The citizens of Arkansas must have responded to John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry (Oct 1859) much like the men of other Southern states. Here are selected paragraphs on this topic from a paper on the response in the State of Alabama --

Invasion of this quiet Virginia town and seizure of its U. S. arsenal shocked the antebellum South much as events of Sept. 11, 2001, changed our world. John Brown forcefully demonstrated that abolitionists would not hesitate to take the lives of anyone who opposed them. Alabamians reacted in astonishment, disbelief and anger, interest growing rapidly with each new revelation about the raid. As noted in the Florence Gazette, the “insurrectionary demonstration at Harper’s Ferry” evoked “a vast – almost unlimited – amount of excitement.” For weeks to come editors of Alabama’s eighty-two newspapers provided ample coverage to each new episode of this provocative and unpredictable story.

Even before the legislature could act, citizens across the state responded to Harper’s Ferry. Seventy-three volunteer companies petitioned the legislature for incorporation during the four months following John Brown’s raid. In three previous legislative sessions, only seven volunteer militia companies had been chartered, approximately one per year. During this session’s flood of letters and petitions, some companies were incorporated more than once. No less than fifty-three were authorized by a single omnibus bill.

Despite the “impending necessity” and “magnitude of the subject,” lawmakers proceeded deliberately, almost cautiously towards a plan for “an efficient military system” of state defense. Just before the Christmas recess members of a joint committee agreed to set aside their differences and submit a unanimous report on the subject. A divided Senate adopted a substitute and passed the bill on February 3, 1860.

Entitled “An Act to Provide for an Efficient Military Organization of the State of Alabama,” the bill allowed volunteers to organize and conduct business as corporations without a formal act of the legislature. In exchange for a certified muster roll and bond, citizen soldiers would receive modern military arms and equipment. Members would be exempt from payment of a twenty-five cent tax levied on other citizens to fund the organization.

On Feb. 24, 1860, the House passed the bill by a vote of 48 to 29. As the Governor desired, each county was to participate in proportion to its free white population. Seven hundred of the 8,000 soldiers in the Alabama Volunteer Corps (AVC) were expected from Mobile, the most populous county in the state. Winston and Covington, two of Alabama’s smallest counties, were each scheduled to contribute one company of forty-four officers and men.

Lawmakers from both sides of aisle supported the measure. Speaking for other moderates, John Forsyth of Mobile reminded his peers that the old militia system had “fallen into disuse and contempt,” leaving the state with no means of defense. Gentlemen might boast of their constituents’ abilities with a rifle, but it took discipline and training to turn a civilian into a soldier. A man might as well attempt to serve as his own lawyer, preacher or physician. While Forsyth hoped Alabamians would never have to “draw the sword against our brethren of the North,” it was best to be prepared for any emergency. Even “if we had no quarrel with the North,” Forsyth declared, he would support this bill.

During the election campaign of 1860, AVC companies steadily increased in number. Before delegates convened to decide Alabama’s status in the Union, Governor Moore had commissioned officers of eighty-five companies and issued arms to all but ten. On January 3, 1861, three companies from Mobile obeyed his orders to seize the U.S. arsenal at Mount Vernon. Next day three others occupied Forts Morgan and Gaines. During the following three weeks Moore sent eleven more to help Florida militia hold the bay forts at Pensacola.

When Fort Sumter surrendered and President Lincoln called for troops to suppress the rebellion, eight thousand Alabama volunteers stood ready to confront an invasion. Many had organized, armed and drilled for this occasion months before Lincoln’s election. By May 17, 1861, the state’s AVC register listed 188 companies representing nearly every Alabama county. Most of these well-trained, armed and uniformed commands enrolled for long-term service, forming the nucleus of Alabama’s first twelve Confederate regiments.