Month: April 2020

John Brown was a man who grew up in a religious household, and I would argue while he was a religious man, his faith was rooted in the ideals of liberty. John Brown committed himself to the abolitionist movement at a young age, but did not state this publicly until a proslavery group murdered a fellow abolitionist. Much of his ideas of Slavery were formed when he spent time in Springfield, Massachusetts. This was a progressive leading town where wealthy merchants resided, and influential people lived. Brown attended the Free church and there he was able to hear lectures from people like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. He ended up speaking with Douglass on multiple occasions and he talked about his plans to abolish Slavery.

John Brown wished to spark uprisings in slaves by arming them, which would spur slave rebellions all across the country and ruin the economy’s validity of Slavery. Other abolitionists thought that Brown’s violent overthrow of the institution of Slavery Was reckless and dangerous, including William Lloyd Garrison. He had trouble recruiting people to fight with him, and he had difficulty raising funds for his campaigns. Brown raid on Harpers Ferry was thought to increase tensions between the north and south, leading to the violent outbreak of the civil war. 

 While Garrison supported Brown’s efforts to protect fugitive slaves in Springfield, he did not agree with Brown’s plans to use violence as the means of overturning Slavery. Garrison instead edited and published an abolitionist paper called the Liberator. He was very aggressive in his critique of Slavery and never shied away from calling out people and the constitution of its hypocrisy. He was also a man deeply rooted in faith, along with Brown. Garrison was both physically and verbally harassed, but he stayed nonviolent and kept writing. He also had trouble raising funds for his newspaper, and most of his money came from subscriptions, who of which were mostly formerly enslaved individuals. 

To compare the violent and nonviolent use of resistance and which one was more effective in terms of Browns and Garrison’s goals is tricky. They were both profoundly passionate about liberty, and that was common among most people in the country at the time.

Brown was deemed a graver threat than Garrison by those in power because he was arguing against the economic system of Slavery, which is why he had to be executed. While Garrison was widely influential,  his paper subscriptions were mostly freed slaves, so his paper did not threaten the establishment as much as John Brown did. People did try to stop his paper from circulating but were mostly unsuccessful. John Brown’s use of violence was controversial, and most of all, people were afraid that he would start a trend of insurrection.

Brown’s use of violence alienated the support of other abolitionists and failed to recruit the numbers of people needed to carry out his plans to overthrow the slave economy. He ultimately, was convicted of murder and treason and hanged without his goal of slave rebellions across the country ever taking place. William Lloyd Garrison believed strongly about the principles of freedom, especially that all men have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. His paper was hugely influential; Abraham Lincoln even invited him to the White House and said that he was one of the reasons Slavery ended. 

Brown’s vision for a slave rebellion never did come to fruition, but the south did become more fearful, and many historians argue that he sparked the civil war. Nonviolent resistance tends to take longer to become noticed, but Garrison’s efforts did have some impact on the dialog around slavery and policy decisions. 

Whether you agree with him or not, there is no denying that John Brown had a big impact on American history and on American culture. There is a big discussion on whether or not John Brown sparked the civil war. Some people seem to think so, arguing that his raid increased tensions in the north and the south. Tensions were already high, but the fact that a white northern, attacked other white people in the south for the rights of enslaved people made it impossible for the media to ignore. Often time other rebellions started by enslaved people were repressed easily and were never spread widely. Part of this was the result of how plantations were built, they have spread out far apart from each other and there were limitations on gatherings of black people. This limited the spread of information and also other people being inspired by other slave rebellions. 

John Brown, however, had a wide range of supporters and denouncers in the north and south so it was not able to be expunged from the media. His trial and death further sensationalized the issue and turned him into Martyr, which solidified John Brown’s legacy in the American consciousness. A battle hymn called John Brown’s Body was created by union soldiers during the civil war, showing how John Brown has aligned himself for the struggle of freedom. John Brown also influenced the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, especially towards the end of his life. He was very supportive of John Brown’s commitment to his cause and gave a speech entitled “A pleas for captain john brown” after the raid on harpers ferry where he detailed how brown was not insane, but instead a highly moral and courageous individual. 

Brown also inspired his fair share of haters. John Wilkes booth, the man that assassinated Abraham Lincoln, attended John Brown’s execution. Now I do not think John Brown inspired his assassination of Lincoln, but it is quite interesting how these historical moments overlapped. Brown also inspired his fair share of art pieces. I went to the MET last year and saw several paintings of John Brown, that have become quite famous. Even in the Kansas capitol building, there is a painting of John Brown called the ‘Tragic Prelude’ that depicts John Brown with a and a rifle in hand while there is fighting between the union and confederate soldiers. 

 

The last thing I want to touch on is the influence Brown has had on activism. While many people do not agree with violent resistance, and instead adopt the practice of non-violent resistance, at first there does not seem Brown has any influence over it today. However, it is not about the tactics of resistance that people take away from Brown’s legacy, his biggest impact is forcing people to make a choice about which side they are on. Since Brown is such a polarizing figure, people have to decide whether they agree with Brown or not. or how should he be viewed — as a hero or terrorist?  Killer Mike — a rapper, activist, and actor — recently posted a picture on Instagram of him holding a portrait of John Brown. He captioned it by saying John Brown is one of his personal heroes, and that he admired the fact Brown gave his life to justice and racial equality. Many people in the comments were either against Brown or for him, but they all were forced to make a choice on what they think activism should or should not be. There is nothing more important than making that choice.