For many, John Brown was the fuse that launched the Civil War.  Born in a devout family with extreme anti-slavery views, he married twice and fathered twenty children.  Brown gained notoriety during “Bleeding Kansas” for leading the Pottawatomie Creek Massacre in 1956.  In response to the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas, Brown led a small band of men who dragged five unarmed men and boys, believed to be slavery proponents, from their homes and brutally murdered them. His most famous act came in 1859 when Brown and his men raided the Federal Arsenal in Harper’s Ferry.  He planned to arm freed slaves who he believed would join his cause.  Unfortunately for Brown, nothing went as planned.  Slaves living in the area did not join the raid, local militia and the United States Marines, under Robert E. Lee, put down the raid, and most of John Brown’s men were either killed or captured, including two of his sons.  Despite being seriously wounded, Brown was tried quickly and found guilty of murder, inciting slave insurrection, and treason against the state of Virginia.  He was executed on December 2, 1859.  Revered as a martyr in the North and vilified in the South, Brown’s actions intensified tensions, propelling the U.S. toward the Civil War.  Dennis Frye will examine the impact of John Brown on American history.