John Brown was an exceptional American citizen who fought for what he believed in. Brown’s believes were based on the declaration of independence, which is against slavery, since it guarantees all men the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Brown also added that slavery broke up families, denied worker the right to enjoy the fruits of their labor, and the slaves a chance to rise above their status in life. Based on his beliefs against slavery, Brown committed himself to the use of violence for the liberation of slaves in Kansas City in 1856, whereby Brown and his fellow revolutionaries’ efforts later liberated 4 million human beings from slavery. Therefore, John Brown was a liberator since he initiated a cause that helped in the eradication slavery from America.
Chowder states that conflicts based on slavery were present since the beginning of America as a nation. There were slave-based conflicts during the Federalist, Jefferson, and Jacksonian eras (329). The conflicts became severe with the rise of the abolitionist crusade in the 1830s. In the mid 17th century, the disagreement over the future of slavery was between the North and the South. By 1848, slavery became central in American politics, and the 1850’s was a period of increased violence over slavery (329). In 1856, there was a civil war between pro-slavery and anti-slavery pioneers, which broke out in the newly created Kansas territory in the America’s heartland. The civil war in Kansas was called the ‘Bleeding Kansas’, and it was the preparation for future large-scale violent events at national level (329).
John Brown’s attack on Harpers Ferry was the climax of the conflict over slavery in October 1859 (Chowder 329). John Browns strategy was to fight slavery by inciting a large-scale slave insurrection at the south. If the plan failed, he hoped that the raid would polarize both slave states and free states, which would lead to a major conflict that would put an end to slavery (Chowder 329). Brown pointed out that the southerners and their northern allies occupied the critical branches of the federal government, which they were using for the perpetuation and the preservation of slavery, and for the purposes of extension to the Western Territories (Chowder 330). The Dred Scott decision, and the US Supreme court, which was controlled by pro-slavery Southern Democrats, denied the African Americans the right to US citizenship and prohibited the congress and regional legislatures from the exclusion of slavery from public-lands (Chowder 330).
Chowder points out that slavery was banned from in the regions of Nebraska and Kansas for a long period, but in 1854, Senator Stephen Douglas pushed for the acceptance of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which separated the old Louisiana Purchase into two regions, namely Kansas and Nebraska (Chowder 331). The act took over the Missouri Compromise of 1820 (Chowder 331). The Kansas-Nebraska Act stipulated that popular sovereignty or majority voting be used in the handling of the issue of slavery (331). Chowder adds that this act increased sectional anxiety, and also caused the disintegration of the Whig party after which the Republican Party was formed which pledged to stop the spread of slavery (331).
In 1855, 5000 pro-slavery Missourians also referred to as Ruffians invaded Kansas and forcefully voted-in a pro-slavery leader (Chowder 334). Chowder quotes the Ruffians having used the following words, “We [have] come to vote, and we are going to vote or [we] kill every God-damned abolitionist in the [Kansas] Territory” (Chowder 334). In May 1856, a pro-slavery army plundered the Free-soil town of Lawrence, but the abolitionists did not retaliate (Chowder 334). This made Brown very angry. The Ruffians actions fuelled Brown to coordinate and to execute the Pottawatomie Massacre in May 1856, whereby Brown and his accomplices killed at least 4 pro-slavery settlers. The Ruffians retaliated by waging an attack on the town of Osawatomie, where they sent 250 attackers (Chowder 334). John Brown had only defending 30 men in the town; hence, he lost to the Ruffians (Chowder 335).
After the Ruffian attack at Osawatomie, John Brown took three years to prepare for the Harper’s Ferry attack, which he executed in October 1859 whereby, John and 19 accomplices attacked the government armory and held it hostage. Taking over the armory was quite easy since it had weak security. After the takeover Brown and his accomplices guarded the armory for a long period until Col. Robert E. Lee and his men attacked the armory. In the battle that ensued, several of Browns accomplices were killed or injured, and finally Brown was captured alive. Brown charged and executed in December 1859 (Chowder 335).
In 1960, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th president of America and many Southern states wanted to separate from the union due to the fear of the end of slavery (Think Quest 1). In 1960 and 1961, 11 southern states separated from the union and formed, the Confederacy because of speculation that Lincoln would set the slaves free (Think Quest 1). In 1862, the Congress decided that all the Confederate slaves who crossed to the North be declared free (Think Quest 1). Lincoln’s strategy was to make former slaves to join the Union Army (Think Quest 1). On September 17 1862, Confederate General Robert Lee attacked the North, but the Union’s defense under General George McClellan won the battle (Think Quest 1). After the war Lincoln signed the law that would, set slaves free, which resulted to the escape of 500000 slaves from the South, and 200000 men joined the Union Army (Think Quest 1).
John Brown’s goal was to fight slavery by inciting a large-scale slave insurrection at the south. If the plan did not, succeed he hoped that the raid would polarize both slave states and free states, which would lead to a major conflict that would put an end to slavery (Chowder 329). Brown had a good chance of stealing weapons and armor from the armory, but he did not have a realistic chance of winning the fight against Col. Robert E. Lee’s men because he had the backing of only 19 men (Chowder 335). After the successful raid of the armory, maybe Brown waited for a back up team, which he might have made prior arrangements with, so that they could jointly wage a bigger attack. The plan failed, since the backup let him down. Consequently, Brown failed to escape because he felt demoralized and frustrated by his failed attack plans, and the death/ injury of most of his colleagues. and his family members. Chowder points out that brown refused to be rescued even after he put in custody, and he even considered Reverend Henry Beecher’s comments that his death execution would make him a martyr. This is evident in the words he uttered before his execution, when he said,
“It is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my lifeand mingle my blood further with the blood of my childrenI am worthy inconceivably more to hang than for any other purpose” (Chowder 366).
John Brown was not America’s first terrorist, since he was not the first American individual to use violence as a means pushing rivals towards a particular political agenda. For instance, before Brown’s attacks there was the Nat Turner rebellion in the early 1800s, there was also the political coercion enforced by the Ruffians so that a pro-slavery leader would win elections at Kansas in 1855, and the Ruffians plundered the town of Lawrence, later in 1856 as a way to push their pro-slavery ideology. Brown was enraged by the fact that the American declaration of independence did not support slavery, but America had embraced, institutionalized, and put constitutional and political backings for slavery (Chowder 330). Brown had also pointed out that the southerners and their northern allies occupied the critical branches of the federal government, which they were using for the perpetuation and the preservation of slavery, and for the purposes of extension to the Western Territories (Chowder 330). Therefore, in 1859, he thought that peaceful political means of eradicating slavery were not possible, which led to the consideration of violence (Chowder 330). In addition, Brown lived in violent times (Chowder 337). There was violence in the expansion of states, in politics, and in slavery. John Brown used violence as a means of pressurizing the stoppage of slavery and slave trade, which makes Brown more of a liberator than a terrorist.
Works Cited
Chowder , Ken "The Father of American Terrorism" .Portrait of America: Volume 1 Tenth Edition. Boston, Massachusetts: Wadsworth. 2007-2012. Text.
Think Quest. “Abraham Lincoln”. Projects by students for students. web. 12th Dec. 2012. < http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215469/raid_at_harper%27s_ferry.htm >
