preview

Abolitionist John Brown

Better Essays

I have, may it please the court, a few words to say. In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted -- the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter when I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again on a larger scale. That was what I intended. I never did intent murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection.(Fanton 82)

These are some of the words spoken by abolitionist John Brown at his trial in Charles Town, Virginia (now part of West Virginia) following his violent raid at Harper’s Ferry Federal Arsenal in October, 1859 (Fanton 82). John Brown played a vital role in the anti-slavery movement and his actions opened the eyes of a nation that would become divided in a war of brother against brother. He clearly states his intentions, but did he really not mean to excite or incite a rebellion among slaves? John Brown represented the ideals and thoughts of many Americans. John Brown’s strong beliefs on a violent insurrection of the slaves gave rise to the beginning of the Civil War.
John Brown was born on May 9, 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut (McPhail). When Brown turned five years old, his family moved to Ohio. His parents Owen Brown and Ruth

Get Access