Analysis Of Midnight Rising By Tony Horwitz

In “Midnight Rising,” Tony Horwitz grips works of history that prod essential and enduring American themes of race, faith, individualism, violence, and social justice. Horwitz’s book breaks down the life of John Brown, an antislavery warrior. John Brown was raised in a very strong in his Calvinism faith that was instilled in him by his father, Owen Brown. Owen Brown made sure that John was raised properly with a strong heart of faith in Calvinism. Calvinism is “a faith ever vigilant against sin and undue attachment to the things of this world (9).” As depicted in Horwitz’s book, John took the Calvinism beliefs very seriously, and even mentions, “He was marked in ways that would set him on the road to rebellion at Harpers Ferry (9).” Much of

However, neither one of these events stopped Brown in his tracks to lead such large antislavery movements. The second and third part of “Midnight Rising” explain the how Brown was not the lone gunman, but as a group effort of remarkable activists and idealists who join Brown on his crusade, which happen to include Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Tubman. Within the band of men and women against slavery, three of Brown’s sons and his 16-year-old daughter acted with John Brown to create the raid of Harpers Ferry. The raid was the climax of Horwitz’s book in Brown’s attempt to free and arm slaves. The last part of the book describes how the town of Harpers Ferry looked after the raid was over, and what was to be done with all the activists that were a part of the raid though not part of the army. Brown’s raid very much shocked and split the nation, though on a positive note, paved the way for Lincoln to become president; and it pushed the U.S. toward the civil

Conflict surrounds each one of us in our everyday life. However, some individuals are more vocal about their beliefs and take action, while others watch on the sidelines. The civil war was not supposed to happen, yet growing tension between the south’s and north’s economies will very much cause a large conflict. As seen in Brown’s actions, his faith a lot to do with the way he viewed the world around him, and he pushed it to an extreme of raiding the Harpers Ferry armory. In trying to argue this theory, many historians look towards the Jim Crow laws that were used in the South. Their new theory is that people started pointing fingers; minorities pushed everyone into the war. The historians also look into the new idea of secession in which the state decides that they no longer want to be a part of the country. In addition, historians also look at the election, and how it could have possibly started the war. Personally, I think the United States was growing too fast for the government to keep control of the new land. In addition, everyone wanted to keep the other party happy in some way. However, the south didn’t want to accept change, yet the north had taken it on in full. This caused the rift between the south and the