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John Brown Hypocrisy Analysis

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It must be remembered that, when analyzing history, it is particularly important to keep hypocrisy in check. The double-standard can too often be attributed to negative views of John Brown prominent among some historians. Many of the historians who do not praise John Brown still praise the Founding Fathers of the United States. This is a fundamentally hypocritical position. Many of the Founding Fathers praise the use of violence and rebellion for freedom. Take one of Thomas Jefferson’s famous quotes for instance. In a letter to William Smith, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “what country before ever existed a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the …show more content…

Even though he appeared to fail at Harpers Ferry, he actually won a strategic victory for abolitionism. This was because he handled his jail time and trial expertly. Before his trial, he authored about 100 letters that he sent to family members, editors, and newspapers all around the country (Blight, “The Election of 1860 and the Secession Crisis”). This helped turn his raid into a news sensation. He knew that if he could get the attention of newspapers across the nation, he would ultimately gain the sympathy of many northerners. This would end up helping the abolitionist movement. Like any martyr, he wanted to have powerful words that would inspire people. On the day of his execution, he handed his jailer a note. The note read, “I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with Blood. I had as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done (Marrin 136).” With these words, he prophesied the bloody Civil War that would bring about the end of slavery. He was urging his fellow abolitionists to

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“I felt for a number of years, Brown later wrote in a letter to a young abolitionist, a steady strong desire: to

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John Brown was an abolitionist who was a part of the anti-slavery movement. He led the Harpers Ferry Raid in hopes to ignite a spark in slave uprisings. Brown was not insane for his plans of raiding and supplying slaves with guns from the arsenal. The plan for the raid was not a spontaneous attack.

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Brown led an attack on Harper’s Ferry to help arm slaves. He was executed afterwards. Despite knowing that he would probably die, John Brown was willing to lead this attack on Harper’s Ferry. John Brown’s kids accompanied him on his escapades and they usually died. Again, John Brown knew that his kids would probably die in the violence, but he let them come along because he really wanted abolition to

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“John Brown was known as a madman who used excessive force in order to achieve his goals” says Joseph R. Gilmore, but who was John Brown? John Brown was an abolitionist trying to free slaves, except he did that with so much violence and killing innocent people. It was also later revealed that those weren’t even his true intentions. This information is very important since most people think that he was an amazing person who just wanted to free slaves, but that was not the whole truth. John Brown was a villain because he killed innocent people and took them captive, he lied about everything in court, and he tried to start a civil war.

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There are many American individuals who defy the normal AMerican way of thinking and take certain actions to avoid, improve, or revise the American way of living and thinking. Such thinkers can be peaceful in their methods of reform, while other can take radical extremes. Chris McCandless is a peaceful avoider of the American social norm while John Brown took a very radical route to change the norm in America with his own beliefs. John Brown was an American abolitionist. An abolitionist is an individual who believed that slavery in America should be abolished.

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The persona of John Brown is a mystery. His biography reveals a man who wasdedicated throughout his life to the cause of equality for African Americans, and he wentto the extent of giving his life for it. He was marked as a singular example of a white manwho died for the cause of black freedom. His actions, however insecurely they may have been grounded in reason, undeniably made an impact. His consistency in perpetuating theabolition movement by any means was a major reason for pushing the nation into war.

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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!”

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Many people either think John Brown was a terrorist or a freedom fighter. There are many facts to show both. I believe Brown was a freedom fighter. Evidence Brown was a freedom fighter and not a terrorist. John Brown wanted to fight against slave owners.

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The North thought John Brown was a revolutionary; however, the South thought he was a terrorist. John Brown was a revolutionary for three reasons, he was not fighting for his own personal little wishes, he was fighting for justice, and he knew there was a chance of death. The first reason John Brown is a revolutionary is he was not fighting for his own little wishes. He was fighting for the slaves’ freedom

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Hero or villain Guilty or innocent? The case of John Brown gets debated and questioned often. But many people don't know what actually happened or the reasons why he is guilty. “ Old John Brown…. agreed with us thinking slavery is wrong, but that cannot excuse violence bloodshed and treason.

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He points out personal facts about how he feels when he says, “I often found myself regretting my own existence, and wishing myself dead; and but for the hope of being free, I have no doubt but that I should have killed myself or done something foe which I should have been killed”. The words that he uses explains the emotions that he was going through and to build an appeal to emotions. Throughout the time that he has been expanding his knowledge he runs across the word “abolitionist” which means it’s a movement to end slavery. He was always eager for someone to speak about it and he was ready to listen he says, “I did not dare ask anyone about its meaning, for I was satisfied that it was something they wanted me to know very little about”. He says this because he realized that the word is spoken very rarely and he knew if he spoke that word and someone heard him, he could get penalized.

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How can one man be seen as both a hero by many but a monster by so many more? The actions of this man are often said to have quickened the start of none other than the American Civil War, the man being John Brown. One of the main catalysts of the American Civil War was the issue of slavery and this issue had divided the nation for many years prior. John Brown was an abolitionist during this period and he had a strong hatred for the slavery that occurred in the U.S at the time due to his father’s same belief. As a result of this hatred he completed mass murders of pro-slavery individuals and lit the fire of violence that led to the war.

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John Brown's raid, while viewed as a failure, was a big success for the North in their fight against slavery. While he didn't manage to do much damage before getting caught and executed, it was the symbolism that lasted after his death that made an impact. He was viewed as a martyr by the North, and it began the notion that violence was needed to achieve

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473 Words | 2 Pages

As John Brown once said “I have only a short time to live,only one death to die,and I will die fighting for this cause. There would be no peace in the land until slavery is done for. ”What John Brown meant by this was he will make any sacrifices just so slavery can come to an end. John Brown is an important figure in American history because he would even go as far as dying just to achieve his goal. John Brown was born on May 9,1800 in Torrington Connecticut.

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Now the only reason that the Union believes that what John Brown has done was great because he technically did not fail, he was successful. Frederick Douglas after the war even says that John Brown was the man that really helped start the war to help end American slavery and made a free nation. Just because Brown might have had many great outcomes of his raid on Harper’s Ferry, but no one can take away the terror that was caused with him trying to make this country

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