Political Contributions of John Brown

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the biography of John Brown (1800-1859). The paper notes that, to his admirers, Brown symbolizes the highest ideals of equality and democracy, and is idolized as a saint, martyr and a steadfast warrior, who unselfishly sacrificed his life for ending the despicable institution of slavery. On the other hand, to his detractors, he has been branded as a murderer, a horse thief, a dishonest businessman, and an insane fanatic, who used the antislavery cause to disguise his personal and business failures. The paper comments that most historians agree that his execution in 1859 sparked the deadliest conflict in US history--the American Civil War, that resulted in untold violence but also ended slavery in the country. This paper contains a brief personal biography of John Brown and focuses on his political contributions.

From the Paper:

"All those who opposed slavery faced brutal prosecution or worse. Brown's sons urged their father to provide help by imploring that the free-soilers in Kansas needed arms, "more than we need bread." Heeding the call, "old" John Brown began a campaign for raising money and weapons and left for Kansas in August 1855. On May 21, 1856, pro-slavery rioters torched buildings in the free-soil stronghold of Lawrence, Kansas. This act, to Brown's mind was the last straw. He decided to give the Southerners a taste of their own medicine by organizing an attack on the homes of pro-slavers in Pottawatomie Creek where Brown's men split open the skulls of five people in a brutal display of "biblical retribution." Brown's supporters have justified the killings as a "long-delayed retaliation for years of Southern violence against abolitionists and against blacks", while his detractors dub it as a clear cut case of terrorism. Predictably, the killings that came to be known as the "Pottawatomie Massacre" ignited was an all-out civil war in Kansas."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chowder, Ken. "The Father of American Terrorism." American Heritage Magazine. February/ March 2000 Volume 51, Issue 1. December 2, 2007. <http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2000/1/2000_1_81.shtml>
• Hitchens, Christopher. "The Man Who Ended Slavery" The Atlantic Monthly. Volume: 295. Issue: 4. (May 2005): 121+
• "John Brown--1800-1859." Africans in America. N.d. December 2, 2007. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1550.html
• Oates, Stephen B. Our Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, and the Civil War Era. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1979
• Reynolds, David. John Brown, Abolitionist: Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.

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