...John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, also known as John Brown's raid or the raid on Harpers Ferry, was conducted by fanatical abolitionist John Brown and twenty-one followers in October 1859. It is considered one of the major events that led to the American Civil War. Brown was born in a staunchly Calvinist and antislavery family in Torrington, Connecticut, in 1800. His father was strongly opposed to slavery. When John was five, his father relocated the family to Ohio, a district that would become known for its antislavery views. There, his father “served as a conductor with the ‘Underground Railroad’” (Fredriksen 937). He “embraced his parent’s strident abolitionist views toward slavery” (937). Despite his numerous economic problems, he constantly...
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...There were four major events that ultimately led to the southern states seceding from the union, the two most important that I believe affected this decision were Lincoln’s election in 1860, and John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry. Both of these issues were like the straw that broke the camel’s back. The first event was John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry. On October 17, 1859, John Brown led 22 men, both white and black; one of which was an escaped slave, to Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Harpers Ferry was a military outpost that had an arsenal as well as a rifle works. Brown hoped that the local slave population would join in the raid and through the raid success that he could supply slaves and freedom fighters weapons throughout the country. That’s...
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...April 30, 2013 To Define a Man Such as John Brown It has been over one hundred and fifty years since John Brown and his army of twenty men swooped into Harpers Ferry, trying to execute their plan that was plotted in secret and launched in the dark. Since those fateful two days and the following executions many have posed the question: how should they remember John Brown? Was he a bloodthirsty zealot, a vigilante, a terrorist, or a madman? Or was he one of the great heroes of American history, a freedom fighter and martyr to the cause of human liberty? Or was he a prophet foretelling what was to befall the nation? Many people have since stated their opinions, such as Thoreau who calls John Brown a Christ figure, yet we still debate this topic and have no one clear definite answer. After reading some of the information about John Brown I believe him to be a combination of terrorist, martyr, and prophet. Not only does he fulfill the definitions of each label, but there are many examples to support them as well. John Brown was a man who willingly met death and sacrificed himself for his belief in ending slavery. He was also a man not afraid or easily cowed by the use of violence to bring about political change. A terrorist is a person who uses violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims(“terrorist” def. 1) John Brown uses violence multiple times in his pursuit to end slavery. Not only did he use it at Harper’s Ferry, but also at Pottawatomie. In his campaign...
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...Through the use of violence at the Harper Ferry raid, the Pottawatomie Massacre, and the Battle of Osawatomie, John Brown forced the citizens of the US to re-examine the injustices and inequity of slavery enforced by the government. The raid and resulting execution was a major turning point in the abolitionist movement, leading to the use of violence in several previous peaceful abolitionists to push for the end of slavery. His actions reflected his views on the legalized criminality of slavery in his state, but were far overdone, earning him the title of a “misguided fanatic” and overall being considered a villain. In the early 1850’s, Brown earned respect from fellow abolitionists by fighting against proslavery “border Russians.” However, this quickly became violent, and in 1856 at the Pottawatomie Massacre in Kansas, Brown slaughtered five proslavery citizens in the middle of the night. In this single attack, Brown doubled the body count and angered his enemies. If it was his goal to bring about conflict- to act as an accelerant- he accomplished that. The body count in Kansas dramatically increased in the later months, securing the nickname “Bleeding Kansas” for the territory....
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...John Brown’s Speech to the Court John Brown’s short raid of Harper’s Ferry had a large impact on the relations between the North and the South. On October 16, 1859, John Brown randomly raided Harper’s Ferry and attempted to arm and free slaves. Brown’s raid did not last more than 36 hours and ended up being unsuccessful. Unfortunately, in the end, Brown was hanged for his crimes. This caused problems between the North and the South and separated the North and South even more than before. People who lived in the North viewed Brown as a martyr for abolition. While the North saw the nonconformist as a hero, the South was outraged that people saw his destruction as heroism. This proved to the South that the North would use violence if necessary to end slavery and gave the South another excuse to want to secede from the United States. After the Harpers Ferry Raid, sectionalism in the United States became even more prevalent. In the 1950s and 1960s, homophobia was much more common and harsh than it in in modern America. In Greenwich Village in New York City, a series of riots broke out at the Stonewall Inn between members of the LGBT community and police. Members of the LGBT community were upset with the mistreatment and oppression they faced. This is considered to be one of the first events to start the gay liberations and sparked the fight for equal rights in the LGBT community. These riots took place at a police raid at the Stonewall Inn. The Stonewall Inn, a well known safe haven...
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...John Brown: Terrorist or Freedom Fighter? John Brown became a legend of his time. He was a God fearing, yet violent man and slave holders saw him as evil, fanatic, a murderer, lunatic, liar, and horse thief. To abolitionists , he was noble and courageous. Brown’s bravery and military shrewdness in the face of overwhelming odds brought him national attention. After Brown’s execution, Brown is still talked about to this day. Especially with his raid on Harpers Ferry and Pottawatomie Creek. His actions at Harpers Ferry were unintelligent. There was to many men at Harpers Ferry for John Brown and his men to fight. His intent was to get the riffles in Harpers Ferry. That didn’t go as planned. Also his actions at Pottawatomie Creek...
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...Diana L. Arias November 4, 2012 U.S. History to 1877 The Role of John Brown in the Civil War You know how they say for every action there is an equal reaction, well that holds very true in John Brown’s case. For every action he took against slavery there was an equal reaction, or a far worse reaction from his opponents (pro-slavery supporters). What led John Brown to his actions in trying to end slavery? What was the equal or far worse reaction from his pro-slavery opponents? This first action was not taken by John Brown but by Congress and the action was not anti-slavery but pro-slavery the action was The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, was passed by the United States Congress on September 18th 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern free soils. This was one of the most controversial acts of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a slave rebellion. It declared that all runaway slaves were, upon capture, to be returned to their owners/masters. Abolitionists nicknamed it the "Bloodhound Law" for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves. After this was passed by Congress, there was an equal reaction on part of John Brown, he founded a militant group to prevent the capture of runaway slaves, and he called it The League of Gileadites. In the Bible the Mount Gilead was the place where only the bravest of Israelites would gather together to face an invading enemy. Brown on leaving Springfield in...
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...mission can’t be so easily dismissed.”(Horowitz Par 4). John Brown’s drive and violent passion for the abolishment of slavery have been a very controversial topic in many historians thoughts. With his numerous bloody attempts to have equal rights for all slaves, some may define him as a terrorist. But his ambition for the end of slavery and his efforts to reach that goal has made many people believe him as a hero of this nation. John was an abolitionist all his life and never refused to help free-state men in need, He also was...
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...Midnight Risings: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War Written by Tony Horwitz, Midnight Risings: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War is a captivating book that allows the reader to portray the life of John Brown an abolitionist who, a year before the Civil War began, managed to invade the South in hopes of ending slavery. Through the themes of courage and self-sacrifice, the reader is able to realize how committed John Brown was to his cause of ending slavery. Born in May 9, 1800, John was a descendant from puritans as well as known revolutionary soldiers. After the loss of his mother at a very young age not only did he become awkward around women but also followed the footsteps of his father. At the age of 20...
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...fully acknowledge if at all the rights of states to act independently. This was an exponential concern with right of slavery. As America began to expand with the addition of new states from the Louisiana Purchase and the victory of the Mexican War, the fight arose between slave and non-slave state proponents. The Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and Kansas- Nebraska Act of 1854 were all based around the use or freedom of slaves in new territories causing rising tensions between the North and South. The growth of the Abolition movement twisted the nerves of slave owners throughout the south. The movement was influential for abolitionists against slavery that grew especially after the publishing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Raid of Harpers Ferry. The election of Abraham Lincoln was the final straw for slave states. Lincoln was seen as an anti-slavery activist, causing the secession South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,...
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...NAT TURNER and JOHN BROWN SLAVERY There is a lot of stuff that people hate in this world one of the things that I hate the most would have to be slavery. Here are the lives of two men there names are Nat Turner and John Brown. These are the stories of the extraordinary men. Believing in signs and hearing divine voices, Turner had a vision in 1825 of a bloody conflict between black and white spirits. Three years later, he had what he believed to be another message from God. In his later confession, Turner explained "the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent. " Turner would receive another sign to tell him when to fight, but this latest message meant "I should arise and prepare myself and slay my enemies with their own weapons." Turner took a solar eclipse that occurred in February 1831 as a signal that the time to rise up had come. He recruited several other slaves to join him in his cause. On August 21, 1831, Turner and his supporters began their revolt against white...
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...John Brown, a white abolitionist, gave his life and became a martyr for the abolitionist movement when he was hanged for his Harpers Ferry raid. He allowed his violent ways to pave the path towards giving the ultimate heroic sacrifice, his life. With a group of 20 men, 5 of whom were black, Brown would set out to cause a salve uprising that would go down in history. While the raid itself was a failure, Brown helped bring the United States towards its major fight over slavery, the Civil War, by bringing attention to the cause, involving powerful people, and connecting the division between whites and blacks. Brown started to become involved in the abolitionist movement when the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 declared that the states of Utah, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Kansas would determine slavery by popular sovereignty. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was authored by Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. It was created with the idea of offering states more rights, and the “achievement of territorial self-government.” By giving the American people the right to vote on the issue of slavery, the government was taking a step back and allowing the citizens to have a say in what happened to their...
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...30, 2015 Arguments in regard of John Brown NO John Brown was an ardent abolitionist who felt that it was his sacred duty to end slavery. He strongly believed that slavery can only be ended using a violent way of actions. In 1856, he along with his sons, used machetes and broad swords to murder pro-slavery men to death at Pottowattami Creek. They dragged unarmed men and sons to the streets and killed them. On October 1859, Brown and twenty-one followers seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Their intent was to take rifles and start massive insurrection of slavery and eventually spread it among the nation. However, when the raid started not a lot of people were willing to join the rebellion so Brown led a small army of 18 men. Brown didn’t even know what is the next step and didn’t have any escape road, he literally led his men including his four sons to a death road. Brown’s main intent was to seize slaves for the rebellion, although he denied it. John Brown was seen as a terrorist and his violent actions led to the American Civil War. Even though his believes proclaimed a righteous intent his actions were not supporting such way of thinking. He killed lots of men and was going to keep doing so until all four million slaves are going to be freed. But that could not have happened because people couldn't set their minds and couldn't believe that white men is equal to black. This believe was counted as insane and John brown was considered as crazy and violent...
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...John Nix Kevin Thomas Harrel His 105 Section 28 8 December 2009 The Formation of the Confederacy: An Inevitable Occurrence When looking at the history of the United States it is necessary to look at our past in two separate halves: the first half being everything before the Civil War and the second half being everything after the Civil War. With this being said, it can be reasonably argued that the Civil War is one of the most critical events to every happen in our country’s rich history. The devastating war took over half a million American lives in just a little over four years. This tragic event in history, up until Vietnam, claimed more American lives than any other war (Rubin 11). In hindsight it is clear that this war should have been avoided at all cost but during the late 1800’s the tension was so high and hostile that the war was inevitable. Sectionalism had increased so much during that period that even citizens thought of their country divided into two halves, being the North and the South. Each section considered themselves as right and proper while the other as ridiculous and wrong. These tensions kept building until the thought of secession became not a question of if but rather a question of when. According to Cole C. Kingseed, author of The American Civil War, the seeds of the Civil War can be planted as early as the Constitutional Convention of 1787. By the time of the convention five states had already abolished slavery, which made the southern states...
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...the Missouri Compromise, John Brown's raid, and Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. These events had negative and positive impacts. They even played a part in the Civil War. In 1819 the United States consisted of 11 free and 11 slave states. They had a balance, and Missouri had wanted to enter the Union. If Missouri entered as a slave state, the balance would be upset. Later, Maine had wanted to join the Union as a non-slave state. This kept the balance, but, in 1820, the Congress adopted the missouri compromise which stated that Louisiana Territory north of the border would be free of slavery, while south of it would be slave states. This also gave southern slave owners the rights to pursue escaped prisoners in the north, and take them back. Not only was the north mad that anotehr slave state had been permitted, but the south was also angry because Congress was making laws regarding slavery. This led to some of the first disagreements between the north and the south....
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