Who is John Brown? (Introduction)
While abolitionists typically work for emancipation by writing, speaking and collecting petitions, John Brown could be considered a “peculiar” abolitionist because of his feelings of personal responsibility and urgency. John Brown, known by the nicknames “Captain Brown’, “Fighting Brown” and “Old Man Brown” was born May 9, 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut to Ruth Mills and Owen Brown. He gained his determination to become an abolitionist at a very early age. Being brought up the way he was, John Brown was able to recognize the injustice known as slavery. Even though the North was predominately ant-slavery, race prejudice was still rampant. In this sense, John Brown can be considered a remarkable person. Frederick Douglass, a world renowned abolitionist was impressed at John Brown’s actions regarding his attempts at the abolition of slavery. Douglass described Brown as a person who, "though a white gentleman, is in sympathy a black man, and as deeply interested in our cause as though his own soul had been pierced with the iron of slavery. Not only was the personality of John Brown captivating, but his actions have also awestruck authors and novelists. In fact, in his novel Black Abolitionists Benjamin Quarles commented that: "Brown's relationships with Negroes had been close, continuous, and on a peer basis, a pattern which no other white reformer could boast." , while in John Brown’s
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The first is his assault along the Creek of Pottawatomie, the second is his raid at Harpers Ferry, and the third is his trial following his capture from his revolt at Harper’s Ferry. Through these specific events, the character of who John Brown was will be explained and discussed. Moreover, by assessing these three observations this essay will aim to answer the question ‘To what extent did John Brown’s actions further divide the North and the
John Brown a man who despise black people; also was a slavery owner. He was born in Torrington, but he spent almost his whole childhood in Ohio. John had sons which when he beat slaves his sons helped him to abuse them. Also early 1850s he made and army which went on a mission to foment rebellion among the slaves. John his three sons moved away just because they had and escape plan for several slaves. To be honest; John was a very hateful person to African Americans.
John Brown’s beliefs about slavery and activities to destroy it hardly represented the mainstream of northern society in the years leading up to the Civil War. This rather unique man, however, has become central to an understanding and in some cases misunderstandings about the origins of the Civil War. The importance of Brown’s mission against slavery was colossal to accelerating the civil war between the North and the South. His raid on Harpers Ferry in1859 divided the United States like nothing else before, and could have been the main event leading to the Civil War.
Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry affected American culture more than can ever be understood. Tension between the North and South was building in the 1850's. Slavery among many other things was dividing the country into two sections. Brown was executed on December 2, 1859 for his murderous out-lash on society. Was his mind so twisted and demented that he would commit cold-blooded murder? The answer is no. John Brown was a man with a goal and a purpose. When he said that abolition could not be achieved without blood he was right. It is one of histories great ironies; John Brown's struggle preceded the Civil War by only 17 months. Thousands of people were killed in the Civil War, yet John Brown
At the age of 12, travelling through Michigan, John Brown, the most physical abolitionist known to date, finally found his importance in life by witnessing an enslaved African-American boy living life in servitude, being beaten on a day to day basis. Haunting him for his years to come, the violence displayed on this young boy informed John to make his own abolitionism, one which was pure violent. Malicious. Spiteful. Malevolent. John Brown is known not to cease any event with any sort of precaution and will always continue to strike. John Brown is a developed character and cannot be grasped easily, as his views were twisted. One of his great and most treacherous achievements out of all was the Raid on Harper’s Ferry. Cunning as ever, John knew
John Brown who led the Raid on Harpers Ferry, was also a part of the Pottawatomie Massacre that occurred in 1856 in Kansas which led to the death of five men who were pro-slavery. On January 16, 1859 John Brown along with eighteen other people captured the arsenal of Harpers Ferry and pushed out to get the slaves to rise up, but the rising of slaves didn’t happen. Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee and J.E.B Stuart and soldiers arrived the next day to surround the place, which left Brown and his men cornered. Brown was asked to give up and just surrender, which he didn’t. So, when Brown refused to do so and the standoff went on, in the end some of Browns men ended up dead and a soldier was killed. In two days Browns raid was over, the same raid that Fredrick Douglass said was not going to go well and should be left alone. Abraham Lincoln spoke on the raid after, expressing his opinion of it as being ridiculous. Northerners at first disapproved of John Brown actions, but then they began to respect what John Brown did and started to see him as hero. John Brown was set on trial and was hung. The South was angered when others say Brown as an hero, and the Baltimore Sun published saying the South, “could not live under a government, the majority of whose subjects or citizens regard John Brown as a martyr and a Christian hero, rather than a murderer and a robber” (“Political Origins of The Civil War”) John Brown raid helped bring the South to seceding, but it was not the major fact that pushed the States, even though it did play a role. “The straw that broke the camel’s back,” so to speak, was the election of President Abraham Lincoln. (“Unit IV: Crumbling Loyalties and Dividing the
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” Frederick Douglass and John Brown both played crucial roles in securing the abolition of slavery and equality of African-American rights through their actions. Who have a bigger impact is a widely debatable topic for many historians. Both abolitionists were linked with disparate approaches of emancipating slavery such as performing public speeches, writing books; However John Brown were also linked with approach like slave insurrection. Some historians might argue that black abolitionists did pave the way for
Throughout John Browns life, many events led to him becoming the radical abolitionist that so many knew him as. From a young age, Brown was taught to fear God by his deist, puritan resembling father. Growing up in a time where slavery was rampant, Brown’s father, Owen Brown believed that slavery was a “great sin” (4) and became involved in many abolition movements. Owen Brown’s views and actions shaped young Browns view of slavery completely. During the war of 1812, Brown experienced first-hand
John Brown was once an abolitionist who believed that slaves should have freedom and after the trial of Dred Scott a once freed slave in his hometown who was unfortunately classified as a slave after traveling to a state that still had slaves he decided to matter into his own hands. John gathered about eighteen individuals which included slaves that set out on a journey to fight against anyone who was against anti-slavery but his main focus was to attack the slave owners. Unfortunately his plan was quickly interrupted when Colonel Robert E. Lee and a group of troopers captured John Brown. John Brown’s army rapidly dwindled when six were captured, some were murdered and the others ran away cowardly in fear that they would be captured and harmed.
In our class debate about John Brown, many interesting points and arguments were made. Personally, I was in group C, a group that claims John Brown is a violent abolitionist and did very little for abolitionism. While I do not agree with the views of the other groups, I respect the arguments that they shared with the class. In group A, an argument was made saying that John Brown is a hero and is a competent man. They supported this argument with several evidences, such as the freeing of many slaves from the Christmas Raid and the saving of the free-soilers in the Bleeding-Kansas. Group A also touched onto the fact that John Brown was a religious man who rejected the idea of slavery and had spent his life contributing to the cause of emancipation.
also the value of non-violent resistance supported by the transcendentalists and, There were many prominent figures in the Abolition movement that made great strides to freedom. Most took the route of political campaigning, but a few decided to take a more direct approach. One said individual is John Brown. John Brown was a white abolitionist born in Connecticut who simply grew tired of the pacifist approach and took up arms with a few volunteers against slavery.
On October 16, 1859 John Brown led a group of men to Harper’s Ferry, Virginia and raided the Federal arsenal. Brown wanted to create an army of African-Americans that would in the end help release black slaves in the Southern states. Brown and his men manage to capture the arsenal but the town people of Harper’s Ferry surrounded the buildings and trapped Brown and his men. Brown had intended to steal the government’s weapons and start a rebellion on slavery in the south. Brown’s attempt to start an abolitionist movement caused the Southerners to believe that the North was in favor of the movement and helped start the Civil War between the North and
However John Brown is someone who fought for what is right in his own mind without directions from other men. He was fully capable of knowing the surroundings around his world and was aware of how he was executing his action to fight for freedom for the slaves. However as he claimed that God came down and spoke to him to be the leader to free the slaves, John Brown took actions by his own choice and not by a superiority figure. He fought for colored choice by his own choice and not the choices of others. And in today's world the fight at Harper’s Ferry should not be counted as an act of terrorism but rather of act of free will to believe what is right for the country. John Brown is someone who fought for what is right in his mind. His mental state was not ill neither religious superiority controlled him to commit his actions. John Brown fighting for the freedom of colored men was his own choice and not the choices of other. He should be considered today as a true noble abolitionist who paved the way for equality for all and a hero to
Another event that shaped Owen Brown’s views on slavery occurred in the 1790’s. In the 1770’s, a minister had traveled to Connecticut, and he had brought his slaves with him. The man returned to the South for a while, leaving his slaves behind. When he returned to retrieve his slaves, they would not return with him. This act of defiance led to a public hearing where the minister defended the act of slavery. Brown found his arguments unsettling, and became an abolitionist (Horn, 18).
John Brown was an American abolitionist who believed armed insurrection was the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the US. Due to to the violence he used to erase slavery he was considered a murderer/terrorist, however some believed he was a hero, since he fought against slavery. To me John Brown was a hero and villain/terrorist. He was a man who did some things that were looked upon by some as terrorist type acts, but others looked at those same acts as fighting against slavery. it is quite easy to see Brown as a villain.
In 1831 William Lloyd Garrison found a newspaper “The Liberator” a very powerful voice for the antislavery movement and in this way he was making powerful enemy for himself. In 1833 Harriet Beecher Stowe had a trip to South by her first trip to South she had a big change on her life by what she saw and it impact on her way of writing. In 1837 John Brown after failing in his business and murder of an antislavery activist he devotes his life to the cause. In 1838 Frederick Douglass run away from slavery and he joined William Lloyd Garrison for an antislavery movement. Douglass became a very powerful public speaker in North with presenting his own personal life story as a slave. Because of his old owner he went to U.K and he experienced a free life. In 1847 he came back to U.S.A and he own an antislavery paper. In that year John Brown met Douglass in Massachusetts and he shared his radical to him to raise army to free the slaves. In 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This book changed the heart and mind of Americans through slavery. In 1859 John Brown had a secret meeting with Frederick