The years directly before the civil war were marked by escalating tensions and sharply declining relations between the North and South as differences between the two territories were made clear. John Brown's raid in October of 1859 came at that volatile time and provoked an extreme reaction from the South immediately afterward; as the furious public option of the South was that the entire North had personally supported and condoned Brown and his violent actions in …showed first 75 words of 749 total…

…showed last 75 words of 749 total…relations between the North and South can be seen in Northern public opinion of John Brown. The abolition movement grew and spread as the rift between the North and South grew, and the North, which at first saw John Brown's actions as unacceptable and even malicious, came to appreciate the ideals he strove for. As tension finally erupted in the Civil War, Brown came to be recognized as a hero by all in the North.