Tony Horwitz's Midnight Rising

John Brown single-handedly created the sparks that led to the southern secession. John Brown was a religious man who believed in “an eye for an eye”. He was willing to use as much violence as necessary for his cause even if it was extreme. In 1864, John Brown lead a group of men to kill five pro-slavery men because of a rumor he heard about the murder of anti-slavery men. This tradesy is known as the Pottawatomie Massacre. Document B shows that Brown had “torn, hacked and disfigured” men at Pottawatomie. This brutal massacre proves that Brown’s actions were unheroic and ended up upsetting many men. When other pro-slavery men heard about his incident they were enraged. The murders of the men led to a series of violent events between the proslavery

John Brown was a man who supported the abolition of slavery, and a man who also furthermore, fought for it. Unlike many abolitionists, John Brown, as an orthodox Calvinist himself, believed that the issue of slavery could only be fought by violence and bloodshed. In his last remarks on the day of his hanging, John Brown states, “I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land: will never be purged away; but with blood.” Even in an abolitionist meeting, Frederick Douglass, an African-American abolitionist, who is generally non-violent, declares, “slavery can only be destroyed by bloodshed.” I also agree that the issue of slavery can only be solved by violence and physical harm. Words wouldn’t stop a violent and conservative South. Slavery had already grown too large of an epidemic in the South to stop by ineffective medical treatment. A war to end slavery would have to take place in order for real action to occur. John Brown was a man who accelerated the upcoming of a civil war between the Union and the Confederacy. John Brown was a hero because he started the war. Brown spread the message to the North that action was needed, and it came soon. Soon after Brown was hanged in 1859, Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1861, and the civil war also began in

John Brown was very similar to Nat Turner they both believed that they were chosen by god to lead slaves into freedom and if that required a fight then that was what they had to do. John Brown had a goal and that was to abolish slavery throughout the united states. The trouble in Kansas began when the Nebraska Act was signed by President Pierce, this act engaged that people make a determination on whether Kansas territory should be free or slave. In hopes that Kansas would become free of slaves, the opposing side which was named Border Ruffians invaded their territory and forced the pro-slavery election. After John heard about the fear of Kansas becoming a slave state and after also hearing that the Border Ruffians ransacked the town of Lawrence

Most of Brown’s reputation was based off of the Pottawatomie Massacre. It was an event led by John Brown that is usually described as “cold

Former President John F. Kennedy said, “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” Leadership is a quality found in many characters of writer. In Neal Shusterman’s Unwind, Connor is a main character that found direction and became a great leader. Unwind is a story that takes place in future America. The unwinding process takes place from the ages of thirteen to eighteen. During this time, kids are able to be unwound and harvested for their body parts. Kids will not die but they will live in a divided state. Connor is one of the main characters in Unwind. From the moment Connor was introduced, he was a ticking time bomb that could explode at anytime. As the story progressed, however, he learned to control these emotions,

Brown made many violent attacks through his long attempt to end slavery. One of Brown's rather horrific attacks was the murder of five pro-slavery settlers in the Pottawatomie Creek. It was once stated that brown did this act of violence out of rage, and it

The Civil War was a time full of many sad and terrible things. One of the most terrible things was slavery. Slavery was a big issue during the time. It was something many people argued about and the abolishing of it even became the goal of the Civil War. People who opposed slavery, abolitionists, fought and spoke out against slavery throughout the country. Some were more successful than others. I believe wasn’t successful as other abolitionist during his time because he was too quick to anger, he was probably insane; and he was financially irresponsible.

Michael Wigglesworth’s poem, “The Day of Doom” describes the ideals of Judgement Day; when at last, the Puritans would meet and be tried before God. This poem was arguably one of the most prevalent pieces of literature at the time of its release. Puritan principles regarding fearing God were recurrent in texts aimed toward people of all ages. A workbook known as The New England Primer, was geared towards teaching young readers not only about reading, but about the fundamentals of their faith. The New England Primer assists in explaining Michael Wigglesworth’s poem, “The Day of Doom,” through the concepts of original sin, depravity, providence, and absolute sovereignty.

“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

This is when his mission started to become more and more violent. Brown published an essay instructing African Americans to stay together to resist this new law. He ordered them to even if it took killing the slave catchers, that’s what they had to do. He formed an armed resistance against the Fugitive Slave Law. Brown’s United League recruited 44 African Americans. Following this, the Kansas-Nebraska Act surfaced, which allowed settlers to decided whether or not to be free or to practice slavery. Then, in order to achieve the southern support in the 1856 Democratic presidential nomination, Stephen Douglas proposed to divide the new territory into two. This meant that Kansas, since it was in the more southern of the two territories, would be made into a slave state. This would lead to the start of an organized militia against slavery.

Howard Thurman removes the window dressing in the African American experience of segregation in America. Thurman in his book, “The Luminous Darkness” paints an obscure portrait that delved deep into the consciousness of Black men, women and children freshly freed from chattel slavery. Two hundred years of slavery and one hundred years of darkness seeping into each soul perpetuated by an evil explained only through the Word of God. Although this book was published in the 60’s, the stigma segregation continues resonate in the souls of those who remember and perhaps even in the souls of those who do not.

The role John Brown played the Civil War began in Kansas with his leading a "guerilla attack" on five pro-slavery men, on May 24, 1856. The targeted men were dragged, one after the other, from their homes and brutally murdered (Schultz, Mays, Winfree, 2010). The encounters were organized with the intention to rid the Pottawatomie creek area of all pro-slavery men that lived there (historynet.com). The strategy was designed as a counter attack for the Lawrence incident against abolitionists three days previously. The term "Bleeding Kansas" refers to the outbreak of violence the area experienced and suffered through. The division of Kansas at this time, half abolitionist and half pro-slavery, had caused a terrible friction throughout the territory.

The book Seize the Storm, is written by Michael Cadnum. I chose this book because my dad actually read this book and told me about it a few years earlier, and found it in the library and it looked cool so why not choose this book. The title of the book “Seize the Storm” just sounds like that would be a great book, which it was, plus the cover looked very cool.

Michael Wigglesworth was a man of deep Puritan faith and his 1662 poem “The Day of Doom” serves as the perfect encapsulation of the beliefs he led his life by. Wigglesworth would achieve much in his life to be proud of; despite this he was a man prone to self-loathing. Wigglesworth was burdened with the tremendous weight of self-imposed guilt that was only exasperated dramatically by the rigidness of the Puritan belief system. Original sin, predestination, and limited atonement are three of the many tenants of Puritan faith on which Wigglesworth built his infamous poem. No piece of American literature better acts as a window into a time when Puritan law ruled the land than does Wigglesworth’s

Carlo Ginzburg’s The Night Battles and his use microhistory within are interesting to analyze. Ginzburg’s use of only a few records to make historical points is admirable and he does so as well as one could. However, to be frank, in my opinion much of what he chooses to alert the reader to concerning primary resources is unnecessary. This could be resulting from the limited abundance of archives he has access to. Historical conclusions he attempts to make and defend border on simple summaries of primary resources and restating the obvious. Considering his academic objective is by nature difficult, it would be understandable to a point, but much of The Night Battles is actually just summary after summary of interrogation that are not followed