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John Brown: Hero Or Traitor?

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John Brown: Hero Or Traitor?
John Brown was an abolitionist during the lead up to the Civil War. He believed that God chose him to end slavery and kill southerners with only violence in his toolbelt. Brown had controversy over his actions. The nation was already tenuous and the murders that John Brown committed only added to that. The north was all for it, Brown was doing what they hadn’t had the courage to do. The southerners were outraged, claiming Brown for a traitor. I believe John Brown was a terrorist. He was on an expedition for vengeance by inflicting death on innocent citizens. John Brown and his sons committed unrightful and most importantly, unlawful actions. John Brown was sentenced for treason, murder, and revolting against his home country. As he sat in …show more content…
He came to people's houses, as stated from a widow who lost her family to Brown, “several came into the house, and said that they were from the army”. Lying for a cause from “God himself” is not justified. Brown and his sons claimed these men as his prisoners, then proceeded to hack pro-slavery families to death with a broadsword, just leaving them “lying dead in the road near together”. Slavery is terrible, but it cannot be corrected by murder. Some people believe that John Brown was a martyr. People in the North especially believed he was a martyr because he was doing what they lacked the courage to do. When comparing John Brown to a martyr or terrorist, he fits the definition of a terrorist by using violence against innocent people for political and religious differences. The southerners had different beliefs, so in Brown’s eye, they deserved to be murdered. He used extreme tactics and never used his passion and influences for good. John Brown was a controversial and yet courageous leader prior to the Civil War. Brown showed no regret throughout his actions and even through his arrest. He used intimidation and persuaded people by death and by sword rather than by a pen. John Brown lost his opportunity to be a martyr when he started terrorizing the

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