John Brown: Hero Or Hero?

“Every villain is a hero in his own mind,” quoted Tom Hiddleston, an English actor best known for playing Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From this quote it is understood that every person perceives “right” and “wrong” differently and will act according to their perception. People consider a person as either a hero or villain by looking at their actions. John Brown, was a white American abolitionist who believed that armed rebellion was the only way to overthrow slavery in the United States. With the evidence provided with different resources, such as the article John Brown: Villain or Hero? by Steven Mintz, it can be seen that John Brown is a villain.

In the mid-1800s, America was truly divided over the crucial matter of slavery-Northerners desired the abolishment of slavery, while southerners demanded the continuation of slavery. John Brown was a Northerner who resorted to the usage of violence to fight against slavery. Some people may believe that John Brown was an extreme radical. But on the other hand, he may be seen as an American hero, fighting for the abolitionism movement.. An American hero is a person who goes out of his or her way to make progress in America, rather it be socially, economically, politically, or in a way where it makes the country a morally better or more prosperous country. And John Brown was one of the many heroes of America.

This is hypocritical in that the white men make these values and traditions a staple of their lives, yet when it comes to slaves, they seem to go away. He also believes that, though he will use “the severest language”(Douglass) he can, he firmly believes that “not one word shall escape me that any man whose… not blinded by prejudice, or… a slave-holder, shall not confess to be right and just”(Douglass). So he sincerely believes that the average human being also knows that the treatment of slaves is unjust and unethical, but they choose not to act on these thoughts. His view, coming from the eyes and thoughts of slaves across America, show how hypocritical the nation actually is in both one sided values and not acting upon their knowledge that what is going on is wrong.

Referred to as a “antislavery zealot” by some and as a “heroic hand” by others, John Brown was certainly one who stained history with blood. John Brown’s conduction of anti-slavery raids to fight “fire with fire”, triggered by his radical ways to fight the tyranny that was slavery,Brown impacted the whole country. During this time most anti-slavery supporters were peaceful and only tried to fight slavery “morally”, however John Brown lead many anti slavery raids his most famous and the one which he would have to pay with his life being, the Harpers Ferry Raid. The seizing of federal armory and arsenal with a group of men with just a mere hope of the local slave population helping him in order to reach success and create a nation wide effect failed miserably when the slavery population frightened did not join his raid. Captured, John Brown delivered one of the most enticing and alluring speech during his trial, his last speech, his address to the court in which he admits his actions in his “crusade” to fight slavery as well as patronizingly accepts his punishment without regret or remorse. In his speech he address one objection, being that if he was fighting on behalf of the rich, high class and those who supported and benefited from the tyrant slavery system,he would have been rewarded and praised instead of punished, proving that once again the tyrant, oppresing, racist and discriminating federal government was being run by bias men who aimed to keep the inhuman hierarchy

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

Now everyone agrees that John Brown main goal was to abolish the slavery in the south, but some believe that he is a hero for dying for his cause or being a martyr.

“John Brown (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was a radical abolitionist from the United States, who advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery for good. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas and made his name in the unsuccessful raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859. He was tried and executed for treason against the

There are two crucial facts that must be remembered, John Brown’s parents were insane just take a look and you will find out that being insane was a hereditary thing in his family (he and a lot of his other family members/ relatives were admitted into a mental asylum for insane and/or crazy people). And finally, the last reason for some people thinking of John Brown as a hero is the fact that he believed that he was God’s chosen ‘’warrior” and that God himself had chosen him (John Brown) to lead the slaves to freedom and to end slavery in America

Thesis: John Brown was a man full of honor and passion when it came to the abolishment of slavery. Not only that, but he was a man who believed that his actions were justified by his beliefs and social standpoint. Even though, he was a strong willed man; capable of standing up for his philosophies on life, he was a man who acted upon his emotions, and killed, interrogated, and terrorized towns and people. Your beliefs and morality do not justify the amount of terror that you cause, and it does not justify the amount of blood you spill; John Brown was a terrorist.

Abraham Lincoln is a hero is because he passed the 13th amendment which is a paper stating the abolishment of slavery. Abraham showed compassion by passing this amendment because he cared for the equality of the African Americans also known as the “slaves”. These african americans were

The reason why I say he 's a hero not a terrorist is because if you define a terrorist and line it up with what John Brown believes in and what he wanted to accomplish then you would think he 's a hero also. See people got to remember the Harpers Ferry revolt wasn 't the only slave revolt John Brown was apart of, he was also apart of other attacks in different places. For example in his "Conversation: Patriot or Terrorist" it says " During what became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre and the Battle of Osawatomie, Brown assumed the role of abolitionist leader and led violent attacks against proponents of slavery." See that he wasn 't just apart of one revolt and one attack like Osama Bin Laden was "no" he was part of a couple attacks and battles. His mission was to free slaves and make the economy and country better by allowing everyone to be treated equal and have equal rights. Like what we have sort of

The controversy of how he can side with the common man’s rights, and yet be a slave-owner is justified by his belief that African people did not know how to survive without the white man, their differences of culture and lack of independence would make living in America’s white society difficult, and because he treated his slaves in a humane manner, he felt he was giving them an acceptable existence in our country. (planetpapers.com)

John Brown the Hero John Brown has been a controversial political figure to generations of Americans across the nation. He is often regarded as one of two polarizing ideals, the unapologetic freedom fighting abolitionist and then as the religious zealot turned domestic terrorist. There is even a case to be made that John Brown was America’s first domestic terrorist. While Brown’s methods may have been extreme, he delivered his intended message; that change needed to occur for the country to be truly free. John Brown’s actions and beliefs that he held that led to the raid at Harper’s Ferry were noble and had major cultural impact on American society at that time.

‘’I speak advisedly when I say this, - that killing a slave, or any colored person, in Talbot county, Maryland, is not treated as a crime, either by the courts or the community. Mr. Thomas Lanman, of St. Michael’s killed two slaves, one of whom he killed with a hatchet, by knocking his brains out. He used to boast of the commission of the awful and bloody deed. I have heard him do so laughingly, saying, among other things, the he was the only benefactor of his country in the company, and that when others would do as much as he had done, we should be relieved of the d-------d niggers’’ (The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass pg. 364, 1845)

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.