John Brown, freedom fighter or terrorist?
While there are many types of terrorism there is still no assigned definition of it. Many people believe terrorism to be large open acts of violence that could hurt many people. A freedom fighter is a person or group that takes part in a violent act to achieve a political idea, especially in order to take control of their government. There is no very ideal definition of terrorism and doubt there ever will be. After learning these differences between these two I have decided to call John Brown a terrorist for many reasons.
His religion played a major role in his mission to free slaves. He had believed that God had chosen him to be an angel in disguise. At a young age he had mesmerized parts of the bible and bible verses. He believed that God has chosen him to help people in need or people that wanted help. If he had done something he had thought was wrong and something that would upset God then he would have his sons whip him across the back until he thought it was enough. While he was in church one day he had vowed to help slaves, but he never really did anything until years later because he procrastinated.
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If he had gone home and thought about what he was going to do after he had vowed to help slaves then people probably would not see him as a terrorist. If he had gone about his plans a different way than people would see the good in what he did and his ways of helping. His disastrous and murderous ways of his attack lead him to be labeled as a terrorist and ideally a troubled person. The people he had helped him also seemed to have their own problems. One of the people he had managed to help him was a free slave whose wife was taken into slavery and she was begging him to get her free. His ideas and his helping was not very good and led him to getting
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
Is John Brown a hero or a murderer? While growing up in an ideal Christian family his parents, Owen and Ruth Mills Brown, raised their children of eight to obey the teachings of the Bible. The Browns would teach the importance of treating colored men with respect and to treat them just like regular people. As John Brown father was a known abolitionist during his time, he would follow into his father’s footsteps and become the man that the world knows today. Many believe that John Brown being how he was raised was brainwashed into becoming a strict believer of equality for all men or that religion was a cover up for being a mass murderer. Historians like Robert E. McGlone would even question was John Brown truly acting on his own will or was
He went after every right in order to speak up for those slaves that didn’t have a voice. Education was one of his beliefs that helped him. Telling his story to the world, born a slave but now a free man. He fought for African Americans not are viewed as “property” or “slaves” but as equal to whites and must receive fair treatment.
John Brown's actions at Pottawatomie Creek and Harper's Ferry can be seen as acts of terrorism by a person or peoples opinion, but a closer study of modern and historic violent actions show he was a freedom fighter. Certainly, this is factual because there is no actual definition of terrorism, it is simply an opinion on someone's actions. Therefore, it is almost irrelevant for one be convicted a terrorist if no one can actually have a justified reasoning behind their choices.
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.
There are many things that make people terrorists, but everything about John Brown makes him just a freedom fighter and not a terrorist.
The question of was John Brown a terrorist or a hero is more of a question asking for an opinion than a question asking for a clear, definitive answer. To a great deal (almost all) of the Southern slave owners, John Brown was definitely thought of as a terrorist because he was a white man who was willing to stand up and die for what he believed in, which was that the enslavement of blacks (negroes) was wrong morally and he did not care if he was killed because of it. John Brown was seen as a terrorist to some because of the fact that he was the man who had orchestrated a raid in which he ended up killing five men in Kentucky and had he captured the armory at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now Harpers Ferry, West Virginia), he probably would have gone on a killing rampage of more Southern white slave- owners and in turn caused more fear and hatred from the slave-owners onto himself.
After his hardships on the plantation, he began to look at himself as a prophet. He would secretly discuss the dislike of slavery with other slaves and announce his experiences with the spirits.
to his. Like his father he was religious but he scared Christian religion into his slaves. He told them
In his life he lead a riot and killed approximately 50-70 masters and white families(men, women, and children). He hid for 6 weeks, in the woods not too far out of town, after he was found he went to court and pled guilty, because he did not want to put shame in god. He was sentenced to be hung, and the others that were found killing with Nat Turner were sentenced the same punishment. Whatever he did, he did it through the belief of god, and he always did it 100%. Just like the riot, he had to stop slavery, he never quit, he just wanted his culture to be free, his family he wanted everyone to be equal and in
“Terrorist”, is defined as “a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.” Terrorists who conduct these heinous crimes usually justify their actions due to morals, religious convictions, or political views. John brown was an American abolitionist who believed and advocated that armed insurrection was the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States, which was a political aim. He considered the United States incapable of reform and he believed violence was the only solution to end slavery. Therefore John Brown was an Irrational Terrorist.
Some believed that John Brown was a maniac more than a martyr, but history proves that he was more of a martyr. John Brown believed that all men should be considered equal and have the right to freedom. Beginning in his early childhood and all the way though his life, he had a passion to abolish slavery. Learning from a young age, that all men should have the right to freedom and equality, started a fire inside of John Brown. This was a burning passion to help free slaves and make the world a better place.
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.
John Brown: Freedom Fighter or Terrorist? Terrorism is an act of violence that harms human lives, destroys infrastructure, causes mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping to affect a government, or intending to intimidate civilians or a population. An American abolitionist, John Brown, is a debatable subject on whether he was a freedom fighter or a terrorist. The unjustified event involving John Brown, including Pottawatomie Creek and Harpers Ferry, would characterize him as a terrorist by modern standards.
One of the main reasons he was against slavery was the way he was brought up and raised and his beliefs system, it was a major part of one of the many reasons he was anti-slavery. He believed that slave was equal to everyone