John Brown: Freedom Fighter Or Terrorist?

Throughout history John Brown has been described as a terrorist, mentally ill, and a failure among other things. Because he stood strongly for what he believed in, and his goal was eventually achieved he can be seen for the most part as a hero. Brown was described as “an American who gave his life that millions of other Americans be free” (Chowder,6). Brown was a headstrong abolitionist who claimed that he was told by God to end slavery causing him to see himself as “a latter-day Moses” (Chowder, 6). With this, he stopped at nothing to fulfill these expectations. Brown’s heroism is displayed through how he was recounted by others during and after his lifetime, the actions though drastic he took when fighting for what he believed in, and

In 1859 he led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (in modern-day West Virginia). During the raid, he seized the armory; seven people were killed, and ten or more were injured. He intended to arm slaves with weapons from the arsenal, but the attack failed. Within 36 hours, Brown's men had fled or been killed or captured by local farmers, militiamen, and U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Brown's subsequent capture by federal forces, his trial for treason by the state of Virginia, and his execution by hanging in Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia) were an important part of the origins of the American Civil War, which followed sixteen months later. When Brown was hanged after his attempt to start a slave rebellion in 1859, church bells rang, minute guns were fired, large memorial meetings took place throughout the North, and famous writers such as Emerson and Thoreau joined many Northerners in praising Brown. Historians agree John Brown played a major role in starting the Civil War. His role and actions prior to the Civil War as an abolitionist, and the tactics he chose, still make him a controversial figure today. He is sometimes memorialized as a heroic martyr and a visionary and sometimes vilified as a madman and a terrorist. Some writers, such as Bruce Olds, describe him as a

John Brown was a hero. His reasoning for raiding Harper’s Ferry was that he wanted to abolish slavery. Events that led to the raid was the Dred Scott case and how a slave sued for his freedom because his master took him to Wisconsin, a free state. The Supreme Court ruled against Scott and said that black people whether they were free or not couldn't sue because they weren't citizens and that slaves were property and that they could be taken anywhere. Other news was the new territories and deciding on whether “it be slaving owning or free (video 0:14).” Which started the Kansas protest that was once peaceful turned violent. This was the start of John Brown and him wanting to end slavery because he was chosen to by God.The plan was to take control

Terrorism can be defined in many ways and can be taken differently by many people and many have their own definition. Some say he is a terrorist and others say he is a freedom fighter. John Brown is a freedom fighter.

In 1855, John Brown went to Kansas subsequent to got notification from his children living there about the peril of Kansas turning into a slave state. Subsequent to knowing about the sacking of Lawrence, Kansas by ace subjugation powers, Brown and his band went out of control. On May 24, 1856, equipped with rifles, blades, and broadswords, Brown and his men raged into the professional subjection settlement of Pottawatomie Creek, dragged the pioneers out of their homes and hacked them to pieces, murdering five and seriously injuring a few others. The assault on Lawrence and the slaughter at Pottawatomie set off a fierce guerrilla war in Kansas. Before the year's over, more than 200 individuals had been slaughtered and property harm ventured

John brown, who was born in Torrington Connecticut on May 4th 1800, was one of the most noted abolitionists in history. He spent his time going around the world to bring awareness to slavery. The people that did help him with this cause was either unaware that it was going against slavery or did not care because he was known to use violence to achieve his goals. During his childhood, his father, Owen Brown, was a tanner who changed animal skins into leather. John brown was a religious child, he studied in the ministry but decided to stop his learning and join the family’s businesses trade.

Should John Brown be considered a hero? John Brown is considered to be a “terrorist” in south but to north he is a hero. John Brown is a “terrorist” because he carried out a small army to kill the slave owners and non-slave owners who agreed with slavery in the south, but is also considered to be a”hero” because he “killed” slavery. He was a radical abolitionist because he believed that violence was necessary to free the slave. His men killed four people while as ten of his men were killed including his two sons.

Despite Brown’s attempt to establish political and social equality for blacks, him and other abolitionists, such as Nat Turner and Elijah Lovejoy, were all counteracted by violent actions taken by proslavery Southerners. In retaliation, Brown and the secret six, killed elitist who were falsified embodiments of the constitution, and the raid at Harper’s Ferry was executed. Although some may say that Brown’s violent actions reflect the motives of a terrorist, labeling him as such would be immoral and demonstrate the convoluted basis of the nation’s republic. John Brown fought for political equality, expressed complete sympathy towards those who had nothing to do with this war, and exposed the hypocrisy and bias the government had towards southerners whose main concern was maintain superiority above

On the night of May 24th and early morning of May 25th, Brown murdered civilians because they were pro-slavery. Late in the evening of May 24th, Brown and his party ordered James P. Doyle out of his home along with his two adult sons, William and Drury. They were escorted into the darkness and killed with broadswords. Then, they made their way to the house of Allen Wilkinson, ordered him out, and slashed and stabbed him to death. After midnight, on the morning of the 25th, they pushed their way into James Harris’ house.

When John Brown was a young boy growing up in Ohio, one of his earliest memories of slavery was a brutal beating of a slave boy. This gruesome event was one of the main reasons of why John Brown wanted to fight to end slavery. The fact that he witnessed it happen also had a bigger effect on his life than if he had only heard about it. As a grown man, Brown became known as a guerrilla fighter after the bloody Pottawatomie Massacre. Historian Edward Renehan states that, “Kansas is the birth of the Messianic Brown, it’s the birth of the Moses-like Brown, it’s the birth of the murderer Brown.”

Brown was overrun and ten of his followers were killed. John was wounded and captured. The news of the raid made the South furious. Brown was later tried and convicted of treason. His defence inspired others with his reasoning for doing what he did.

John Brown was not a misguided fanatic because he had people supporting him and he had a reason to end slavery. For example, in document C, a supporter send him a letter when he was in jail. Meaning, that even though he was in jail people were still supporting him. For instance, L. Maria Child was one of the supporters of John brown, she showed him that he was not alone and that he had people out there supporting him. Also, in Document A it provided us with more evidence of why john brown was not a misguided fanatic person.

Throughout history, many have described John Brown as a hero for standing up for what he believed in, but a hero is more than that. A hero helps and cares for any and everybody who is in need of it. John Brown was born on May 9, 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut, but mostly spent all his youth in Ohio. His parents had a strong belief of the bible and strong hatred of slavery. John had a total of 20 children and 2 wives, and was an intelligent businessman. In my opinion, John Brown was a murderer because him trying to stop slavery resulted in many losing their lives, led the attack on Pottawatomie Creek, and started many raids.

John Brown ended many innocent lives. He murdered farmers and individuals at Pottawatomie Creek as if they were cattle being butchered. This is similar to today’s terrorist, Hamas, who believe Israel should not exist and commit terrorist acts against the Israelites. He convinced others to follow his path of destruction leaving righteous people injured or left to die.

John was born May 10, 1838 on a farm outside Baltimore, Maryland. He was the fifth of six surviving children. John enjoyed his childhood, but his father was haunted by alcoholism and spells of madness. His father had often been dismissed as a crazy and drunken actor. Like most children, John aspired to follow in his father’s footsteps; therefore, John blossomed into a performing actor and like his father suffered from an extreme case of alcoholism. Growing up on a farm in Maryland meant that John had been born into a world in which slavery was apart of the accepted order of things. Like