A Historical Journey through the American Conscience: The Public and its Courts

The basis of criminal justice in the United States is one founded on both the rights of the individual and the democratic order of the people. Evinced through the myriad forms whereby liberty and equity marry into the mores of society to form the ethos of a people. However, these two systems of justice are rife with conflicts too. With the challenges of determining prevailing worth in public order and individual rights coming down to the best service of justice for society. Bearing a perpetual eye to their manifestations by the truth of how "the trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both" (Hitchens, 2003, para. 5).

Henry Wise, governor of Virginia is faced with an impossible choice. Now that the courts have condemned John Brown to death for his charges of” “treason, murder and inciting a slave insurrection,” (Davidson 148) he is torn between condemning the violence, granting a pardon to prevent more violence, or thirdly, granting a pardon on the account of his insanity. Many citizens of Virginia feared that Mr Brown was a precursor to the imminent onslaught of northern abolitionist “fanatics” and threatened to lynch Brown if he was freed. Other northern abolitionists threatened to assemble an army to free Brown from the prison; in the words of Fernando Wood, mayor of New York City, his death would create a “martyr whose execution would only deepen passions

Almost every day, we hear about justice being served upon criminals and we, as a society, feel a sense of relief that another threat to the public has been sentenced to a term in prison, where they will no longer pose a risk to the world at large. However, there are very rare occasions where the integrity of the justice system gets skewed and people who should not have been convicted are made to serve heavy prison sentences. When word of this judicial misstep reaches the public, there is social outcry, and we begin to question the judicial system for committing such a serious faux pas.

The reaction to John Brown’s raid in the North suggest that slavery was unmoral and unjust. Brown was trying to save slaves from cruelty, but he ended up getting tried and executed. The North supported Brown to save slaves. Most people in the North did not supported slavery, such as abolitionists and gradualists. Both groups believed slavery was morally wrong, but the difference is abolitionists wanted slavery to end immediately, while the gradualists were willing to “gradually” wait. Lecture 38 states,

Have you ever hear of John Brown? You probably know him as a murderer who slaughtered white men. But what you might not know is that the reasons for all the things he did are much bigger than this one event, even though “Bleeding Kansas” was a major event. It was all part of a much bigger purpose that affected the world greatly when it came to slavery. These are some of the things he did to play his part as an abolitionist.

The execution of John Brown brought mixed reactions from all over the country. This North Carolina paper criticizes the commercialization and celebration of John Brown that had been taking place in the north (390.) This reaction highlights the anger from the South at the celebration of this violence and also calls out the hypocrisy for the villainization of the southern states. These northern states who target them for upholding slavery are not only celebrating a violent act, but they’ve done plenty wrong themselves in the past. “It’s a pity they haven’t a witch or two to drown or burn, by way of variety” (390.) The paper remarks that the gallows should be completely be burned or else the capitalist heathens in the north will profit off the

On November 2, 1859 Brown went to court and was found guilty of treason and murder. Right before Brown was hanged, he handed his guard a statement. It read, “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” This statement predicts that there will be a war between abolitionists and proslavery

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

Courts play a vital role in the Criminal Justice System in America, however; understanding how the courts work and function is essential. Even the general public should have a basic knowledge regarding the similarities and differences of the jurisdiction and structure of our dual court system – federal and state. In addition, there are ethical and diversity issues that can be experienced by each of the courts that could possibly impact the courts’ functioning.

Strong support from the South and the West could not hide the opposition from the Northern wing of the party. Pierce, as the current President, would have a significant source of support from the South and West as well. But with a record fit for office, James Buchanan entered the convention in Cincinnati that summer as the front-runner. Buchanan had a very attractive resume, which proved invaluable for many of the nation’s early presidents. During the year of the elections, the topic of all debate was slavery, which seemed to destroy all limitations. Kansas became a place of political desecration, and in more extreme cases murder. A young South Carolina congressman beat his elder counterpart, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, nearly to death with his walking cane over an insult just one week before the Cincinnati convention. The South Carolina congressman was praised in newspapers across the South as a patriot. A badly injured Sumner became the North’s fanatical hero. Two days after the beating, John Brown led a small company of terroristic abolitionist into a war-torn Kansas. After seizing men who favored the proslavery party they shot them in the head, and hacked them to bits with axes. This infuriated Southerners. Though Buchanan seemed cut out for presidency, the issue on slavery became apparently incurable. This is the situation James Buchanan found himself in coming into his presidential seat. Presidency was no easy task in the midst of the nineteenth century due to slavery. During this volatile time in American history, a strong presidential leader might have extricated the nation from civil war. Unfortunately, James Buchanan was a man of passive nature. If he had been more assertive earlier on and warned off radicals from both sides the nation may not have gone into civil war. But by refusing to choose a side on

The hype around globalization and the negative impact of the social media have obscured discussion on the most immediate and pressing issues that need immediate attention in the U.S justice system. The number of incarceration in the United States beginning 1970 has swollen to all time higher (Walker et al., 2012). According to Binswanger et al. (2012), American judicial system has imprisoned 2.3 million of its populace, and these are more than any other country in the world. Davis (2007) mentioned ironically that the U.S jails a quarter of the world prisoners albeit it contains merely 5% of the global population. These statistics are mind boggling for a country that has opted to teach the world fairness, justice and equality.

John Brown was a radical, Connecticut-born abolitionist who believed the most effective method of ousting the slavery system to be an incredibly violent and aggressive one. His inclination towards vindictive rebellion at the volatile time that surrounded the impending revolution begs the question: to what extent did John Brown’s influence in Kansas play a role in the commencement of the Civil War? As an evaluation of the Civil War instigation, John Brown’s robust abolitionist background and activist nature will fall under meticulous scrutiny. In reviewing this inquiry, encyclopedia entries, biographical accounts, historical narratives, and journal articles are all used in order to provide relevant information and support.

America was on the brink of a civil war, because the South wanted to secede and the issue of slavery had a part in this. This time period affected John Brown severely. He did not accept the idea of slavery and thought that it was his mission from God to end it. John Brown was around the idea of slavery almost his whole childhood. According to “The Trials of John Brown” John Brown was born in Torrington Connecticut on May 9, 1800. His family was Calvinists who opposed slavery (Linder). Brown's childhood experiences help to create his deep hatred of slavery. According to “The Trials of John Brown” one of John Brown’s first experiences of slavery was on a Cattle Run in Michigan. There he met a slave boy who became his friend. Brown had experienced how a slave was treated, the boy was beaten, starved, and was treated horribly. (Linder). John Brown wanted to try to end slavery by doing anything he could. According to “The Trials of John Brown,” soon after his first experience with slavery he would directly help a fugitive slave, Brown hid him in the family cabin. According to “The Trials of John Brown,” soon after his second experience he and his father actively

Fearing the unknown is a common aspect of human nature. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were an average married couple living in New York City during the Cold War. They were members of the Communist Party when anti-Communist feelings in the United States were at their peak. Little did they know that as they continued with their daily lives, a series of investigations were being conducted that would soon land them in the electric chair. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused and convicted of passing along confidential atomic bomb information to Soviet Union spies. After a long battle, they were executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in 1953. The couple never admitted guilt to the charges, and their conviction and execution caused their two young boys to grow up without parents. The Rosenberg trial is still considered one of the most controversial events in United States history. Few other trials have instigated as much debate, aroused such passion or generated as many books and articles. Thus the question arises: in what ways and to what extent did the hysteria of the Cold War lead to the trial and execution of the Rosenbergs?

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.