October 16th is the anniversary of John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry. For those of you not familiar with this episode of American history, abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the US Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, the raid was intended to foment an armed slave revolt in 1859. Brown’s raid was defeated by a detachment of US Marines led by Col. Robert E. Lee. Brown was wounded in the recapture of the Arsenal and he was tried by the state of Virginia for treason and murder and was found guilty on November 2nd. Brown went to the gallows on December 2nd, 1859. Before his execution, he handed his guard a slip of paper that read, “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” It was a prophetic statement indeed.