Editorial #2 JOHN
BROWN: HERO OR VILLIAN?
HARPER'S FERRY, VIRGINIA Virginia Kansas
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ReplyDeleteIn my eyes, John Brown is in no way a villian. How else are we supposed to make the southerner's know that slavery is wrong?! Brown's "outrage" is not the only way we can work to gain freedom for the slaves. But it is one of the strongest ways. My books, and articles can only go so far. There is a point where people will not listen to the written pleads anymore. That point has come with Brown's protest, and will continue if we don't end slavery soon.
ReplyDeleteFrom my point of view, what Mr. Brown did was unjust. However, I understand what he stands for and his message to ban slavery for good. His immature behavior sprouted from anger towards how some people chose to view slavery. From my past experiences with violence, I can safely say that Mr. Brown probably only worsened the situation. Violence is never the answer because it creates unbearable tension from both parties. As an abolitionist with good values, I am embarrassed and ashamed of how Mr. Brown chose to handle the situation. Because his voice could not be heard, Mr. Brown had to enforce acts of violence in order to force the attention of society onto himself. I suggest that we jail Mr. Brown only to send a message that this type of unnecessary and hostile conduct will only make the problem worse.
ReplyDeleteJohn Brown is by no means a villain. His actions do mark him as an odd, offish sort of fellow. It was either courage or supreme idiocy that he raided a federal arms depot. His thought of arming slaves with weapons so that they would be able to fight back was ace-high. However, the actions that he took in order to achieve that thought were unthinkable. Working side by side with these slaves, I know first-hand that these slaves are people just like us. With a little training, they could learn to shoot a gun easy. While some of them may be willing to fight for their freedom, many of them are women and children. Is it really worth arming these people knowing that most of them would be killed immediately? Brown should be thrown in jail for destroying property and threatening lives to prevent him from trying something like this again, but he has already caused a mess. Tensions have rose up to the point where anything is possible. Slavery is a political problem and is definitely not going to be solved by violence.
ReplyDeleteJohn Brown is a grand man, much like myself. He understands the need to use violence in special cases like this one; he knows that armed assault is the only way to get the attention of those grangers down south. During my life as a police inspector and detective, I have been said to have punished, arrested and interrogated suspects “without any semblance of justice”. Whilst many may spit this in a derogatory fashion, my fame and fortune have granted me an immunity. Like criminals refusing to tell the full story, Southerners need to go through the mill—a little push and lesson to get them to respect the federal government and to rid themselves of their own Southern bosh. John Brown’s raid gave just that push. His raid, killing approximately 15 men, provided the action and bloodshed to meet our needs. I always knew that the stark division between the North and the South would end in war; thus, I am ready to serve, God, my country, and the Union. John Brown has wronged no right and should therein not be sent to the calaboose or to the gallows.
ReplyDeleteI stand with Brown in his desire to see progress in this country and the abolition of slavery, but his way of going about it was downright wrong. His batty-fang of the arms reserve roused unnecessary conflict and caused quite a fuss. We can`t throw in the towel now. We must use violence ONLY in defensive measures, saved as a last resort. Our patience in this matter is key. Fighting peacefully to bring freedom. Brown lost his patience and fought violently, for this he must be punished.
DeleteI feel my fingers twitch and my skin crawl with the simple prospect of such a diabolical scheme or an equally debased mind. John Brown—the ignorant, hopeless fellow that he is—has just lowered himself far beyond the level of that other upstart, Nat Turner. Why the Northerners continue to support a fanatical murderer, a threat to all us true American citizens’ homes and therein our very lives, I do not know. Raiding a Federal Arms Depot for the sake of harming innocents’ lives is a truly despicable thing to do. Whilst I wear my mask of praise and adoration in my dwelling of the North, I am secretly delighted to see that the Southern newspapers are filled with words that label the Northerners as John Brown sympathizers. I agree whole-heartedly with their editorials. To let a murderer of fifteen go free is simply unconstitutional. Why should the lives of the fifteen massacred men go unavenged? To the gallows with John Brown, I say!
ReplyDeleteWhy the Southerners continue to support the injustice of slavery, I do not know. Murder is the taking of lives. Slaves have their lives taken from them by their owners. They lose control of their body to white man. Truly, slaves that try to escape, risking even death, shows the true horror of slavery. The south complains of 15 people having their lives taken from them. I complain of millions of people having their lives taken from them.
DeleteWhy the Southerners continue to support the injustice of slavery, I do not know. Murder is the taking of lives. Slaves have their lives taken from them by their owners. They lose control of their body to white man. Truly, slaves that try to escape, risking even death, shows the true horror of slavery. The south complains of 15 people having their lives taken from them. I complain of millions of people having their lives taken from them.
DeleteMy god! John Brown is such a grand, curly wolf. Most of the North and I greet him with many admiration, but only I admired his zeal and game. I heard the sad peals of church bells on the day of his execution and the wonderful songs created in his honor! There were even beautiful paintings of him. He an ace-high boss of the burg. (Confederate view: I'm shocked and outraged! We are not sympathetic to a fanatic who destroyed our property and threatened our lives! How can we live under a government whose citizens regarded John Brown as a martyr? I spit at him in disgust. The proud North as John Brown sympathizers. Hmmph! The climate of fear and hostility makes me at sea about the election of Abraham Lincoln. Southerners voting for him is unthinkable to us.)
ReplyDeleteThe bloody idiot! Not only does he intensely oppose the beliefs of the south, but he is also so open about it, that he would raid a weapons depot of all things! That being said, we shouldn't fuss over this. Just put the man in the calaboose and be done with it. John Brown, this excuse of a man, should not be allowed to run free in the streets again. That is the end of it, for god surely wouldn't wish it any other way.
ReplyDeleteJohn Brown is not a criminal for his use of violence, but for the ideals behind his violence. We cannot let the fool Lincoln deal with this criminal, but assemble our own states' militias to fight him. He will not only destroy our people, but also our principles. However, all circumstances have redeeming qualities. John Brown attempted rally the "liberated" slaves to his cause. For the most part, he failed.
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ReplyDeleteJohn Brown is not a hero. These slaves are property. The people he and his followers murdered were not doing anything illegal. They were minding their own business and a radical psychopath murdered them. John Brown should be sentenced to death. The free nation America is trying to become has no place for a radical like John Brown.
ReplyDelete(John Brown is neither Hero nor Villain. While Brown's motives were righteous and had good intentions, violence was not the answer to this. If the way to go about this is thought to be violence, a civil war is inevitable. Matters like this need to be taken to court. America has no intention for civil war, nor radical violents. Brown deserves jail, not because what he did was beyond the imagination of any rational American, but because he broke a federal law.)
John Brown needs to be hanged for his crimes. However, he is at-sea with his attacking strategies. He needs to learn to be sneaky if he wants to even contend with the army he has just invoked the wrath of. Now, he has woken the wrong passenger. I will hunt his sorry butt down and personally ask to execute him. All that scuttlebutt that shoddy Abe Lincoln denounced his actions are untrue. He has wanted us out of their Union for years. We should finally secede for their shoddy Union and give them something else to worry about. John Brown should stop trying to be something of a vigilante and throw in the towel and head to the calaboose. This type of violence cannot go unpunished, and not only should he be punished, but so should the Union. They have been asking for a war for years, and this man, in my eyes, has started it for me, and my boss probably agrees with me.
ReplyDeleteJohn Brown is a villainous fiend who has created quite a fuss. He murdered innocent people just to help a few slaves, when slaves are just property, and whites' lives have more value. The people were not guilty of anything, and he killed them mercilessly. John Brown should be locked up in prison for the rest of his life. President Lincoln will hopefully now realize that abolitionists such as Brown are a danger to society, and should be locked up.
ReplyDelete(Like Kate Warne said, violence is not the answer. Although helping slaves is admirable, violence is not the solution. People such as John Brown put no thoughts into their actions, and don't think about the implications, such as the possibilities of war. Even though in my eyes Brown is neither a hero or villain, he still should go to calaboose because killing people is wrong. Hopefully, John Brown will not cause any more disturbances to our nation's fragile peace, but I guess you have to go through the mill to learn the way of the world. All this fuss lately over John Brown reminds me of Nat Turner's Rebellion, and how one small event can disrupt our country. I pray this time, our nation will come together in the face of tragedy instead of dividing further.)
John Brown was by no means a villain, and his use of violence was an ace to voice our opinions. We must unabatingly strive forward; assemble militias to make that vacuous bastard Jefferson Davis succumb. The southerners say that this is a futile attempt in ending slavery; but those simpletons are beating gums by saying that John Brown is threatening lives and hurting the nation. What they don’t realize that slavery is doing exactly that; threatening lives and hurting the nation. Southern balderdash states that the murder of 15 should not be let off the hook, yet those dimwits don’t realize that slavery is more inhumane than the insignificant murder of 15 men opposed to torture of hundreds of hundreds of blacks. You all cold hearted southerner; if Mr. Brown is sentenced to death, all slave owners should follow. This is an outrage! People of the Union we need your help: join the Volunteer Sharpshooters Regiment or other divisions to propel the Union’s fight. Do slaves need not avenging?! John Brown has done nothing but avenge the ones that were boshfully tortured to slave owners consent.
ReplyDeleteSlaves are closer to animals than people. Do you not train a dog, or tame a horse?
Delete(This is obviously not what the student writing this thinks)
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ReplyDeleteSince the night I spent with John Brown in Springfield, Massachusetts, 1847, I have continued to write and speak against slavery, though I become less hopeful for its peaceful abolition with the passing of time. My utterances become more and more tinged by the color of this man's strong impressions, from his adamant viewpoint to his unwavering faith. I hosted him once more at my residence in Rochester, New York, during which he secluded himself in an upstairs room to compose the Provisional Constitution for the state of Virginia. Only later did he explain to me his plan to attack and raid Harpers Ferry, Virginia. I view John Brown and his plan with both admiration and ambivalence, though I mainly categorize his actions as radical and irrational. I somewhat agree with Angelina Grimke’s statement that Brown, as an abolitionist of convictions, believed in black rights so strongly that he put those he fought for at sea with his quick thought judgements. I have been told a grand amount of times to pocket my ideals of liberation, and I’d protest until the gallows for it. I’d protest for the freedom blacks are entitled to, although my view is just a simple degree in the vast myriad of beliefs. At the current standpoint in our abolitionist revolution, we cannot afford to unbalance the tensions between the rivaling parties, or to create unrest among those who are considering our campaign. The attention thrown at Bleeding Kansas once Brown and his followers mutilated five pro-slavery men exploded into a violent retaliation which killed more than two-hundred. Only three years later he attempted to instigate a major slave rebellion in the South by seizing the weaponry and ammunition of men in the federal arsenal to arm slaves in the area. This plan was open ended, as I am glad to have declined the invitation to march to my eternity box. The beginnings of a slave rebellion unfurled into a civil disruption between the North and South, only further weakening our ties. I want to believe in a peaceful solution to the abolishment of slavery, regardless of its considerable grimness due to the recent sequence of events which played out rather cynically. I am willing to sacrifice my life in the fight against slavery, though I would not like to die doing to the whites as they did to us. Despite this, I wish not for John Brown’s imprisonment, as it would only turn the North away from us, but I wish there to be a sanction of sorts. I believe in no wrong action, but only clouded judgement.
ReplyDeleteJohn Brown is not heroic and neither is he an outrage. Us blacks have been going through the mill to long and we still have grand game. I believe we still have enough game to not allow these up the spout southerners know they have gotten to us. John brown is no hero because he did not save anyone, yet. He is neither an outrage because something was needed to be done. But, after every whipping, after every day working from sun up to sun down, these rich southerners have here created themselves an army that will fight back, maybe with enough will to not bloody any states, but enough will to not have our blood on the southerners hands no more.
ReplyDeleteJohn Brown was being outrageous that day at Harpers Ferry. His actions did not only reflect horribly on himself, but also poorly on the other abolitionists. I for one, am not one who would like to become involved in all of this nonsense, but as it seems, there is no way around it. As we all are trying to survive another day in the Civil War, there are people who are being completely careless. What he tried to accomplish and what he did get away with enrages many southerners. This is a way that abolitionists should not go about trying to get their point across because it will only lead to more angry people than they started with. I believe that we should put John Brown in jail to get the point across that this is not an option that abolitionists can get away with.
ReplyDeleteAlthough some of what John brown did was questionable, I do agree he did the right thing. As a general, I know we have the strength and the numbers to defeat the South in this war, and I'm glad Brown finally got it moving. The attempts at a peaceful resolution weren't getting us anywhere.
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ReplyDeleteJohn Brown is a grand and heroic leader, and I believe it is an honor to be in his presence.I was planning on proudly joining him in his raid last week. In fact, I helped him plan the raid, we had spent several weeks reviewing information and tactics. Although I do not advocate violence against whites, I completely support his goals. I wish I hadn't fallen ill the day of the raid, for then I would have joined him in the raid. When I heard the news that John and his people had all been captured and killed, I was devastated. I wish there was something I could have done. Some people say this raid was "an outrage". I say this is an incredible and moving act of greatness. White men and women do not listen to us. They treat us like we are animals in a war. There are reasons that Brown did what he did. I can’t imagine how many of us are getting tired of being treated like property. John Brown was just simply strong enough to speak our words for us. I admire that.
This is an outrage! What John Brown has done is far from being a hero. He raided a Federal warehouse illegally. He should be thrown in jail. It doesn't matter if he did it because of his beliefs. Mr. Brown has increased the tension in this situation without purpose. As a farmer, I appreciate hard work and the necessity to work for what you have. Violence is considered by many as a last resort to the majority of people. John Brown is attempting to spark a war.
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ReplyDeleteJohn Brown's actions are dreadfully heroic. Everything the Southerners say is complete bosh. What John Brown has done is exactly what is needed to force slavery out of this country. The South do not give in to our arguments. This issue can no longer be solved purely with politics, but must be concluded in war. Brown does not deserve to be thrown in the calaboose, as the attack on the Harper's Ferry Arsenal in Virginia is only the beginning. Invading the arms depot was an ace-high decision. Arming slaves with the weapons will lead the North to stopping slavery.
ReplyDeleteJohn Brown is anything but a hero. His actions were extremely violent and uncalled for. I disagree not only with his methods but also his core beliefs. He has harmed innocent people and created even more unnecessary conflict between the North and South. The lost lives of slaves are in no way equivalent to the lives of the people lost October 16th.
ReplyDelete(I am silent and sorrowing spectator of the rise and spread of the secession mania. Our people are in a palpable state of war. Although I strongly believe that slave power crushes freedom of speech and of opinion, I do believe that violent acts such as Brown's will lead us in the direction of war. Like most people, I would rather avoid potentially violent conflict, but in this case, I can only do so much to prevent it.)
I, John Brown, consider myself to be a savior to not only the slaves, but the people of the United States of America. Why should only my followers and I be the only ones to be tried. There were probably plenty of other raids and riots that have happened in the United States. This country is falling apart and I am trying my best to bring it back by helping people realize that the abolition of slavery is the only option we have. Also, there are certain rumors consisting of my potential execution. In my position, I should not even be thrown in a calaboose. I fought for the people, not only for the slaves. Besides, its not like the slaves get treated any better than the people who were hurt during the raid.
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ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this man is a villain. I do believe that slaves should have freedom but not in this way. Don't think I'm at sea with the slaves, I am not. If I were them I would have done the same. When slaves suddenly leave our plantation it leaves my ma and me stranded to do all the work. We are already struggling to make enough profit to buy all the items that we need, and the prices are rising! To leave my family like that is just unfair. How could this man encourage slaves to do something like this, when they know nothing good can come from this. Now if one of my slaves shall be calaboosed than I am down one slave and I can't buy anymore. I think we should beat the devil around the bend on rebellion and find another way to give slave the rights they deserve, without leaving a granger stranded and hopeless.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this man is a villain. I do believe that slaves should have freedom but not in this way. Don't think I'm at sea with the slaves, I am not. If I were them I would have done the same. When slaves suddenly leave our plantation it leaves my ma and me stranded to do all the work. We are already struggling to make enough profit to buy all the items that we need, and the prices are rising! To leave my family like that is just unfair. How could this man encourage slaves to do something like this, when they know nothing good can come from this. Now if one of my slaves shall be calaboosed than I am down one slave and I can't buy anymore. I think we should beat the devil around the bend on rebellion and find another way to give slave the rights they deserve, without leaving a granger stranded and hopeless.
ReplyDeleteDaddy came home from work outraged at John Brown. He thinks that the slaves are property and that they should be wirking on the fields. Nobody should be fighting to free them, they deserve nothing, that's what daddy thinks. We shouldn't have to put up with these people's outbursts. John Brown is a villain to me and my daddy. "Bloody Kansas" shouldn't have to deal with John either. He shud be executed
ReplyDelete(John Brown has game. All the fuss about him deserving to go to the calaboose is bosh. His plans were careless, but his motives were good. There is scuttlebutt about him being stupid for using violence, but I strongly disagree. The South doesn’t go about according to the Hoyle, why should we have to?)
ReplyDeleteThe south uses this as an excuse for slavery, and as a reason to berate the slaves and abolitionists. And yet, the south has shown time and time again their ability to be violent when they fear someone spreading the truth about slaves and rights. A grand example being the time Preston Brooks beat Sumner in congress. Sumner had only been using words to fight slavery, and yet Brooks thought it a fine reason to beat Sumner unconscious. The entire south showed it's support when Brooks was sent letters of support and thanks, and new canes to replace his broken one. When the South worried that Kansas would become free, they showed their true nature by destroying the town of Lawrence! I say that if the South makes us resort to violence, then so be it! The South has brought this upon itself!
ReplyDeleteThe south uses this as an excuse for slavery, and as a reason to berate the slaves and abolitionists. And yet, the south has shown time and time again their ability to be violent when they fear someone spreading the truth about slaves and rights. A grand example being the time Preston Brooks beat Sumner in congress. Sumner had only been using words to fight slavery, and yet Brooks thought it a fine reason to beat Sumner unconscious. The entire south showed it's support when Brooks was sent letters of support and thanks, and new canes to replace his broken one. When the South worried that Kansas would become free, they showed their true nature by destroying the town of Lawrence! I say that if the South makes us resort to violence, then so be it! The South has brought this upon itself!
ReplyDeleteBrown's decision was indeed a violent one, but that may just be the solution to our problem. Raising our fists in the air against the southerners has had no promise. Also, shivering in the shadows underground has also no profit. But, as Brown stormed into the Federal Arms Depot we finally see some results. People are glad, people are furious. This just may be what we need to start to take action. If you southerners won't listen to our voices, we need to take it upon ourselves to fight! Let it be bloody, freedom is worth a little blood shed. Being a hidden spy has taught me much about this divided nation. If the South won't listen, and the North can't move forward, then let it be war. John Brown was indeed a hero and can be honored in my eyes. Let this be a calling and sign. John Brown has given us what we needed, a leader to show us the way of this war of Slavery.
ReplyDeleteBrown’s party also absconded with wagons, mules, harnesses, and horses—a pattern of plunder that Brown followed in other forays. During his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, seventeen people died. The first was a black railroad baggage handler; others shot and killed by Brown’s men included the town’s popular mayor and two townsfolk. I don't care who this guy is, but raiding an entire town is just flat out unacceptable. He ruined the lives of those 17 innocent people, that just happened to get unlucky. John Brown is a villian. In no way, shape, or form is this guy good. He is a criminal and deserves to die immediately. However, through all the bad times John Brown has gone through, all the critisism and support he has had, Brown’s rage against slavery grew out of his fury over market capitalism, which had reduced his family to poverty. In the 1960s a new generation of scholars viewed Brown as an uncompromising idealist, a principled agitator, and a genuine revolutionary who envisioned an America free of racial prejudice.
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