John Brown: An Irrational Terrorist

One particular part of our civil war unit in social studies was John Brown. John Brown was many things when he was alive, vigilante, madman, father. Many of those things were labels brought on by others. The question we were asked was “Madman or hero”? To choose you must know John Brown’s story first.

“Every villain is a hero in his own mind,” quoted Tom Hiddleston, an English actor best known for playing Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From this quote it is understood that every person perceives “right” and “wrong” differently and will act according to their perception. People consider a person as either a hero or villain by looking at their actions. John Brown, was a white American abolitionist who believed that armed rebellion was the only way to overthrow slavery in the United States. With the evidence provided with different resources, such as the article John Brown: Villain or Hero? by Steven Mintz, it can be seen that John Brown is a villain.

Throughout history John Brown has been described as a terrorist, mentally ill, and a failure among other things. Because he stood strongly for what he believed in, and his goal was eventually achieved he can be seen for the most part as a hero. Brown was described as “an American who gave his life that millions of other Americans be free” (Chowder,6). Brown was a headstrong abolitionist who claimed that he was told by God to end slavery causing him to see himself as “a latter-day Moses” (Chowder, 6). With this, he stopped at nothing to fulfill these expectations. Brown’s heroism is displayed through how he was recounted by others during and after his lifetime, the actions though drastic he took when fighting for what he believed in, and

The second reason John Brown is a terrorist is because he had a raid at the Pottawatomie Creek in Kansas. He killed pro slave people clearly because he did not agree with their views on slavery, but is that a truly a justifiable reason to take another mans life? John Brown had the right mind to abolish slavery, but there could have been a better way, like protesting to the point not even the government can refuse since the people are a, “Great beast”, as said by Alexander Hamilton.

John Brown was a misguided fanatic. He was admired by many abolitionists for standing up for the rights. However, was seen outrageous in the eyes of many Southerners. He has went far beyond outrageous and carried out a killing spree in order to prove slavery was wrong. He had a plan, however stirred in a lot of problems along with it gained him the name a “misguided fanatic”.

Was John Brown a terrorist or was John Brown a hero? This question has probably not been asked many times but since the question has been aroused, let it be answered.

Thesis: John Brown was a man full of honor and passion when it came to the abolishment of slavery. Not only that, but he was a man who believed that his actions were justified by his beliefs and social standpoint. Even though, he was a strong willed man; capable of standing up for his philosophies on life, he was a man who acted upon his emotions, and killed, interrogated, and terrorized towns and people. Your beliefs and morality do not justify the amount of terror that you cause, and it does not justify the amount of blood you spill; John Brown was a terrorist.

John Brown could have killed innocent passengers or planted explosives on that train but he boarded the train, let the people know it was him, and allowed the train to continue its journey to Washington. When he was in Harpers Ferry, he could have blown up the Federal Army after having confiscated the gun powder and weapons, however, he chose not to and foolishly waited for the slaves to arrive. In harpers Ferry he did not want to destroy property, he never orders any killings, and he cared for his hostages. It is my belief, that this behavior is not that of a terroristic

Abolitionism became increasingly growing in size since 1821 when William Lloyd Garrison assisted in writing an anti-slavery newspaper, The Genius of Universal Emancipation with Benjamin Lundy. In 1831 it rapidly grew in popularity when William Lloyd Garrison started The Liberator. There was an increasing start to the abolitionist’s in America. Slavery was very big in the South for growing “cash crops”, however in the North there was not a need for slaves. As a result of that the majority of the abolitionist’s inhabited the North with organized speeches, meetings, and newspapers ran. There started out only as small revolts and fights that then turned into a big deal. For example with Kansas choosing whether or not to become a free or slave

Terrorism can be defined in many ways and can be taken differently by many people and many have their own definition. Some say he is a terrorist and others say he is a freedom fighter. John Brown is a freedom fighter.

In 1855, John Brown went to Kansas subsequent to got notification from his children living there about the peril of Kansas turning into a slave state. Subsequent to knowing about the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas by ace subjugation powers, Brown and his band went out of control. On May 24, 1856, equipped with rifles, blades, and broadswords, Brown and his men raged into the professional subjection settlement of Pottawatomie Creek, dragged the pioneers out of their homes and hacked them to pieces, murdering five and seriously injuring a few others. The assault on Lawrence and the slaughter at Pottawatomie set off a fierce guerrilla war in Kansas. Before the year's over, more than 200 individuals had been slaughtered and property harm ventured

The first reason why John Brown was a terrorist is he was a murderer. John Brown brutal-ly murdered several slave owners, thinking he could stop slavery that way. He would kill anyone who got in his way. He did not care who you were if you tried to stop him he would kill you.

They elucidate that terrorism is a “premeditated, politically motivated, violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups of clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience,” (National Institute of Justice).

John Brown was an African American slave abolitionist who caused much conflict with his radical views to overthrow slavery. One of his many defeats where he tried to defeat slavery with violence was the armed slave rebellion on Harper’s Ferry. “In a speech to the court before his sentencing, Brown stated his actions to be just and God-sanctioned.” Brown lived a life full of dispute; yet it was not until after Harper Ferry where his madness was confirmed. “Brown soon became a hero in the eyes of Northern extremists and was quick to capitalize on his growing reputation.” Brown’s radical abolitionist movements and wicked violent actions on slavery promoted his reputation in the north and were the cherry on the sundae to validate his insanity.

When we think of terrorist, we might think of radical Islamic individuals or groups who would take pride in killing anyone who is not Muslim. Even more, there are antagonistically people who want nothing more but to destroy the lives of innocence people because of their belief system. Take an individual like Theodore Kaczynski for instance; he was a former University of California at Berkeley math professor. Otherwise known as the “Unabomber,” he was indeed a terrorist because he used explosives that killed three people and wounded eighteen others in a span of almost two decades. Even more, his brother David Kaczynski was responsible for his capture.