, killed four of the inhabitants, and were
dislodged
by armed force, which they resisted, and in the action seven of the
white
conspirators were killed, and three of the negroes. John Brown was
wounded and
taken prisoner, and he, together with four others of the white
conspirators,
and two of the Negroes, were tried, convicted, and executed, and five
escaped.
2d. This took place in
pursuance of a conspiracy commenced in Kansas
by John Brown and most of these conspirators, in the last part of 185'7
or
beginning of 1858. They were young men and entirely under the influence
of
Brown, and had been, as well as Brown, deeply engaged in the conflicts
in Kansas
in 1855, 1856,
and 1857. From Kansas they passed
into Iowa, and from thence they were
led by Brown to Chatham, in Canada
west. There they, together
with a number of Negroes, formed a secret organization, with written
articles
of association, drawn up by Brown, having for its object the raising
of' slave
insurrection in the slaveholding States and subverting the government
thereof.
3d. They had two hundred
Sharp's carbines and two hundred revolver pistols and about one
thousand pikes,
together with a quantity of clothing and ammunition. The carbines and
revolvers
had been procured by contributions in Massachusetts,
in 1856, and forwarded to Iowa to be
sent into
Kansas for the aid and in the
defense of the Free State
people in the
struggle, then existing there, and they had been entrusted to John
Brown for
that purpose, together with the ammunition. The clothing, which had
been
contributed for the suffering people of Kansas,
had been entrusted to him there for that purpose. In 185'7 these
troubles in Kansas
in a great degree
subsided. The associations and committees, who had made contributions,
ceased
operations, and these arms and munitions, in the hands of Brown, came
to be
almost overlooked and disregarded, until the summer of 1858, when a
suggestion
came to the persons having control of them, at Boston, that John Brown
was
about to make some improper use of them, and thereupon he was
particularly
charged to make no use of them but in Kansas, and for the defense of
the
free-State people there, the purpose for which they had been furnished.
It
seems that this, together with being unable to procure money, and an
apprehension of being exposed, prevented him from executing the purpose
of his
conspiracy for that year.
In 1859, he procured to be completed in
Connecticut
one thousand pikes, for which he had contracted and partly paid in 1856
or
185'7, for like service in Kansas, and then in 1859, he procured those
pikes,
and also those carbines and revolvers, and the ammunition and clothing,
to be
privately conveyed and secreted at or near Harper's Ferry, without the
knowledge or consent of those who had contributed them for use in
Kansas, and
contrary to the order so given him by those in control.
4th. There is no
evidence that any other citizens than those there with Brown were
accessory to
this outbreak or invasion, by contributions thereto or otherwise, nor
any proof
that any others had any knowledge of the conspiracy or its purposes in
the year
1859, though Realf, Forbes, and some very few may have understood it in
1858,
when it failed of execution.
Although some of the testimony tends to show
that some
abolitionists have at times contributed money to what is
occasionally called
practical abolitionism-that is, in aiding the escape of slaves-and may
have
placed too implicit confidence in John Brown, yet there is no evidence
to show,
or cause to believe, they had any complicity with this conspiracy, or
any
suspicion of its existence 01' design, before its .explosion.
There was no evidence tending to show that there ever
was any conspiracy or design, by anyone, to rescue John Brown or his
associates
from prison in Virginia.
The place and the boldness of this outbreak, the
purpose it entertained, the deaths it involved, and the amount of
arms and
munitions with which it was supplied, combined to produce not only
great alarm,
but also a strong suspicion of extensive complicity. Time and
investigation
has happily dissipated much of such alarm and suspicion, and ,shown
that this
was but an offshoot from the extensive outrages and lawlessness in
Kansas,
commenced aad continued there, by armed invasions of that Territory to
control
its own people, the elections, and 'the government, for the
introduction and
perpetuity of slavery in that Territory, on the one hand, and
resistance or
defense on the other. This invited there many men of desperation, and
others
became so by the irritations and excitements of those collisions. When
comparative
peace was restored there many, trained by such a school, were ready for
new
fields of lawless enterprise. It was from such elements that John Brown
concocted his conspiracy, consisting of young men and boys, over whom
he had
entire control, many of them foreigners, and none of substance or
position in
the country.
By perverting the arms, ammunition, and clothing with
which he had been entrusted, from the purpose for which he had received
them,
'he secured his supplies.
It is almost astonishing that in a country like ours,
laden with the rich experience of the blessings of security under the
protection of law, there should still be found large bodies of men
laboring
under the infatuation that any good object can be affected by
lawlessness and
violence. It is the prostration of law) which is the only bond of
security. It
can, in its nature, beget nothing but resistance, retaliation,
insecurity, and
disaster. And yet, with all our intelligence and .experience, we have
most
unfortunate and deplorable manifestations of such infatuations. They
are
dangerous in direct proportion to the extent of public countenance they
receive. No object, however desirable, can justify them or prevent
their
disastrous example and consequences. The unpunished lawless invasions
of our
weak neighboring nations; the flagrant and merciless breaches of our
laws
against the 4fncan slave trade, "unwhipt of justice;" the lawless
armed invasions of our own people in our own weak Territory of Kansas,
not
,only unpunished, but justified, sustained, and even rewarded, all, it
IS
believed, to extend and sustain slavery, tended strongly to suggest
acts of law
less violence to destroy it, especially in those who had witnessed
and
suffered by these collisions. They are, however, all without excuse,
and they
but add to the experience that no public peace or private security can
be found
but where every disregard of law meets with the most prompt public
rebuke and
effective punishment or correction.
While this act of violence and treason, and the alarm,
suspicion, suffering, and death it involved are so deplorable, we
cannot but
see that the lessons which it teaches furnish many considerations of
security
against its repetition. Ages might not produce another John Brown, or
so
fortuitously supply him with such materials. The fatal termination of
the
enterprise in the death and execution of so large a part of the number
engaged;
the dispersion of the small remainder as fugitives in the land; the
entire
disinclination of the slaves to insurrection, or to receive aid
for that
purpose, which was there exhibited; the very limited number and
peculiar
character of the conspirators, all combine to furnish assurance against
the
most distant probability of its repetition.
The extent and freedom with which this investigation
has been conducted has resulted in showing that the people of the Free
States
have had no complicity with this atrocity; and, if viewed with candor,
the
evidence will remove the suspicion of extensive complicity which the
possession
of such a quantity of arms, unexplained, was likely to create, it now
fully
appearing they were never furnished for such a purpose. This
investigation has
its value, if -its record be examined and treated with candor, as it
fully
shows that there is no such ground of suspicion and distrust as has
been
indulged amongst our people, and that lawless violence as to slavery,
by
efforts from beyond its border, has culminated in this disastrous and
abortive
experiment.
We have very succinctly stated the origin, agents,
instruments, purposes, and result of this deplorable outrage, and
briefly
stated the reflections, we think, it suggests. The facts disclosed,
viewed in
the light in which they appear to us, and in which we have presented
them,
however much calling for reprobation and regret, may be, and we think
should
be, used and improved to allay excitement, quiet suspicion, and restore
tranquility.
The committee having come to the conclusion that no
such facts have been disclosed as call for any congressional
legislation, we
should regard this as the termination of its duty; but, by its
majority, the
committee seems to have entertained a different view of the object of
the
resolutions and purpose of the inquiry. They give, as we suppose, a
different
construction from our understanding of those words of the resolutions
which
direct an inquiry" whether any citizens of the United States not present
were
implicated therein, or accessory thereto, by contributions of money,
arms,
munitions, or otherwise." We consider that no man can be properly said
to
be "implicated" in any transaction, or accessory thereto, who had no
knowledge of its purpose, character, or existence; and the whole
committee
consider that there is no evidence that any citizen, not present, had
any such
knowledge of this. Yet the committee, by its majority, seem to
regard it as
their duty to inquire whether there are any citizens who, though not"
implicated" in this affair, yet hold such opinions and pursue such
courses
on the subject of slavery as are dangerous to the national tranquility, even
although Congress has no power to take any
action in relation thereto. This we regard as a departure from the duty
and
proper power of the committee. Upon this view of the committee, by its
majority, great latitude and range of inquiry has been taken in the
examination, and equal latitude of remark indulged in the report.
Witnesses,
and especially those known or suspected of ultra abolition sentiments,
have
been freely examined as to their personal sentiments, theories,
purposes,
conduct, charities, contributions, lectures, and speeches on the
subject of
slavery. They have even called a witness to prove that he and others
had
conspired to be guilty of the charity of providing for a poor, wounded
prisoner, in a land of strangers, the necessary counsel able to secure
him a
fair trial, as if that was evidence of their complicity with his guilt.
We feel
bound to protest against all the conclusions which the same spirit of
suspicion
which could call such testimony will seek to deduce from it.
So long as Congress, in
the exercise of its power over
the Territories, is invoked to exert it to extend, perpetuate, or
protect the
institution of slavery therein; so long as the policy of the government
is
sought to be so shaped as to aid to extend its existence or enlarge its
power,
in any way, beyond its present limits, so long must its moral,
political, and social character and
effects be unavoidably involved in congressional discussion. Hence, it
is
equally unavoidable that the people in all parts of the Union
will discuss this subject, as they are to select those who are to
represent
them and their sentiments in congressional action. So long as slavery
is
claimed before the world as a highly benignant, elevating, and
humanizing
institution, and as having Divine approbation, it will receive at the
hands of
the moralist, civilian, and theologian the most free and unflinching
discussion; nor should its vindicators wince in the combat which their
claims
invite. In this discussion, it is true, as in other topics of exciting
debate,
wide latitude and license are, at times, indulged, but it seldom or
never
exceeds in severity the terms of reprehension on this subject which
were long
since indulged by Washington) Madison, Jefferson, Mason, and, in later
times,
by McDowell, Faulkner, and their worthy compeers, all of Virginia,
whose
information and opinions, on this as well as other subjects, the people
of the
free States have not yet learned to disrespect. We insist, however,
that there
is no such matter presented in the testimony or existing in fact, as is
more
than intimated in the report, that even the abolitionists in the free
States
take courses Intended, covertly, to produce forcible violations of the
laws and
peace of the slaveholding States, much less that any such course is
countenanced by the body of the people in the free States. We cannot
join In
any report tending to promulgate such a view, as we regard it unfounded
in fact
and ill calculated to promote peace, confidence, or tranquility, and a
departure from the legitimate purpose for which the committee was
appointed.
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