preview

The Faithful Lightning John Brown Analysis

Satisfactory Essays

The question of slavery solved; the abolitionists that have fought against its' institution dead. The accounts of figures and events change, sometimes to reflect only a partial picture. This is prominent in northern and southern outrage after Brown was already dead. The partial pictures of Brown are still weaving to give us perspective. John Brown will still the topic of study for generations. Brown needs no introduction. He is the radical who, some would say, was a cause of the Civil War for "Bleeding Kansas" and "Harper's Ferry." Brown drove sectionalism further between states' rights advocates and abolitionists. Contemporaries in the north praised Brown's actions while southern contemporaries feared him. Post Civil War reactions added …show more content…

As the article states, “....There is a recognition of how rhetoric may shape how we understand history, as in this case of John Brown. Historical memory of the John Brown raid points us to our questions of today about terrorism, while his abolitionism may interest with our thoughts about democracy and pluralism, or about being black in America.” (McParland 2010). Interpretations make these connections, and their roots are the events themselves and their area. Future generations have to deal with conditioning; it will affect interpretations for the future as well. “The next generation, growing to adulthood after the Civil War, also developed its understanding of John Brown's raid within this ideological context. We inevitably bring our own place in time and social conditioning to how we approach history.” (McParland 2010). Another result is credibility from the interpretations. Historians have been praised or criticized for their work “...After Villard, he writes, “all other books on the subject which had appeared before 1910, seem as mere trifling with the matter.” (McParland 2010). It is how every piece connects together that tells the size of an event. An even like this is no

Get Access