In the 1800s, America faced a recurring topic. The topic of slavery was almost never ending. Slavery continued to grow into an even bigger issue. It surfaced the abolitionist movement. Abolitionist did not believe in slavery; however, they did not see African Americans as equals. The most controversial abolitionist of this time was John Brown. Were his methods of ethical reasoning or not? He supported the abolishment of slavery, but his motives and methods were questionable. John Brown was born into a very religious family. His father helped runaway slaves. As Brown got older, he witnessed a slave being brutally beaten. Witnessing the beatings of the slave and his father helping the runaway slaves ignited Brown into becoming an abolitionist. Although he was an abolitionist, he was also a businessman. With his businesses, Brown found ways to raise funds and seek hiding places for runaway slaves (Commire). Brown said before God and a room full of witnesses that he dedicates his life to the abolishment of slavery (Current Events). He was a such a strong believer in the abolishment of slavery, that he believed that slavery was an evil and should be destroyed by …show more content…
Although, his intentions were for a good cause, they were unethical. Brown’s unethical methods and actions began a war that ended slavery. He died for the freedom of men of color. His death awoke many new abolitionists. The Pottawatomie Massacre and Harpers Ferry were the first steps to the Civil War. His death became a song, “John Brown’s Body,” that soldiers from the north would sing after winning or losing a battle. “Abraham Lincoln said upon hearing that Brown had been hanged: ‘Old Brown has just been executed. We cannot object, even though he agreed with us in thinking slavery wrong. That cannot excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason,’” (Current Events). Three years later, Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the
Many started to come forward and begin to show their support towards the movement, their ways varying. While many had tried their efforts, abolitionists Frederick Douglass and John Brown had the greatest impact on the anti-slavery movement.
John Brown was a man who supported the abolition of slavery, and a man who also furthermore, fought for it. Unlike many abolitionists, John Brown, as an orthodox Calvinist himself, believed that the issue of slavery could only be fought by violence and bloodshed. In his last remarks on the day of his hanging, John Brown states, “I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land: will never be purged away; but with blood.” Even in an abolitionist meeting, Frederick Douglass, an African-American abolitionist, who is generally non-violent, declares, “slavery can only be destroyed by bloodshed.” I also agree that the issue of slavery can only be solved by violence and physical harm. Words wouldn’t stop a violent and conservative South. Slavery had already grown too large of an epidemic in the South to stop by ineffective medical treatment. A war to end slavery would have to take place in order for real action to occur. John Brown was a man who accelerated the upcoming of a civil war between the Union and the Confederacy. John Brown was a hero because he started the war. Brown spread the message to the North that action was needed, and it came soon. Soon after Brown was hanged in 1859, Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1861, and the civil war also began in
The Abolitionist movement during the Antebellum period, was a critical time in American history. The goal of this movement was to emancipate all slaves immediately, and end discrimination, as well as segregation. The brave men and women involved in this movement were called abolitionists and antislavery advocates. The antislavery advocates stood for freeing slaves gradually, and abolitionists wanted slavery gone immediately. No matter how fast, these people all wanted to spread opposition against slavery across the United States. Northern churches started liking this whole idea of abolishing slavery, which started conflict between the North and South. These arguments led up to the Civil War.
John Brown was a cold-blooded killer. Although John was trying to abolish slavery, violence was not the way to go. According to Robert E. Lee according to Robert E. Lee., John killed a lot of men. He killed 10 raiders, and captured 7. Although they were people who were for slavery, she should have never killed them. Martin Luther King didn't like slavery either but he found another way to stop it and that was by his protesting not killing. According to Fredrick Douglas, John's plan to abolish slavery was not that appealing. I don't think John was looking at both sides of things. I think all John was thinking was kill people who are for slavery but he didn't think about he could abolish slavery with his words and not his swords. According to
Some may say that John Brown actually helped the gain of Lincoln’s presidency. His actions increased the Republican’s party’s chance of winning. Even after Lincoln was elected president, John Brown continued to shine. He managed to shake an image of insurrection in the minds of many of the South and North. In addition, he polarized the two dividing sections. Some saw Brown as a terrorist, whereas others saw him as a hero. His ideas where quarreled upon and talked about by many. With the Harper’s Ferry attack being the most prominent, his acts didn’t go away unnoticed. People, particularly in the North, began to see the big possibility of the North taking substantial measures to overthrow slavery. John Brown took abolitionism to higher degree that no other abolitionist took before. With his use of destructive protesting, a legitimate conclusion can be made that John Brown helped speed up the Civil War by wasting no time to take extreme action about abolishing slavery. If John Brown had not done his doings, the seriousness of slavery wouldn’t have been taken as quickly as it
As John got older, things changed and he wanted to start his own slave rebellion. He wanted people to image what kind of person he really was, and what he wanted to change. Breanna Wolford 5/9/17 Freedom Fighter Essay John Browns actions at Pottawatomie Creek and at Harpers Ferry may cause people to claim he is a terrorist but if you dig deeper, you will find it was just acts of a freedom fighter. On May 21, 1856 John Brown and his men invaded two cabins, and brutally murdered slave owners and civilians. One of the men he killed was James Doyle. I believe that the events that took place at Pottawatomie Creek were justified, because at the raid of Harpers Ferry they did not fire on civilians unlike Pottawatomie Creek which I feel he knew they should have not fired in civilians at the first attack therefore that is why he did not kill civilians at Harpers Ferry. John Brown felt obligated to abolish slavery for good. John had to get done what he had to do because he wanted to get it through to people that slavery was wrong. Furthermore this is why I believe John Brown was a freedom
Brown made many violent attacks through his long attempt to end slavery. One of Brown's rather horrific attacks was the murder of five pro-slavery settlers in the Pottawatomie Creek. It was once stated that brown did this act of violence out of rage, and it
In the documentation of his early life, his views on slavery are not directly expressed. I think this is in part because he was too young to know any different. While his early life did not offer much opinion on his part, it did start the foundation for his opposition to slavery. All that he was ever exposed to. Slavery was his reality at this time and because it was
John Brown along with other northerners were outraged. Many abolitionists protested and claimed this law was outrageous. The question of whether it was right for the government to force abolitionist to help slave catchers was asked, Brown knew
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.
Frederick Douglass is perhaps the most well-known abolitionist from American history. He is responsible for creating a lot of support for the abolitionist movement in the years before the Civil War. He, along with many others, was able to gain support for and attention to the abolitionist movement. People like him are the reason that slavery ended in the United States.
Although historians disagree on its political impact, abolitionism unquestionably helped define slavery as a pressing moral problem (Sellman). Abolitionists played a key role in setting the terms of the debate over slavery and in making it a convincing moral issue, still they had remarkably little influence in the North. Very few Northerners were abolitionists, and many regarded abolitionists as dangerous radicals. What made their case telling was the South's violent reaction. Extreme Southern responses appeared to confirm abolitionist warnings about a conspiratorial "Slave Power." (Larkin) By the 1850s, however, the escalating sectional conflict had largely taken on a force of its own, one that owed less and less to
The Philadelphia Quakers are an extremely religious organization who actively practice what they preach. The one thing the Quakers believed strongly in was equality for all, but they did not always believe owning slaves was a sinful act. Scholars such as Aptheker, Cole, Glickman, Houston, and Newman, all believe that John Woolman was the main and most important Quaker abolitionist that applied his religious views to introduce the idea that slavery went against Quaker’s Christian religion. There are also two other main Quaker abolitionists that fought alongside Woolman, and all three left a significant impact on the Quaker society. Why is Woolman considered the main abolitionist who got people to follow him and change their views on slavery?
The positive actions of john brown, and the impacts he had on other abolitionists throughout the United States. John Brown is a well-known abolitionist known for leading a charge against Harpers Ferry later coming up short in failure. Many believe that he had the intention of arming slaves to help aid their escape. Many people today view him as the first American terrorist and some view him as a martyr as. I disagree with him being a terrorist because he was a man who fought for his beliefs and what he thought was right.
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.