RC1

Robert C
Mr. R
Social Studies 8-4
2 February 2016
John Brown
John Brown, a failed, bankrupt businessman was a white abolitionist born in Connecticut
and raised in Ohio. According to Fredrick Douglass interview of John Brown, [Brown] was not
opposed to the shedding of blood [for abolition] The Douglas interview also drew that Brown
wanted to defame slavery, believed that slaves could gain freedom in any way, believed that
moral persuasion was not the answer to slaver, and he had a plan set in mind as a solution. Even
though he was white, he strongly believed that blacks should have the same freedoms as whites.
Some consider him to be a martyr as per his execution for slavery, and some consider him as a
madman who stained abolition.
According to the Townsley in the American Citizen, Brown orchestrated an attack on
some pro-slavery men in Pottowatomie, Kansas in 1856. Browns militia, including Townsley
(the writer of the account of the Repulican Citizen). The militia utilized broadswords and some
guns to execute the pro-slavery people. This Pottowatomie Massacre was an act of terrorism
on the symbol of slavery. According to Mahala Doyle, the wife of Old Doyle and mother of two
pro-slavery sons, casualties of the massacre, stated that they did not own any slaves Needless to
say, Mahala felt contempt for Brown, as he murdered three of her family members.
According to the Harpers Ferry Overview, Brown planned a capture of Harpers Ferry,
an arsenal in antebellum Virginia (now West Virignia) on October 16, 1859. His raiding party of
21 men took the armory, arsenal, and many federal weapons. However, the plan foiled when

RC2
townspeople and militia men were excited by the ringing of church bells cut off Browns routes
for escape, according to the Overview of Harpers Ferry. Browns ultimate plan for the seized
weapons were to arm slaves and to cause slave insurrections in Tennessee and cause a sectional
crisis for abolition. His plan failed, as he was arrested and many men in his party were killed.
According to the Overview of Harpers Ferry, Brown was put in a Virginian court and
was found guilty for murder, conspiracy, and treason because of the attack on Harpers Ferry and
was sentenced to death by hanging. Browns final speech stated his intentions to completely
liberate slavery instead of violent insurrection for no apparent aim, stating, If it is deemed
necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice and mingle my
blood with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked,
cruel, and unjust enactments, I say let it be done. Douglass, in 1881, delivered an oration on the
legacy of Browns work for abolition, stating, WhenJohnBrownstretchedforthhisarmthesky
wascleared.Thetimeforcompromiseswasgonethearmedhostsoffreedomstoodfacetoface
overthechasmofabrokenUnionandtheclashofarmswasathand.TheSouthstakedallupon
gettingpossessionoftheFederalGovernment,andfailingtodothat,drewtheswordofrebellion
andthusmadeherown,andnotBrown's,thelostcauseofthecentury."JohnBrownwas
survivedbyhisenduringtrialsforabolition.