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Why John Brown Should Be Abolished Dbq

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John Brown was an extreme abolitionist that lived in the mid 1800’s. John Brown and his group were against the idea of slavery, and in the end, John Brown would end up giving his life to try and stop it. John Brown is known for taking a “small army of 18 men into the small town of Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. [Also, he took] the arms and ammunition in the federal arsenal” (Document A). In this raid, John and his group killed many people, and some were even innocent. However, this was all part of his plan to try and stop slavery. He tried to free slaves and kill their owners every time he had the chance, and build an army along the way. This didn’t work out because there was no one to back him up. This caused John Brown to be captured and executed …show more content…

Similarly to the heroes of today in the military where they kill bad people for the rights of others, John Brown and his group killed slave owners in order for slaves to gain their natural and human rights. John Brown was obsessed about the issue dealing with the brutality of slavery and how wrong slavery is. Since slavery was the only thing that went though his mind, he quickly came up with the plan to free as many slaves as possible. John’s method included violence because he thought it was the only way. This plan included taking the federal arsenal, killing slave owners and arming the slaves to fight for other slave’s freedoms. When he took the arsenal, it wasn’t long until he was captured. On December third 1859, John Brown was hung. When John Brown was hung, he gained more attention from all over the county. People followed John Brown, and in the free states, “The Yankees have no objection to mingling money making with their grief, and they will,” (Document C). In the North people would sell things about John Brown because he was seen as a hero that tried to put an end to slavery. Also, the people in the free states grieved when they heard he was executed. John Brown thought that slavery wouldn’t end without violence, so he took a stand and made an attempt to stop …show more content…

Even though John Brown’s method of violence was frowned upon, he stood up for what he believed in. John Brown thought that by killing slave owners and by using violence, he could put an end, or at least help the problem of slavery. This situation of John Brown is like the symbol of the ying-yang. In every act of evil, there is an aspect of goodness, however in every act of good, there is an aspect of evil. In John Brown’s case, his act of good in setting slaves free had an evil aspect, which was violence. At the time in the North, newspapers were covered with the John Brown Story. In the Gazette, December 3 1859, it said “John Brown of Ossawatomie has succeeded -- Sampson-like -- in dragging down the pillars of Slavery in his fall, and his victory is complete! ”(Document B). The newspaper talks about the common idea that slavery should be abolished and they are praising John Brown because he took action. Even though most did not agree with his methods, they agreed with his idea of freeing slaves. Even if John Brown saved one slave from the brutal system of slavery, killing slave owners who saw black people as property should not make John seen as a villain. John Brown’s act of freeing the slaves should make him seen as a hero and not a

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