Chapter 105: The southern Fire-Eaters see the raid as guaranteeing secession. 

Brown’s action is the South’s worst nightmare: a white abolitionist organizing an army of enslaved Blacks to invade and murder plantation owners and their families. But for the rabid secessionists it is the opportunity they’ve waited for to rally for independence.

The Enquirer of Richmond writes:

The Harpers Ferry invasion has advanced the cause of disunion more than
any other event that has happened since the formation of the nation.

Sixty-five year old Edmund Ruffin (who will commit suicide when the war is lost) sees it as a fortuitous omen.

Finally proof arrived out of the blue…Such a practical exercise of abolitionist
principles is needed to stir the sluggish blood of the South.