John Brown Dbq

John Brown, a hero in the eyes of Northern extremists, his actions supposedly justified by God and the lives of five people which he stole. When John Brown and group of supporters attacked Harpers Ferry that killed a total of five men, it caused a controversial conflict of impressions towards him to this today. Brown’s exact intentions for abolishing slavery is vaguely known, but being a white male with all his rights and privilege, why was John Brown was so passionate about ending slavery if it wasn’t affecting him? Regardless, John Brown ended up killing five different men, and caused terror amongst others, the amount of people killed does not differ the effects it has caused to others. While some see John Brown as a fighter, the use of

Those who were labeled as slaves were sick of the mistreatment and the absence of their rights in which were diminished. For instance, Frederick Douglass, who was born into slavery lived through harsh, gruesome conditions. When Douglass was nearly whipped to death, he fought back against his owner, Mr. Covey (Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 568). Defense, Frederick used defense to save himself from the approach of death, he resisted and fought back for a reason, he could not allow his time of death to come without fighting. Further on, once becoming a free man, Douglass proceeded in raising awareness, he used his voice, his knowledge, to awake the people on what was happening, allowing them to understand that slavery must be unlawful. Douglass was able to come out with the North Star newspaper, which was one of his greatest accomplishments as an abolitionist. It gave the attention that Frederick wanted in order to take the steps in order to abolish slavery. If Frederick Douglass was able to use the power of his voice and words as a Black man who was disregarded, then it would have not been necessary for John Brown who has privilege and power to use extreme violence to get what he

John Brown understood what he was dealing with and who he was dealing with; he knew that if violence was not used, the South would not feel threatened, thus furthering the ideology of slavery. Brown being tired of waiting, he knew he needed to act quickly before slavery would get worse, or because of his selfish deeds like the North taking control over Congress instead of the South. However, such excuse is not justifiable since many like Frederick Douglass were able to use the power of words in order to spread justice. The fact alone that Brown was a white male gave him a step forward for change, but despite his power, he chose the path to bloodshed. On the other hand, Douglass was an African American in which he was shut down by many just because of his race. Nonetheless, he knew how to use his voice to raise awareness for the conditions that him and others have gone through. Being have lived a harsher life and his rights were neglected, Frederick Douglass’ words played a major role in improving his rights and the rights of others. When someone who lacks rights and is downgraded by society is able to speak up to change an ideology without the necessity of violence, then someone like Brown who has his rights and privileges as a white person, specifically a white male has a greater chance in making a greater change for