Abolitionist: Who Is John Brown?

On October 16, 1859 John Brown led a group of men to Harper’s Ferry, Virginia and raided the Federal arsenal. Brown wanted to create an army of African-Americans that would in the end help release black slaves in the Southern states. Brown and his men manage to capture the arsenal but the town people of Harper’s Ferry surrounded the buildings and trapped Brown and his men. Brown had intended to steal the government’s weapons and start a rebellion on slavery in the south. Brown’s attempt to start an abolitionist movement caused the Southerners to believe that the North was in favor of the movement and helped start the Civil War between the North and

However John Brown is someone who fought for what is right in his own mind without directions from other men. He was fully capable of knowing the surroundings around his world and was aware of how he was executing his action to fight for freedom for the slaves. However as he claimed that God came down and spoke to him to be the leader to free the slaves, John Brown took actions by his own choice and not by a superiority figure. He fought for colored choice by his own choice and not the choices of others. And in today's world the fight at Harper’s Ferry should not be counted as an act of terrorism but rather of act of free will to believe what is right for the country. John Brown is someone who fought for what is right in his mind. His mental state was not ill neither religious superiority controlled him to commit his actions. John Brown fighting for the freedom of colored men was his own choice and not the choices of other. He should be considered today as a true noble abolitionist who paved the way for equality for all and a hero to

also the value of non-violent resistance supported by the transcendentalists and, There were many prominent figures in the Abolition movement that made great strides to freedom. Most took the route of political campaigning, but a few decided to take a more direct approach. One said individual is John Brown. John Brown was a white abolitionist born in Connecticut who simply grew tired of the pacifist approach and took up arms with a few volunteers against slavery.

The second reason John Brown is a terrorist is because he had a raid at the Pottawatomie Creek in Kansas. He killed pro slave people clearly because he did not agree with their views on slavery, but is that a truly a justifiable reason to take another mans life? John Brown had the right mind to abolish slavery, but there could have been a better way, like protesting to the point not even the government can refuse since the people are a, “Great beast”, as said by Alexander Hamilton.

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, took a leading role in propelling the nation toward secession and conflict. Many events influenced Brown’s views on slavery from an early age. When he was older, his strong anti-slavery feelings had grown, and he became an extreme abolitionist. His raid on Harpers Ferry was one of the first monumental events leading up to the civil war.

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.

John Brown who led the Raid on Harpers Ferry, was also a part of the Pottawatomie Massacre that occurred in 1856 in Kansas which led to the death of five men who were pro-slavery. On January 16, 1859 John Brown along with eighteen other people captured the arsenal of Harpers Ferry and pushed out to get the slaves to rise up, but the rising of slaves didn’t happen. Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee and J.E.B Stuart and soldiers arrived the next day to surround the place, which left Brown and his men cornered. Brown was asked to give up and just surrender, which he didn’t. So, when Brown refused to do so and the standoff went on, in the end some of Browns men ended up dead and a soldier was killed. In two days Browns raid was over, the same raid that Fredrick Douglass said was not going to go well and should be left alone. Abraham Lincoln spoke on the raid after, expressing his opinion of it as being ridiculous. Northerners at first disapproved of John Brown actions, but then they began to respect what John Brown did and started to see him as hero. John Brown was set on trial and was hung. The South was angered when others say Brown as an hero, and the Baltimore Sun published saying the South, “could not live under a government, the majority of whose subjects or citizens regard John Brown as a martyr and a Christian hero, rather than a murderer and a robber” (“Political Origins of The Civil War”) John Brown raid helped bring the South to seceding, but it was not the major fact that pushed the States, even though it did play a role. “The straw that broke the camel’s back,” so to speak, was the election of President Abraham Lincoln. (“Unit IV: Crumbling Loyalties and Dividing the

John Brown was taught by his father that while slavery did have an upside as to the invention of the cotton gin, it was still a sin in the eyes of god (4). Being told this by his father growing up, put this idea that slavery is bad and has a slight jump in his journey into becoming an abolitionist because constantly being told something will make you only see things one way, leading to him wanting to put an end to slavery. Owen and his son John Brown, stayed with a landlord when Owen won a contract to provide beef for the man. During the night John witnessed a young slave around his age get beat with a shovel right in front of his eyes traumatizing him (4). This is when he claimed to be transformed into “a most determined Abolitionist” and declared “eternal war” with slavery (4). Brown

Another event that shaped Owen Brown’s views on slavery occurred in the 1790’s. In the 1770’s, a minister had traveled to Connecticut, and he had brought his slaves with him. The man returned to the South for a while, leaving his slaves behind. When he returned to retrieve his slaves, they would not return with him. This act of defiance led to a public hearing where the minister defended the act of slavery. Brown found his arguments unsettling, and became an abolitionist (Horn, 18).

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

In our class debate about John Brown, many interesting points and arguments were made. Personally, I was in group C, a group that claims John Brown is a violent abolitionist and did very little for abolitionism. While I do not agree with the views of the other groups, I respect the arguments that they shared with the class. In group A, an argument was made saying that John Brown is a hero and is a competent man. They supported this argument with several evidences, such as the freeing of many slaves from the Christmas Raid and the saving of the free-soilers in the Bleeding-Kansas. Group A also touched onto the fact that John Brown was a religious man who rejected the idea of slavery and had spent his life contributing to the cause of emancipation.

John Brown was once an abolitionist who believed that slaves should have freedom and after the trial of Dred Scott a once freed slave in his hometown who was unfortunately classified as a slave after traveling to a state that still had slaves he decided to matter into his own hands. John gathered about eighteen individuals which included slaves that set out on a journey to fight against anyone who was against anti-slavery but his main focus was to attack the slave owners. Unfortunately his plan was quickly interrupted when Colonel Robert E. Lee and a group of troopers captured John Brown. John Brown’s army rapidly dwindled when six were captured, some were murdered and the others ran away cowardly in fear that they would be captured and harmed.

John Brown was an American abolitionist who believed armed insurrection was the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the US. Due to to the violence he used to erase slavery he was considered a murderer/terrorist, however some believed he was a hero, since he fought against slavery. To me John Brown was a hero and villain/terrorist. He was a man who did some things that were looked upon by some as terrorist type acts, but others looked at those same acts as fighting against slavery. it is quite easy to see Brown as a villain.

John Brown a man who despise black people; also was a slavery owner. He was born in Torrington, but he spent almost his whole childhood in Ohio. John had sons which when he beat slaves his sons helped him to abuse them. Also early 1850s he made and army which went on a mission to foment rebellion among the slaves. John his three sons moved away just because they had and escape plan for several slaves. To be honest; John was a very hateful person to African Americans.

In 1831 William Lloyd Garrison found a newspaper “The Liberator” a very powerful voice for the antislavery movement and in this way he was making powerful enemy for himself. In 1833 Harriet Beecher Stowe had a trip to South by her first trip to South she had a big change on her life by what she saw and it impact on her way of writing. In 1837 John Brown after failing in his business and murder of an antislavery activist he devotes his life to the cause. In 1838 Frederick Douglass run away from slavery and he joined William Lloyd Garrison for an antislavery movement. Douglass became a very powerful public speaker in North with presenting his own personal life story as a slave. Because of his old owner he went to U.K and he experienced a free life. In 1847 he came back to U.S.A and he own an antislavery paper. In that year John Brown met Douglass in Massachusetts and he shared his radical to him to raise army to free the slaves. In 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This book changed the heart and mind of Americans through slavery. In 1859 John Brown had a secret meeting with Frederick