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Compare And Contrast John Brown And Timothy Mcveigh

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Timothy McVeigh committed the most deadly act of domestic terrorism in United States history. His actions resulted in both outrage and fascination, and lead to significant inquiry into why he did what he did. Many at the time, already scared by the rising trends of Jihadist terrorism felt that McVeigh’s actions were in large part something new, something atypical to the American experience. However, such was not the case. Terrorism has been prevalent throughout American history and tied to various trends and movements, including abolitionism. Ultimately John Brown and Timothy McVeigh have striking similarities, such as the presence of their action outside of the more established and organized groups of their respective movements and the media …show more content…

Their attacks were in surprising places, places where people felt safe living by the status quo. In the case of McVeigh, violence was expected in the big cities of either coast, not in calm, mid-western Oklahoma (Linethal 15). In the case of John Brown, violence was understood to be a major deal out in the west in areas where lawlessness could not easily be deterred, not in a sleepy town in the firmly established slave state of Virginia. Because of this, both of these incidents resulted in massively increased anxieties for many (in McVeigh’s case in the US as a whole; in John Brown’s case largely amongst southern slave owners) over whether they too could end up becoming a victim. The apparent uniqueness of these events also fascinated people in a more general sense, and they expressed this newfound fascination in a variety of ways. Perhaps the most long-lasting of these ways was the development of a tourist-like curiosity of the places where these events had occurred. Harpers Ferry ended up ultimately becoming a national park, but prior to this, the armory which John Brown had captured on that fateful day had become a source of intrigue for people across the country, which resulted in it being moved out from the Ferry for a period of time. In the case of McVeigh, Oklahoma City became a place where people went to watch and observe the aftermath of tragedy (Linenthal …show more content…

Although he did not get to see it in his lifetime, John Brown’s polarizing effect on the North and South helped encourage the outbreak of the Civil War, which would determine once and for all the fate of slavery. This, however, is not the case when it comes to McVeigh. When the Oklahoma City bombing is discussed, ideas regarding McVeigh’s views were much more likely to be pushed to the side. Some of this could potentially be a result of attempts of people who could be potentially associated with McVeigh and his ideals (whether they be right-wingers, verterans, etc.) to distance themselves from the event. This is perhaps best shown through examples of veterans insisting upon the wretchedness of McVeigh’s actions. Such a distancing attempt, however, was also visible during John Brown’s time. As mentioned in Thoreau’s piece, many contemporary abolitionists attempted to distance themselves and their abolition movement from John Brown. Thus, the distance must result from a different cause. This cause is most likely the media. Although both John Brown and Timothy McVeigh had their actions highly publicized, only John Brown’s was done so in the context of the largest movement on people’s minds at the time: abolitionism. Although right-wing terror certainly was a fear for a short few, it was not what Americans were

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