1-153-615 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, c1870. The site of a slave rebellion led by John Brown. It ended in an engine house to the left of the track leading down to the ferry on 18 October 1859. Brown was convicted of treason and hanged, making him a martyr in the eyes of northern abolitionists, increasing the tensions that led to the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861.