John Brown was a zealous abolitionist who was responsible for the killing of five pro-slavery men at Pottawatomie Creek in 1856. Five years later, he returned after fleeing to Canada and attempted to raid the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Numerous people, especially Southerners, viewed Brown as a cold-blooded terrorist for his violent actions. However, Brown was also defended by those who saw him as an honorable martyr. I am convinced that Brown was both a martyr and terrorist because he terrorized others for political gain, but he died fighting for the abolishment of slavery. Clearly, John Brown easily fits into the category of a terrorist since he is well-known for assaults on proslavery citizens. In general, a terrorist is someone …show more content…
Shortly after the conflict at Harpers Ferry was resolved, “Brown was convicted of treason and murder and was sentenced to hang” (TAJ, 553). His death issued a plethora of different reactions and outrage. For instance, many were relieved that Brown would no longer be able to continue his insane schemes against slavery. Even Northerners criticized Brown for not choosing to oppose slavery in a peaceful manner. Others, like Ralph Waldo Emerson, “...called Brown a martyr-a person who dies for a cause he believes in” (TAJ, 553). There is no doubt that Brown died a fervent and persistent abolitionist. He may have been reckless and very impulsive but he opposed slavery until the very end. Given these points, John Brown was a martyr because he was executed for taking unlawful actions against slavery. In short, John Brown was an abolitionist who faced severe consequences for attempting to solve the issue of slavery through fists and guns instead of words. He intended to terminate slavery and put tremendous effort into doing so, but his actions were aggressive and resulted in the deaths of many, which identifies Brown as a terrorist. Because of his deeds, he was punished and died believing in his cause, which deems him as a martyr. Therefore, Brown was a terrorist and a
I think John Brown was a hero, because he tried to find ways to free slaves. Even though he killed people or got people killed in the process, he still was trying his best to help free slaves. Supplying the slaves with weapons was a good idea, but did not turn out they way he wanted. Everyone messes up, but he still had this plan to try and help free slaves.
John Brown has made a point that defends him from being called a terrorist. Furthermore, in the article, Last Speech, John Brown says, “I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or make insurrection.” As a result of this speech this make Brown seem like a national because he says he never intended murder. Also Brown after this speech makes the government look like the bad guy and make his execution even more one sided. John Brown has claims against him that make him look as bad as a terrorist.
He kills many people who just are in his way. On the night of May 24, 1856, the radical abolitionist John Brown, five of his sons, and three other associates murders five proslavery men brutally with knives and swords. Just four years later, he seizes the arsenal at the Harpers Ferry, take weapons from there, and destruct many properties of the town. By destructing properties and murdering many innocent people, he starts a guerrilla war. He kills many people and scares many others.
rown, DeNeen L. “’Unflinching’: The Day John Brown Was Hanged for His Raid on Harpers Ferry.” Washington Post, 2 Dec. 2017. Biography in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A516991331/BIC1?u=phil69288&xid=44886567. Accessed 21 Jan. 2018.
In 1859, Brown was captured and convicted “when he and 21 followers seized the federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to foment a large-scale slave rebellion.” (Jesse Greenspan, History Stories). He was hanged at the age of 59. He risked his family and gave his life in order to fuel the correction of the racist and inhumane act of
He was the man that raided Harper’s ferry leading to the start of the civil war. He was excecuted in 1859 at the age of 59 and his body now rest at the John Brown Farm and grave site in Lake Placid, New York. We believe that the acts of John Brown were acts of terroism because of the ways he handled the situations. In Kansas John Brown and his sons led an attack on pro slavery residents in that area. John Brown and his sons killed 5 pro slavery residents and claimed that it was god’s will.
This would end up helping the abolitionist movement. Like any martyr, he wanted to have powerful words that would inspire people. On the day of his execution, he handed his jailer a note. The note read, “I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with Blood. I had as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done (Marrin 136).”
In 1859 Brown wanted to take revenge after forces stormed the town of Lawrence in the Kansas territory. He abducted and murdered five pro slavery settlers, known as the Pottawatomie massacre. He became famous for attempting to raid the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, so that he could use the weapons to free enslaved African Americans. In doing so he failed and was captured and sentenced to death. He justified his views by saying it was the right thing to do, others thought of it as a “noble
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.
John Brown was a man with a strong hatred for slavery who tried to lead a rebellion against it. After this he was called a “misguided fanatic” by Abraham Lincoln. Which leaves the question, was John Brown a “misguided fanatic”? I think John Brown was a misguided fanatic, or according to dictionary.com a, mistaken person with an extreme, uncritical enthusiasm, because he was so set in his rebellion that his mind couldn’t be changed even when told his plan wouldn’t go well, and although he was told his actions would be fatal he went on to do so . In The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Douglass states that there was no changing Brown
Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut, on May 9th, 1800, and he later died on December 2nd, 1859. He is most well known for his violent attempts to end slavery, like the instance of “Bleeding Kansas” in 1856. John Brown was said to have based his role in the abolition of slavery on his religious beliefs and values, as his faith greatly influenced him. When Brown was away from his family, he would frequently write letters to his wife-at-the-time, Mary Ann Day, and 20 children, explaining to them where he was, what he was doing, and most unbelievably, how he was remaining joyful and evermore faithful in the Lord. Brown wrote a letter to his family when he first discovered he was to be hung, and in his letter he wrote; “ I am, besides, quite cheerful, having (as I trust) "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding," to "rule in my heart," and the testimony (in some degree) of a good conscience that I have not lived altogether in vain.
This is a big deal because blacks were not given the respect that they deserved, however, this was one moment. His legacy does not portray the respect that he had for blacks or slaves but instead his legacy is violence. Source 2 has a letter from Mahala Doyle. She writes “I do feel gratified to hear that you were stopped in your fiendish career at harper’s ferry… [For you] entered my house at midnight and arrested my husband and two boys, and took them out of the yard and in cold blood shot them dead in my hearing.”
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).
Nick Baxter What caused the Civil War? DBQ The Civil War was caused by three main reasons are economic differences, interpretation of Constitution, and moral beliefs. The North and the South were very different economically.
On May 24, 1856, John Brown lead a group of men to a house near Pattawatomie Creek. The house was home to a family who supported slavery. In the middle of the night John’s men forced five unarmed men out of the house and cruelly killed them using long