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
Referred to as a “antislavery zealot” by some and as a “heroic hand” by others, John Brown was certainly one who stained history with blood. John Brown’s conduction of anti-slavery raids to fight “fire with fire”, triggered by his radical ways to fight the tyranny that was slavery,Brown impacted the whole country. During this time most anti-slavery supporters were peaceful and only tried to fight slavery “morally”, however John Brown lead many anti slavery raids his most famous and the one which he would have to pay with his life being, the Harpers Ferry Raid. The seizing of federal armory and arsenal with a group of men with just a mere hope of the local slave population helping him in order to reach success and create a nation wide effect failed miserably when the slavery population frightened did not join his raid. Captured, John Brown delivered one of the most enticing and alluring speech during his trial, his last speech, his address to the court in which he admits his actions in his “crusade” to fight slavery as well as patronizingly accepts his punishment without regret or remorse. In his speech he address one objection, being that if he was fighting on behalf of the rich, high class and those who supported and benefited from the tyrant slavery system,he would have been rewarded and praised instead of punished, proving that once again the tyrant, oppresing, racist and discriminating federal government was being run by bias men who aimed to keep the inhuman hierarchy
John Brown was very similar to Nat Turner they both believed that they were chosen by god to lead slaves into freedom and if that required a fight then that was what they had to do. John Brown had a goal and that was to abolish slavery throughout the united states. The trouble in Kansas began when the Nebraska Act was signed by President Pierce, this act engaged that people make a determination on whether Kansas territory should be free or slave. In hopes that Kansas would become free of slaves, the opposing side which was named Border Ruffians invaded their territory and forced the pro-slavery election. After John heard about the fear of Kansas becoming a slave state and after also hearing that the Border Ruffians ransacked the town of Lawrence
This is when his mission started to become more and more violent. Brown published an essay instructing African Americans to stay together to resist this new law. He ordered them to even if it took killing the slave catchers, that’s what they had to do. He formed an armed resistance against the Fugitive Slave Law. Brown’s United League recruited 44 African Americans. Following this, the Kansas-Nebraska Act surfaced, which allowed settlers to decided whether or not to be free or to practice slavery. Then, in order to achieve the southern support in the 1856 Democratic presidential nomination, Stephen Douglas proposed to divide the new territory into two. This meant that Kansas, since it was in the more southern of the two territories, would be made into a slave state. This would lead to the start of an organized militia against slavery.
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
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
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”.
He wanted to arm the slaves with weapons and ammunition. He seized the federal complex and then sent out people to contact slaves in the country. The slaves did not want to join him in his ambush of the arsenal. The local militia surrounded him and killed eight of Brown’s people that were fighting with him. U.S. marines led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee were ordered to arrest John Brown.
In John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry by Jonathan Earle, Earle explains the life and events that led to John Brown committing the acts that he did. John Brown was a radical abolitionist who from a young age had the loathing for slavery instilled in his mind. John being the God-fearing man that he was, believed the crimes he carried out were apart of Gods will and purpose for him. Many knew John Brown as a freedom fighter, but to most, he was a terrorist. John fought for the freedom of slaves but went about it all the wrong ways. He perpetrated many crimes that led to him being known as the terrorist that he was. While his reason for action is easy to sympathize with, his way of making a difference was wrong. Although it can be argued that John was strictly a freedom fighter who made bad choices, John Brown ultimately chose to fight violence with violence making him just as guilty as the slaveholders he fought so passionately against. These actions eventually resulted in his death.
In the article by Brendan January, he states what John Brown was trying to accomplish with his acts, “Brown rose from his seat and declared that he would spend the resto fhis life trying to destroy slavery” (January 3). Aboloshing salvery was John Brown’s life goal, because he strongly believed everyone had the same right to be free. If Brown was not recognized for his brave actions, the severety of slavery may not have been as strongly noticed. He was eventually killed for his decision on trial, and was a martyr for our country. Brown’s death upset many people because he was only doing what he thought was
His views on cruelly ending slaving with violence and bloodshed only prove is madness. “Several of his colleagues also petitioned that the courts should look at Brown’s questionable mental state when it came to his actions.” With all the “violence” John Brown tried to create with his radical actions to end slavery, his actions did very little to end slavery. On the contrary, slave owners in the south treated slaves more barbaric because they started to feel threatened as his actions. Many thought his rebellion was going to succeed so many treated the slaves as the target. Many believe that his actions help stir up the civil war. In conclusion, John Brown tried to terminate slavery in savage ways many times and each time revealed his level of
During the eighteenth century, the opposition to slavery prior to forming the United States became increasingly stronger between the Northern and Southern territories. Prior to the 1830s, antislavery societies began to emerge from every corner to challenge the slave system and to help combat slavery. During this time, people had different ideas about how to confront the issue of slavery in the system and how to establish a freedom of oppression. In the eighteenth century, antislavery political activists believed the slave system would able to be changed through peaceful political reforms, while others felt that real change could only be achieved by violence. A radical white abolitionist named John Brown became a historical figure whose beliefs motivated the violent abolitionist crusade.
In 1859 John Brown finally felt that the time was right for the slaves in this country to rise up against the slave owners. He felt that slavery could only be removed by violence (John Brown, Harpers..., 2012) and was quoted as saying, “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood” . On October 16, 1859, John Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry. His goal was to start a slave uprising and grab guns and weapons at the armory. On that night twenty two men, led by John Brown, took control of the arsonal. While they were successful at first, U.S. marines surrounded the fort, killed a few of his men, and took prisoner the rest of the twenty-two (John Brown’s 1859...,
During the 1850s, Douglas was in the fore front in abolishing slavery, which was threatening, to tear the country apart. In the beginning, Douglas felt that John Brown’s anti- slavery ideas and plans were suicidal and he refused to engage in a raid on Harper Ferry. Brown’s activities saw him captured and hanged, an act which
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
John Brown was a man who lived in the mid eighteen-hundreds and who fought against the evil of slavery. He had a very strong belief that slavery was unjust, and this is true, but he thought that in order to abolish slavery, violence would be the best method. That’s where he went wrong. John Brown led two attacks on slave owners and those who supported slavery, the first at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas on May 24th, 1856, and the second at Harper Ferry, Virginia on October 16th, 1859. At Pottawatomie Creek, joined by seven others, Brown brutally hacked to death five men with sabers. These men supported slavery but weren’t even slave owners themselves. On October 16th, 1859, Brown led 21 men on another raid on Harpers Ferry attempting to