Hero or villain Guilty or innocent? The case of John Brown gets debated and questioned often. But many people don't know what actually happened or the reasons why he is guilty. “ Old John Brown…. agreed with us thinking slavery is wrong, but that cannot excuse violence bloodshed and treason. it could avail him nothing that he might think himself right.”- Abraham Lincoln. Although John Brown was right thinking that slavery is wrong he is still guilty because the law is the law. There are a lot of people who do not see the harm in what John Brown did or think that what he did is justified. John Brown himself states that he thought what he was doing was right and that he would die for what he believes in“ I have a short time to live, only one …show more content…
He was an abolitionist who believed that slavery was wrong. The reason why he is guilty is because even though he was just trying to help, he hurt many people in the process. It is understandable that he was just trying to follow through with what he was thinking but he brought innocent people into it. John brown is guilty of three charges. One of three being treason. Treason is when you go against your country. He demonstrated treason by sneaking into Harpers ferry into the arsenal and stole weapons and then tried to free slaves. So not only did he commit acts of treason but he also stole weapons which is thievery. The second charge is insurrection, which is when someone uprises against a larger force. which he did. The last and final charge was murder. John brown killed many people while he was trying to free the slaves and can be classifies as a terrorist. Although John brown is not still here today he made an impact on history that can never be removed. However history repeats itself and people should be aware of what happened. Most people who do these kind of things do them because of their beliefs and sometimes that can be a good thing and it could change history in a good way. Many people agree with John Brown in the sense that he was right about slavery being wrong but, even so he is guilty for breaking the law.“This is a beautiful country” - said by John Brown on the way to his
Looking at what he has fought for, it’s no doubt that he fought for a noble cause which is the freedom of slavery. John Brown shouldn’t be known as hero or terrorists because of want he has done applies to both sides. John Brown shouldn’t be known as a terrorist or a national hero because of his violent attack and raids. After, September 11, 2001 John Brown has been called a terrorist which has caused controversy about Brown’s legacy and reputation. Furthermore, in the article, The 9/11 of 1859 says, “He led 21 men all but two in their 20s, and many of them radicalized by guerilla fighting in Bleeding Kansas, the abolitionists’ Afghanistan”(Horowitz).
Treason, the act betraying one’s country or attempt to overthrow the government. John Brown did no such thing as a peaceful approach would gain nothing. Document B: Last Meeting Between Frederick Douglass and John Brown; Although the plan to attack a Federal Arsenal was “a measure to be fatal” according to Frederick Douglass. Despite the fact of taking the peculiar measures to end slavery, Brown still went through with his plans. When Brown and his men were either killed or captured people had mixed thoughts and feelings toward them.
He brutally kills many innocent people just because they are in his way. Although John Brown tries to end slavery, which is a good deed, he does use violence, and murder people who are innocent; therefore, John Brown is guilty of murder, treason, and insurrections. John Brown not only starts a very violent insurrection, almost like a war. He also brutally murders people who are just in his way. Insurrection means a violent uprising against authority.
This is very similar to how slavery and reconstruction are treated in history textbooks, by trying to hide racism and whitewashing history. John Brown’s case is significant because it shows how textbooks hide antiracism, such as Brown’s, along with racism. Directly after Brown’s death and continuing through the Civil War, John Brown was looked at as hero, and not only by blacks but by the entire North. Union soldiers marched into battle singing about how they were
The topic of John Brown is controversial, because no one knows how to label him due to his violent actions, which involved the killings of multiple people. During the 1830s various antislavery activities were attempted, but to no avail did it work. Brown introduced a new method which involved the combination of violence with the idea of freeing slaves. Even with the people who preached for anti-slavery were not as unique as Brown. Unlike most said abolitionists at that time, Brown became friends with the blacks and slaves he came across and got to know them as a person.
John Brown was an abolitionist who believed armed insurrection was the only way to overcome slavery. His raid on Harpers Ferry would affect many people's views on slavery. He had done many other acts against slavery before the raid. Even though his raid was not a success, it still had an impact on the beginning of the civil war. Brown’s was a known abolitionist even before his raid on Harpers Ferry.
While doing this he helped the lives of many people and animals. Overall looking back on the situation this was all for the best and as long as all of this had a good end that's all that matters it doesn't matter if Cinderella had rude stepsisters and a horrible stepmother because in the end she got her prince and that was all that mattered to her. All that mattered to john brown was slaves to be free. Even if it took a few years and a few lives being spared he finally had a happy ending if only he was alive to see it. And he helped future generations.
This is showing that instead of using his representatives to help free slaves in Congress, but instead he used violence. Then John Brown went to a proslavery town October 16, 1859 and killed five settlers with twenty-one men with him on another raid. The raids John Brown went on was an act of terrorism.
John Brown was a radical abolitionist who believed that the only way to end the institution of slavery in the United states is through a violent insurrection--Truly he was a man of Action. Born on the 9th of May 1800, John Brown, who hailed in Torrington, Connecticut was born into an extremely religious christian family who ardently opposed slavery. From his youth it was instilled in him that slavery was wrong. Thus, this belief is what eventually led him to host several violent attacks in the means of putting an end to slavery. In October 1859, together with 21 followers, two of which his sons, John brown instigated an unsuccessful raid to a federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.
He saw the wrong in owning slaves. He believed what he was doing and what he believed in was right not wrong. He was hung with the pleasure of knowing he made an impact on the world. John Brown tried very hard to do anything to please god and free slaves.
When thinking of black history month and how so many people fought for the rights of African American people, most of think of patriarchs like Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, but how many of us know of the feats done by people like Claudette Colvin or Noble Drew Ali? Many people such as them go unheard of during this time of year and yet, they have accomplished such high feats considering what they went through. Being a minister and a politician who denounced racism like Henry McNeal Turner or the protests that prisoned Soledad Brothers began have not been recognized for so long and its time to remind people of what they have done. Many feats have been done, such as leading a revolt against a police station that refused to do the law services to a black family in need or the case of going against imperial influence from Britain. You can only wonder who else went unnoticed.
In the United States, during the eighteen-hundreds’, a small group of people believed that slavery was immoral and did many things to abolish it. John Brown, a Caucasian male who was part of this group of people, did two things that many people in United States history didn’t have the passion to do. John Brown’s life was very interesting: His early life and transition to adulthood, his decision to fight for the cause, his actions of violence in Kansas and Harper’s Ferry, along with, the long-lasting effects of these actions led to his hanging. These events were pivotal to the beginning of the Civil War. “John Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut, on May 9, 1800, five months after the death of George Washington”(Marrin,7).
“They then took my husband away…A lady who saw my husband’s body, said that there was a gash in his head and in his side; others said that he was cut in the throat twice.” (Source 10) John Brown was an abolitionist during the period known as “Bleeding Kansas”. Meaning he wanted to abolish slavery. He went to great extents to try and stop slavery, even murder. It is argued that John Brown is either a hero or a villain.
John Brown was wounded, sent to jail, and was put on trial for treason. Brown was later found guilty and hung, but used the national media attention to put the country on trial for slavery and he became known as a martyr for the anti-slavery cause. His actions caused slaveholders to fear more rebellions and labeled all Republicans as radical abolitionists who wanted to instigate violent rebellions. An anti-slavery book written by abolitionist Harriet Beech Stower was a sentimental story highlighting the realities of slavery, including being sold down the river, breaking up slave families, slaves running away towards Canada, white supremacy, racism, the cruelty of slave masters, and sexual exploitations. This was a best-selling novel
George Fitzhugh claimed that "The Negro slaves of the South are the happiest the freest people in the world." (Document H). John Brown a major person in the fight to end slavery "led a band of 18 men into Virginia to seize the federal arsenal there, distribute the captured arms to slaves in the area, and create a general slave uprising." (Document I).John Brown was executed and the aftermath of his death made tensions rise betwwen the North and South. "