On this day 166 years ago, on October 16, 1859 (September 21, 1859), American anti-slave John Brown declared an uprising. On October 16, 1859, American anti-slave John Brown declared an uprising. The insurgents once occupied the government's military treasury and freed the nearby slaves. After the uprising failed, but it led to the outbreak of the American Civil War. Historically known as the "Brown Uprising". John Brown (May 9, 1800 - December 2, 1859), an American insurgent and abolitionist, participated in the Kansas Civil War in 1856 and won victory. In 1859, he led the American people in an armed uprising in Habersfield, demanding the abolition of slavery, and arrested some plantation owners, freeing many slaves. His rebellion was suppressed by the army of the Virginia strategist General Robert E. Lee, who arrested and killed him.