When Brown was 55 he moved with his sons to Kansas territory after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 overrode the Missouri Compromise, which resulted in the strict ban of slavery above a certain latitude. This was a huge deal to both pro-slavery and anti-slavery fighters for before this act was passed the United States only consisted of twenty-two states which were divided among the two groups of fighters. Winning this territory for slavery, or for those against it, could really make a statement. During the settling of Kansas the events of violent acts that occurred during the period (1855) is referred to as “Bleeding Kansas”. Violence pursued throughout the year 1855.
John Brown was an abolitionist who wanted to get rid of slavery in Kansas. When John Brown was 55, he moved to Kansas and played a role in “Bleeding Kansas”. Afterward, he was involved in other events like “The Sacking and Lawrence”, and “The Pottawatomie Massacre”, the last thing he was particularly a part of was the “Raid on Harpers Ferry”. This topic is important because John Brown has done many things for the cause of abolishing slavery. While some people think what he did was heroic, others may think he was a villain.
His father, Owen Brown, who was “a committed pacifist”, was passionately opposed to slavery, which heavily influenced John Brown to become an abolitionist (Horwitz, 2011, p.19). John Brown is described as “a warrior at heart”, who was focused on the task to “undermine slavery (Horwitz, 2011, p.19, 31). This obsession to terminate slavery was his inspiration throughout all the skirmishes he fought in and slaves he helped free. The most infamous battle was his raid on Harper’s Ferry, where he was captured, trialed, and later hung. This battle is believed to be a major
On October 16, 1859, John Brown lead twenty-one men, made up of both white and black men, to attack a federal armory at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Brown’s plan was to steal weapons to give to freed slaves nearby and then return back to the mountains to do more raids to free more slaves. To do this, Brown and his men stopped man trains and took over many bridges to stop all people from coming in and stopping them. After this, Brown’ men got to the federal armory and took the weapons and captured hostages. John Brown thought that if the story got out about the weapons he stole, slaves would rebel against their slave owners and run away to meet him to join the fight.
John Brown DBQ Response John Brown and other famous abolitionist took part in what is now known as the raid on Harper’s Ferry. Which started as way to inspire slaves to revolt, but ended up with the death of John Brown and a few others. Some people think of John Brown as a crazy murderer. Although others, such as myself, think of him as a “misguided fanatic.” In other words, according to dictionary.com, misguided means misled or mistaken and fanatic means a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm. John Brown was a “misguided fanatic” because he stood up for what he thought was right even if nobody else did.
Let’s set the scene and say that there were people in 1859 being held captive as slaves and they were given weapons by a man called John Brown. He is now telling them to go and start a revolt against slavery. This is a true story of what happened in 1859. John Brown was a well-known abolitionist who wanted everyone to have the same rights and freedom. “He got into many brutal conflicts with pro-slavery groups”(Overview) and tried to kill many people.
The second reason, John Brown led a revolt. “These men are all talk, what we need is action, action!” John Brown said before He and his men (in October 16, 1859) raided the Federal Arsenal armory, and as a result, shook the south. Upon hearing he was going to be hung he stated: “…if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments--I submit; so let it be done!”
John Brown was either seen as a Hero or a villain. That is why he is a significant person in this time period. He had great intentions to stop slavery in his time. The fact that they viewed him as a villain was because he was one of the few white men that finally decide to take action and help slaves from their terrible slave lives. Basically, John Brown had a plan to invade the South and free the slaves.
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.
Then in 1855 he travels to Kansas disguised as a Free-Soiler with his sons and in May 24th, 1856 he ordered his men to brutally kill five proslavery believers. This event riled up the abolitionists and sent a message to the Southern states. According to document B “Last Meeting Between Frederick Douglass and John Brown” John Brown is a hero because he was willing to give his life in order to hijack the armory in Virginia and help the slaves revolt against slavery by using those weapons. For example it states, “He thought that the capture of Harper’s Ferry would serve as notice to the slaves that their friends had come, and as a trumpet to rally them.” “…Convinced me that he was going into a perfect steel-trap, and that once in he would never get out alive.”
By the time he got to his 50's, he saw that slavery was not going to end peacefully. This led to an obsession with the idea of serving justice to black people and slaves. John Brown figured that the only way for it to end was for him to go and use force on white slave owners, which consisted of him killing them or hurting them and forcing them to give up their slaves. During this obsession with anti slavery, Brown planned a slave uprising at Harper's Ferry. John Brown started plotting to raid the town of Harper's Ferry and seize guns from the federal armory.
He was an abolitionist who believed that slavery was wrong. The reason why he is guilty is because even though he was just trying to help, he hurt many people in the process. It is understandable that he was just trying to follow through with what he was thinking but he brought innocent people into it. John brown is guilty of three charges. One of three being treason.
Brown knew he was not going to get a peaceful answer, and knew that people were going to die. “No matter how bad the crime of slavery is killing innocent people if they get in the way, or simply killing in general is no way to solve a problem.” ( John Brown guilty or innocent slavery 2 ). John Brown says his mission is to free the slaves, but he kills one African American during the raid. “John Brown kills a black man who was either just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or he was the gate guard for the storehouse.
John Brown was born in Connecticut in Torrington, on May 4, 1800. His parents were Ruth Mills Brown and Owen Brown. He was a very religious man who studied briefly for the ministry but then later relied he wanted to learn about the tanner’s trade. He went on and met his wife Dianthe Lusk in 1820. Throughout the years they had seven kids.
He was doing it for a good cause; he wanted freedom for the slaves. Even though he should be viewed as a visionary, he has also been wrongly been called a terrorist.
