John Brown : Martyr Or Terrorist?

“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.

John Brown was a man who lived in the mid eighteen-hundreds and who fought against the evil of slavery. He had a very strong belief that slavery was unjust, and this is true, but he thought that in order to abolish slavery, violence would be the best method. That’s where he went wrong. John Brown led two attacks on slave owners and those who supported slavery, the first at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas on May 24th, 1856, and the second at Harper Ferry, Virginia on October 16th, 1859. At Pottawatomie Creek, joined by seven others, Brown brutally hacked to death five men with sabers. These men supported slavery but weren’t even slave owners themselves. On October 16th, 1859, Brown led 21 men on another raid on Harpers Ferry attempting to

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

Textbooks withdraw their heroic sympathy that they give to almost any other historical figure from Brown, presenting him in a different tone; Brown was a devote Christian and instead of credit he receives blame of his devotedness; if they wanted to, they could've divulged into how Brown once was friends with a young black boy which convinced him that blacks aren't inferior, but they don't; textbooks also neglect the story of Brown as a defender, when he defended 35 free-soil men from several hundred pro-slavery men from Missouri; in addition to this, textbooks also tend to handicap his voice as they don't use any of his saying or phrases; Brown's ideas are often ignored as they represent something violent, which deemed him ineligible of sympathy

John Brown was a misguided fanatic. He was admired by many abolitionists for standing up for the rights. However, was seen outrageous in the eyes of many Southerners. He has went far beyond outrageous and carried out a killing spree in order to prove slavery was wrong. He had a plan, however stirred in a lot of problems along with it gained him the name a “misguided fanatic”.

John Brown is not a terrorist. The acts he committed at Harper’s Ferry and Pottawatommie Creek were not acts of terrorism because they lack the inspiration of fear into his enemies. He may have committed acts that were tragic, but just because someone kills someone else does not mean they are a terrorist.

Was John Brown a terrorist or was John Brown a hero? This question has probably not been asked many times but since the question has been aroused, let it be answered.

During the Revolution, the British viewed the African American’s in the South as numbers to add to their side of the war and also as a group of individuals to manipulate in warfare (Nash et al., 2008). On the other hand, the American’s viewed the slaves as vulnerable and dangerous. With so much speak of liberty and freedom during the revolution, the African American’s began to petition against the lives they were living as slaves and fought to have their own liberties.

John Brown is an American Abolitionist who believed in abolishing slavery across the nation through killing any southern slaveholder or supporter that comes in his path. It is believed that he had a plan to gather all the free slaves and rebel against the southern states, but his rebellion never made it that far. His rebellion started in Kansas in 1855 and ended in December 1858 at Harpers Ferry leading to him being convicted and hung for his crimes. John Brown had one motive that made him do these so called “crimes” by justifying his actions as obedience to a just god (31). This is the same reason today 's terrorist do their acts of terrorism and his actions make me see him as a terrorist.

John Brown was an abolitionist and was accused of treason against the Commonwealth of the Virginia state, first degree murders, and inciting servile insurrection of the Virginia slaves. Although in some opinions and the majority of the people who would follow the humanity morals thought that Brown did the right thing to stand up for the slaves, whereas the others would think that the act of what Brown has done was completely wrong. John Brown encouraged the slaves to rebel against the country to defend Brown’s actions as he was accused of many things. Whether you hate or like John Brown, it does not make any difference as he was morally right though legally wrong because he was never in to racism.

Although Brown spent most of his life far from the notorious deep south, the horrific conditions and legal abuse that slaves endured were not lost on him. Beaten, abused, separated from his family, and forced to do things he would never choose to do, Brown went on to become a free man, an author, historian, and an abolitionist, and his writings on the life of a slave provide an insight into the darker side of what many Americans consider to be a happy period in American

Henry Box Brown was an African-American slave in the 1800’s. When he was young, his original slave owner had passed, and Henry was sent to work for his old slave owner’s son. As he got older he met another slave named Nancy while on an errand for his owner. Brown and Nancy wanted to get married and start a family. Later on, Brown and Nancy had three children. “Unfortunately, in 1848 Nancy and their three children were sold to a slave trader who sent them to North Carolina,” (Simkin). Brown was bemused and mournful because his owner promised to not sell his family. Questions were raised on if he should attempt an escape, and this paper will explain the benefits on why Henry Box Brown made the right decision to escape.

Scott John Hammond convey a different transition in our American history, John Brown was fueled on freedom of religion and human race. According to the article John Brown: America's First Terrorist? , "For southerners, Brown was the embodiment of all their fears- a white man willing to die to end slavery. For many Northerners, he was a prophet of righteousness"(Finkelman). Folks from the North was well aware that Brown violent acts was the start of a revolution to end slavery and satisfy the purpose of the Declaration of Independence. On the other hand, the southerners differed his principle of "freedom" he was considered a threat to the union and a harm to society that need to be banished. Brown evaluated society according to the "laws

When speaking about the Civil War and what led to it, a lot of names come to mind. One of them is the legendary leader John Brown. Not only to his peers at the time, but to the nation until this day. “If it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments-I submit; so let it be done.” -John Brown. John Brown came from a history of religious, military and anti-slavery family. Through his life he has dealt with mutipule losses such as His grandfather who died in the Revolutionary War. The greatest loss of all was the death of his mother at a young age. “This loss was complete and permanent.” (Horwitz, 1). He lost his wife, Mary Ann Brown, in a similar way that he had lost his mom. He also lost some of his children. Religion was a major principal to John as he strongly believed the in cleansing of his children’s sins away through punishment. John brown had three children: John junior, Jason and Ruth. Brown did his very best to remove sin out of his children, in himself and also others like his father. He liked to travel to new territory and and the one place he settled in was Northern Pennsylvania he cleared out some land, built a tannery, raised stock and like hiss father became a civil leader. He also founded a school and church serving as the areas

In my opinion John Brown was not a hero in the sense of freeing the slaves. In fact I believe he is a big part of the reason the Civil War occurred. It takes a whole lot to start a war and John Brown alone is not enough. However he made the two sides think about what they really wanted and strengthening to the sides opinions and completing the tear right through nation.