The letter written by Charles White is a
good source to look at the cultural biases of the time and a good source to
look at the events of the Harpers Ferry raid.
From looking at the primary source and other historical
information that backs up this information, I believe this source is one that
accurately describes the situation at hand. Historians have a pretty good idea
of how the raid was started, which was also present in the letter from Mr.
White. It tells of the time they arrived, which was about eleven the night
before to prepare for the actual attack. This man, like many others, was
startled when the attack started. He spoke of being quickly open up by a friend
who explained the attack had already started. By cross referring this with the
secondary source, it seems that many people were still at home or just waking
up when the raid started so were not completely aware of the situation.
The secondary
source talks some of different perspectives of people living at that time.
First, you have the slave holder who thinks of blacks as property as well as
the majority in the South. The secondary source talks of white northerners who also
look at black people as a lower sort of people yet wanting slavery to be
outlawed. What the primary source did not talk of was the long term effects the
raid had on America and the abolitionist movement. In the chapter The Madness of John Brown, the authors
speak of how this raid “was to the Civil War what the Boston Massacre had been
to the American Revolution: an incendiary event. (James, 149)” This raid,
although an unsuccessful immediate impact, the raid aroused passions, made
people suspicious of the opinions of both the North and the South, and made
differences between the abolitionist and pro
slavery people. 
I believe my
interpretation of the primary source being a good source because it is backed
up by secondary sources who talk about the events of the raid as well as immediate
and long-term effects that incorporate cultural opinions. 
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