On 16 October 1859, the radical abolitionist (and possible terrorist) John Brown set into motion his plan to incite a mass revolt by enslaved people by raiding the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia with his small militia of 17 abolitionists and 7 freedmen. Famously, this raid failed after a few days, resulting in Brown’s arrest and later execution. However, his death and the legacy of the event proved to push the polarised United States to the brink of collapse.

So what if it had succeeded? What if John Brown's Raid had successfully sparked a mass revolt in the southern United States? Would this cause an early beginning to the Civil War? Would this revolt be crushed, or could it throw off a southern force? What becomes of Brown? How would American politics be affected? And how would the Great Powers respond?