A radical abolitionist named John Brown sparked the conflict and diversity between the

slavery supporters and the non-slavery supporters. He started this diversity and conflict with the

raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859. Brown and his men stormed the federal armory, seizing the

weapons and ammo inside it. Within thirty-six hours, Brown and his men were captured and

killed, failing the attack of Harper’s Ferry. Even though his attack failed, the incident divided the

nation between the north, who recognized Brown as a “prophet of righteousness” (1), and the

south, who saw Brown as the “embodiment of all their fears” (1). With the nation divided

deeply, tension began to rise, eventually leading to the American Civil War and the complete

abolishment …show more content…
I believe

that John Brown is not a terrorist and is a revolutionary instead, trying to overthrow the Southern

controlled government and the institution of slavery.

First, to show that John Brown is not a terrorist, I will explain what really defines

someone to be a true terrorist. There is no real certain definition of terrorism that is universally

accepted, making terrorism have a very open and wide definition. Some definitions of terrorism

can be like Finkelman’s, who wrote “Terrorist seek to “terrify” people and strike fear in the mind

of those at whom their terror is directed” (1). Finkelman also comments that this “is not a

Schwartz 2

complete definition” of terrorism at all. Another definition of terrorism, which comes from the

United States Department of Defense, defines terrorism as, “the calculated use of unlawful

violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate

governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or

ideological” (terrorism-research.com). These two definitions are similar in some ways, …show more content…
After holding it for a few

days, Brown and his group were captured. They did not kill anyone during this raid and even

though it was unsuccessful, it sparked the beginning of the end of slavery and divided the nation.

After all of this, how do we decide if John Brown was a terrorist or not? Terrorists seek

to terrify whoever their target is by using fear and violence against them. I believe John Brown

was not trying to this, rather trying to start a revolution to get rid of slavery all together. When

raiding Pottawatomie Creek and Harpers Ferry, he did not want to kill everyone in his way. He

spared Mrs. Doyle and her other son, even though they identified Brown at his trial. Brown was

even worried about who would take care of the sick Mrs. Doyle. What would a modern terrorist

do if he was in the same situation? He would have killed everyone, no matter who they were.

Also, while performing these raids, they used swords and knives to keep quiet and not cause and

commotion, while a terrorist would cause all sorts of chaos and destruction to terrify the people

around. Finkelman proves that Browns behavior is not terrorist-like, writing “While in