John Brown (January 27, 1736 – September 20, 1803) was an American merchant, politician and slave trader from Providence, Rhode Island.

[1][2] Brown was active in the American Revolution, notably as an instigator of the 1772 Gaspee Affair, and he served in both state and national government.

At the same time, he was a powerful voice of proslavery thought, clashing aggressively in newspapers, courts and the political system with his brother Moses, who had become an abolitionist.

The desk is attributed to Daniel Spencer, who opened his cabinetmaking studio in Providence, Rhode Island in 1772.

His father, James Brown II, established himself early in the mercantile business, trading in slaves, rum, molasses, and other goods.

He also helped to raise James' young children, later forming a partnership with James' four surviving sons as "Obadiah Brown & Co." Obadiah Brown I, who married his first cousin, Mary Harris (1718–1805), daughter of Toleration and Sarah Harris, had eight children.

Along with the Boston Tea Party, this was one of the first violent acts of defiance to the authority of the British Crown which eventually led up to the American Revolution.

In 1775, during the American Revolution, John Brown sold the United States Navy its first ship, the USS Providence (previously, the Katy).

[9] On March 22, 1794, Congress passed the Slave Trade Act of 1794, which prohibited the making, loading, outfitting, equipping, or dispatching of any ship to be used in human trafficking.

The General Assembly ordered its committee of safety to fit out two ships to defend the lanes, one of which became the Providence.