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 taught by his father that while slavery did have an upside as to the invention of the cotton gin, it was still a sin in the eyes of god (4). Being told this by his father growing up, put this idea that slavery is bad and has a slight jump in his journey into becoming an abolitionist because constantly being told something will make you only see things one way, leading to him wanting to put an end to slavery. Owen and his son John Brown, stayed with a landlord when Owen won a contract to provide beef for the man. During the night John witnessed a young slave around his age get beat with a shovel right in front of his eyes traumatizing him (4). This is when he claimed to be transformed into “a most determined Abolitionist” and declared “eternal war” with slavery (4). Brown
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
Referred to as a “antislavery zealot” by some and as a “heroic hand” by others, John Brown was certainly one who stained history with blood. John Brown’s conduction of anti-slavery raids to fight “fire with fire”, triggered by his radical ways to fight the tyranny that was slavery,Brown impacted the whole country. During this time most anti-slavery supporters were peaceful and only tried to fight slavery “morally”, however John Brown lead many anti slavery raids his most famous and the one which he would have to pay with his life being, the Harpers Ferry Raid. The seizing of federal armory and arsenal with a group of men with just a mere hope of the local slave population helping him in order to reach success and create a nation wide effect failed miserably when the slavery population frightened did not join his raid. Captured, John Brown delivered one of the most enticing and alluring speech during his trial, his last speech, his address to the court in which he admits his actions in his “crusade” to fight slavery as well as patronizingly accepts his punishment without regret or remorse. In his speech he address one objection, being that if he was fighting on behalf of the rich, high class and those who supported and benefited from the tyrant slavery system,he would have been rewarded and praised instead of punished, proving that once again the tyrant, oppresing, racist and discriminating federal government was being run by bias men who aimed to keep the inhuman hierarchy
John Brown was a cold-blooded killer. Although John was trying to abolish slavery, violence was not the way to go. According to Robert E. Lee according to Robert E. Lee., John killed a lot of men. He killed 10 raiders, and captured 7. Although they were people who were for slavery, she should have never killed them. Martin Luther King didn't like slavery either but he found another way to stop it and that was by his protesting not killing. According to Fredrick Douglas, John's plan to abolish slavery was not that appealing. I don't think John was looking at both sides of things. I think all John was thinking was kill people who are for slavery but he didn't think about he could abolish slavery with his words and not his swords. According to
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.
As John got older, things changed and he wanted to start his own slave rebellion. He wanted people to image what kind of person he really was, and what he wanted to change. Breanna Wolford 5/9/17 Freedom Fighter Essay John Browns actions at Pottawatomie Creek and at Harpers Ferry may cause people to claim he is a terrorist but if you dig deeper, you will find it was just acts of a freedom fighter. On May 21, 1856 John Brown and his men invaded two cabins, and brutally murdered slave owners and civilians. One of the men he killed was James Doyle. I believe that the events that took place at Pottawatomie Creek were justified, because at the raid of Harpers Ferry they did not fire on civilians unlike Pottawatomie Creek which I feel he knew they should have not fired in civilians at the first attack therefore that is why he did not kill civilians at Harpers Ferry. John Brown felt obligated to abolish slavery for good. John had to get done what he had to do because he wanted to get it through to people that slavery was wrong. Furthermore this is why I believe John Brown was a freedom
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”.
Slavery was held out until 1865, but during this time period abolitionist are trying to do anything to stop slavery. The reason being is because slavery wasn’t slavery anymore. Slavery was beginning to become more advance due to technological innovation. The Abolitionist are people that were against slavery and would boycott anything to get rid of slavery. The argument that the Abolitionist had during this time period was its conditions as violating Christian’s principals and rights to equality. The abolishment of slavery was a significant change in the history of slavery, because of all the technological innovation that was making the slaves jobs easier. In the American Revolution war slavery played a role in which they began a sequence of abolishing slavery. Slavery played a role in the American revolutionary war to begin to grant themselves freedom, liberty, and rights. Slavery changed in 1808 due to a bill that abolished the slave trade. The westward expansion divided the nation because the north and the south weren’t coming into agreement of change going on in the United States. The abolitionist had a plan and that plan was to abolish all slavery throughout the whole United States. These are some of the main things that would lead to the abolishment of 1865.
Edmund S. Morgan’s famous novel American Slavery, American Freedom was published by Norton in 1975, and since then has been a compelling scholarship in which he portrays how the first stages of America began to develop and prosper. Within his researched narrative, Morgan displays the question of how society with the influence of the leaders of the American Revolution, could have grown so devoted to human freedom while at the same time conformed to a system of labor that fully revoked human dignity and liberty. Using colonial Virginia, Morgan endeavors how American perceptions of independence gave way to the upswing of slavery. At such a time of underdevelopment and exiguity, cultivation and production of commodities were at a high demand. Resources were of monumental importance not just in Virginia, but all over North America, for they helped immensely in maintaining and enriching individuals and families lives. In different ways, people in colonies like Virginia’s took advantage of these commodities to ultimately establish or reestablish their societies.
In the years from 1600 to 1783 the thirteen colonies in North America were introduced to slavery and underwent the American Revolutionary War. Colonization of the New World by Europeans during the seventeenth century resulted in a great expansion of slavery, which later became the most common form of labor in the colonies. According to Peter Kolchin, modern Western slavery was a product of European expansion and was predominantly a system of labor. Even with the introduction of slavery to the New World, life still wasn’t as smooth as we may presume. Although the early American colonists found it perfectly fine to enslave an entire race of people, they
As the slave population in the United States of America grew to 500,000 in 1176, documenting slavery as part of the American Revolution became increasingly important. America was rooted in slavery; and it contributed to the economy and social structure. The revolution forced citizens of the new nation to be conscious of slavery and its potential dismissal from every day life. Two articles that prove slavery only succeeded because of the false reality that slave owners created and the conformity to this reality by slaves are; George Fitzhugh who defends the proslavery argument and Frederick Douglass who supports a desire for freedom.
John Brown was an African American slave abolitionist who caused much conflict with his radical views to overthrow slavery. One of his many defeats where he tried to defeat slavery with violence was the armed slave rebellion on Harper’s Ferry. “In a speech to the court before his sentencing, Brown stated his actions to be just and God-sanctioned.” Brown lived a life full of dispute; yet it was not until after Harper Ferry where his madness was confirmed. “Brown soon became a hero in the eyes of Northern extremists and was quick to capitalize on his growing reputation.” Brown’s radical abolitionist movements and wicked violent actions on slavery promoted his reputation in the north and were the cherry on the sundae to validate his insanity.
Slavery, especially in America, has been an age old topic of riveting discussions. Specialist and other researchers have been digging around for countless years looking for answers to the many questions that such an activity provided. They have looked into the economics of slavery, slave demography, slave culture, slave treatment, and slave-owner ideology (p. ix). Despite slavery being a global issue, the main focus is always on American slavery. Peter Kolchin effectively illustrates in his book, American Slavery how slavery evolved alongside of historical controversy, the slave-owner relationship, how slavery changed over time, and how America compared to other slave nations around the world.
The history of African-Americans has been a paradox of incredible triumph in the face of tremendous human tragedy. African-American persons were shown much discrimination and were treated as second class citizens in the colonies during the development of the nation. The first set men, women, and children to work in the colonies were indentured servants, meaning they were only required to work for a set amount of years before they received their freedom. Then, in 1619 the first black Africans came to Virginia. With no slave laws in place, they were initially treated as indentured servants, a source of free labor, and given the same opportunities for freedom dues as whites. However, slave laws were soon passed – in Massachusetts in
In 1688 the first American movement was the one to abolish slavery when the German and Quakers decent in Pennsylvania. The Quakers establishment had no immediate action for the Quaker Petition against slavery. The first American abolition society was the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully by the Quakers that had strong religious objections of slavery. In 1756 John Woolman gave up his business to campaign against slavery along with other Quakers. Thomas Paine was the first to write an article about the United States abolition of slavery and it was titled “African Slavery in America”.