In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold an astounding six hundred thousand copies, polarizing both sides. Anger was further roused by the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision in 1857 and by John Brown’s suicidal raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. After his execution, Brown, who had earlier ax-murdered pro-slavery supporters in Kansas, was likened by Northern abolitionist leaders to Jesus Christ Himself.
