John Brown Abolitionism
John Brown
Throughout the early history of the United States, the development of two clearly diverse cultures, the Northern culture and the Southern culture, had acted as an adverse foreshadowing of the internal conflict to come. The hostility between these two cultures peaked in the mid-1800’s over their different economic and social ways, but more specifically, over the issue of slavery. During this time, the South was defending their right to practice slavery, while the North’s desire to end this “inhumane” practice was becoming increasingly powerful. Yet, the North’s crusade to end slavery had no banner, no rallying point, or no kindling with which to fuel this burning desire. The North needed someone to rally behind, and John Brown became …show more content…
Radical abolitionist ideals were sweeping the North, and these ideals took form through John Brown’s failed effort to provoke a slave rebellion at Harper’s Ferry in 1859. This invasion on a federal armory was organized by Brown. The invasion involved only a handful of abolitionists, and freed no slaves. In fact, one free black was among the numerous people murdered during the raid. This action was condemned by most of the southerners and some of the northerners, but John Brown became a sectional hero to most of the North. Two months after the raid, noted abolitionist writer Horace Greeley wrote an editorial in the New York Tribune (Document A) which stated that although John Brown’s raid was an “unfit mode of combating a great evil”, “his are the errors of a fanatic, not the crimes of a felon.” Statements such as these gradually influenced the public, and soon enough, Brown was looked upon favorably by much of the northern public. An excellent example of this shift of opinions is illustrated through a review of James Redpath’s The Public Life of Captain John Brown, as printed in the Atlantic Monthly of March 1860 (Document D). This review states that the “The lessons of manliness, uprightness and courage, which his [John Brown’s] life teaches, is to be learned by us, not merely as lovers of liberty, not as opponents of slavery, but as men who need more manliness, more uprightness, more courage and simplicity in our common lives.” In this passage, Brown is placed upon a pedestal, and it is the author’s desire to see all Americans imitate his ways. Views such as these paved the way for John Brown’s transition into martyrdom, as seen by northern eyes. The way in which this transition occurred is brilliantly stated in an editorial contained in the Topeka Tribune of November 19, 1859 (Document C), when the author states that the elevation of Brown’s image is sufficiently due
Throughout the early history of the United States, the development of two clearly diverse cultures, the Northern culture and the Southern culture, had acted as an adverse foreshadowing of the internal conflict to come. The hostility between these two cultures peaked in the mid-1800’s over their different economic and social ways, but more specifically, over the issue of slavery. During this time, the South was defending their right to practice slavery, while the North’s desire to end this “inhumane” practice was becoming increasingly powerful. Yet, the North’s crusade to end slavery had no banner, no rallying point, or no kindling with which to fuel this burning desire. The North needed someone to rally behind, and John Brown became …show more content…
Radical abolitionist ideals were sweeping the North, and these ideals took form through John Brown’s failed effort to provoke a slave rebellion at Harper’s Ferry in 1859. This invasion on a federal armory was organized by Brown. The invasion involved only a handful of abolitionists, and freed no slaves. In fact, one free black was among the numerous people murdered during the raid. This action was condemned by most of the southerners and some of the northerners, but John Brown became a sectional hero to most of the North. Two months after the raid, noted abolitionist writer Horace Greeley wrote an editorial in the New York Tribune (Document A) which stated that although John Brown’s raid was an “unfit mode of combating a great evil”, “his are the errors of a fanatic, not the crimes of a felon.” Statements such as these gradually influenced the public, and soon enough, Brown was looked upon favorably by much of the northern public. An excellent example of this shift of opinions is illustrated through a review of James Redpath’s The Public Life of Captain John Brown, as printed in the Atlantic Monthly of March 1860 (Document D). This review states that the “The lessons of manliness, uprightness and courage, which his [John Brown’s] life teaches, is to be learned by us, not merely as lovers of liberty, not as opponents of slavery, but as men who need more manliness, more uprightness, more courage and simplicity in our common lives.” In this passage, Brown is placed upon a pedestal, and it is the author’s desire to see all Americans imitate his ways. Views such as these paved the way for John Brown’s transition into martyrdom, as seen by northern eyes. The way in which this transition occurred is brilliantly stated in an editorial contained in the Topeka Tribune of November 19, 1859 (Document C), when the author states that the elevation of Brown’s image is sufficiently due