Preview

John Brown Terrorist

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
740 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
John Brown Terrorist
John Brown was a freedom fighter. For multiple reasons, and research on John Brown and the incidents in which he was involved in have led me to believe he is a freedom fighter. Although John Brown’s actions have not been justified. He did them with a purpose in which he did not inspire the threat of fear. Between a terrorist and a freedom fighter they are different, yet have similarities. To make it clear what each is, a terrorist is someone who puts harm and fear towards people on purpose, and an example of a terrorist is the infamous September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. That is not the only way to define terrorism or terrorist, there are multiple ways to explain. This is just one of many ways of explaining it. A freedom …show more content…
My evidence for this is that he stated, in his own words that he felt no regret, nor remorse for the acts he had conducted. He was hung knowing he had at least some effect on slavery. Not only did he not have regret for his actions but he felt no regret for putting his family, friends, and followers in danger. At the Harper’s Ferry raid but not by John Brown. Although he didn’t feel any regret he made his point and the free states tried to end slavery, even if the free states had slave hunters come and take black people even if they were free. The Harper’s Ferry raid, John Brown had lost his sons by the next morning, and a few others. He was hung a while later after he was taken by a slave state where he had committed a murder of a slave owner. John Brown’s religion was that if you were rich and wealthy, you were to go to Heaven, but if you were poor, you were to go to Hell. He was a poor man, he was always in debut to someone. He was a Calvinist. Which led to him being selfless, but also selfish. The reasoning behind him being selfish is due to him wanting to be able to redeem himself in Heaven. Also, the reasoning behind him being selfless is due to him risking everything for the life of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    John Brown: Hero? Villain?

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Students of history and those merely interested in casual inquiry will often explore a topic, find a legitimate opinion, accept it at face value, and move on. Too often with young or inexperienced historians this is the case. It does, in a way, make sense. Many topics an individual will study have been researched and written on countless times. It is easy to accept an opinion as is and forget about it. John Brown is one of these subjects. Merrill D. Peterson’s John Brown explores the complicated nature of the legacy of this militant abolitionist. Brown has been, in the time since his departure, construed as a hero, a villain, an antihero, a well-meaning lunatic, and so on. The nature of his actions and the divisive context they are found in gives way to many different opinions. Peterson’s book explores these many definitions of John Brown. The opinions of historians, students, politicians, and the like are weighed against the validity of their status as historical interpreters, their knowledge of the subject, their biases, and Peterson’s own interpretations. John Brown’s legacy is an ambiguous and complicated one and Peterson’s book explores the warring opinions of observers on whether John Brown is hero, villain, or both.…

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Brown was an abolitionist, who grew up despising slavery. His father was a supporter of the new abolitionism laws. This idealist was instilled in John Brown and he kept this mindset for the rest of his life. To say John Brown was a terrorist is very questionable. The definition of a terrorist is: somebody who uses violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination, to intimidate others, often for political purposes. Yes, this could be true for John Brown. He did kill, kidnap, and intimidated those who were pro-slavery, but so was John Wilkes Booth and a group of co-conspirators.…

    • 1640 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abolition Movement Essay

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages

    John Brown’s way of being an abolitionist was to do violent things to go against slavery was very violent. Like going to Harper’s Ferry and taking over the place for a week. This is got loads of attention from the public and the government. These kinds of acts are what led the US to the civil war. This act didn’t completely go as John Brown thought it…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abolitionists

    • 801 Words
    • 2 Pages

    John Brown Having 5 sons and being a farmer and a businessman, John Brown became a famous abolitionist. He lived his life supporting the anti- slavery movement by following his own beliefs. He was born in 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut. In his early childhood Brown decided that he was going to be against slavery for every millisecond of his life especially in the Pennsylvania Underground Railroad. Brown moved to Ohio when he was 5 years of age. In the north men called him "Old Brown of Osawatomie." Brown was a part of lots of acts such as "Telephone" at Harpers Valley in Virginia. In this incident he helped cut telephone wires at the arsenal military warehouse. But to Robert E. Lee’s surprise he found 2 of Brown’s son’s dead and Brown wounded. Then Brown was guilty for treason and murder so he was sentenced to death and hanged on December 2,1859. John Brown followed his dream and beliefs. His beliefs that slavery was wrong will go on forever along with his spirit of accomplishment.…

    • 801 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1982 DBQ

    • 479 Words
    • 1 Page

    for his actions. The raid on Harpers Ferry was meant to rally the slaves against their owners and…

    • 479 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    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…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Abraham Lincoln called John Brown a misguided fanatic! John Brown was not a misguided fanatic. John Brown tried his best to save the slaves from all the hard work and bring them to freedom, he just wanted slavery to end. Brown took a vow to end slavery when he found out that an abolitionist newspaperman was killed. He didn’t want anyone to harm the slaves, so he had a plan to save the slaves, he had a meeting with Frederick Douglass about the plan to save the slaves, so things wouldn't get out of hand, but Douglass opposed to his plan, Brown’s plan was to take over Harper’s Ferry, because Douglass knew that his plan would have failed and have also led to many black deaths, he thought that Brown would’ve hurt the abolition movement by causing…

    • 215 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The jury found Brown guilty for his actions and sentenced to death. Before his execution John Brown stated: “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged but with blood.” He was then hanged in Charles Town on December 2nd. The rest of his captured men were also trialed and sentenced to death. A huge controversy swept the nation about John Brown. Many said he was a brave hero who became one of their martyrs. A hero who was murdered for his beliefs and never giving up on what he believed in. A man who tried to help abused slaves and tried to abolish slavery. On the other hand there were many people who opposed the idea of John Brown being a hero. Many other people thought John Brown was a murderous man who needed to be stopped. A man who took over a government facility to kill innocent citizens. John Brown’s actions caused a division between the North and the South. It was also the start of the civil war. Later John Brown’s name became a symbol as time passed. It became a symbol for pro-union and anti-slavery beliefs. The effects that John Brown left behind was astonishing. After the civil war a school was made a Harpers Ferry for African Americans. Many African Americans got the chance to study and have an education just like the rest of the kids. The leaders of this school showed the importance of John Brown, his courage and bravery. He was very inspiring for them. Frederick Douglass, one of his former supporters before the attack, gave a speech about Brown at the school. Harper Ferry caught the attention of newspaper editors and saw how significant the place was. It then became the site for a meeting called Second Niagara Movement, that later was called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which we know today. Anyone who attended those meetings walked to John Brown’s fort to honor him. Brown’s fort was later…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    John Brown’s beliefs about slavery and activities to destroy it hardly represented the mainstream of northern society in the years leading up to the Civil War. This rather unique man, however, took a leading role in propelling the nation toward secession and conflict. Many events influenced Brown’s views on slavery from an early age. When he was older, his strong anti-slavery feelings had grown, and he became an extreme abolitionist. His raid on Harpers Ferry was one of the first monumental events leading up to the civil war.…

    • 1439 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Enigma of John Brown

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages

    John Brown was an American abolitionist, born in Connecticut and raised in Ohio. He felt passionately and violently that he must personally fight to end slavery. This greatly increased tension between North and South. Northern mourned him as a martyr and southern believed he got what he deserved and they were appalled by the north's support of Brown. In 1856, in retaliation for the sack of Lawrence, he led the murder of five proslavery men on the banks of the Pottawatomie River. He stated that he was an instrument in the hand of God. On October 16, 1859, he led 21 men on a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. His plan to arm slaves with the weapons he and his men seized from the arsenal was thwarted, however, by local farmers, militiamen, and Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Within 36 hours of the attack, most of Brown's men had been killed or captured. Brown was hanged on Dec. 2, 1859. He became a martyr for many because of the dignity and sincerity that he displayed during his popular trial. Before he was hanged he gave a speech which was his final address to the court that convicted him. And he was thankful to Bob Butler for letting him send that text in electronic form. "This court acknowledges, too, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed, which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least the New Testament, which teaches me that all things whatsoever I would that men should do to me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me, further, to remember them that are in bonds as bound with them. I endeavored to act up to the instruction. I say I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done, as I have always freely admitted I have done, in behalf of his despised poor, I did not wrong but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingles my blood further with the blood of my children and…

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Brown, unlike Lincoln was prepared to act decisively against slavery. In October 1859 he and a band of 22 men attacked a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He had hoped to provoke a general uprising of slaves throughout the upper South or at least provide arms for slaves to make their way to freedom. Federal troops overcame him and half his men died and he was captured and later hanged. His daring raid and his dignified behavior during trial and a speedy execution unleashed powerful passions. On…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    “A terrorist is one who sows terror,” says Elshtain. She means that the victims of terrorist attacks are subjected to terror, or great fear. The purpose of subjecting a group of people to such fear varies but usually aims to destroy the morale of a people in its attempt at some religious, political, or ideological goal. Crucial features of inducing terror are its randomness and its attack on civilians as opposed to combatants. This elicits fear in every person because they are afraid for their personal safety in their day to day lives, as opposed to fearing only for our soldiers. To determine who is a terrorist, we must ask who they are attacking. Do they mainly target combatants in the field or bases, do they try to destroy military equipment and are they open to negotiations? If so, we should not label them terrorists for simply being enemy combatants. However, if they are deliberately targeting noncombatants with the intention of killing as many civilians as possible, they are clearly terrorists.…

    • 1855 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Why Is John Brown A Hero

    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages

    John Brown was trial you could say was unfair. John Brown was charged with treason…

    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hezbollah started as a very small gruella organization and has evolved into to a very professional army. Hezbollah followers believe they are doing everything for their people and claim to attack and attack for their lives. They have released a barrage of missiles attacking in the name of Islam, however their attacks have injured any and all, even innocent children and citizens. A truck packed with explosives detonated outside a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut who were stationed in the area to help keep peace between Israel and various factions in Lebanon. This attack killed 241 service members. Hezbollah attacked these service members as a calling card of terror to be delivered to America. With these actions in mind, I do believe the term One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter does apply to Hezbollah.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being a terrorist or freedom fighter truly depends on which side you are. For example the Austro-Hungarians most likely thought Gavrilo Princip was a terrorist because he disturbed their rein of power, however to the Serbians, Gavrilo was most likely seen as a freedom fighter. Furthermore the best way to decide is to be an un-biased third party. First off looking at the definitions and looking at widely regarded terrorist attack such as 911, we look at why Gavrilo attacked. In 911 terrorists attack another countries citizen in their own country, the key part is that it was in another person’s country. Looking at Gavrilo he attacked the political party that over took his country. He simply wanted his own country back, he was filled with sovereignty. Furthermore it’s who (person) he attacked and the power of that person. As we already know Franz Ferdinand was the next to rule the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Gavrilo and the rest of the Black Hand did not attack any citizens or powerful people to make a point. They attacked to stop the tyranny over their country; they shed the least amount of blood. It wasn’t to tell of the Austro-Hungarians, and say they can kill everyone. It was to say this is our country, we demand sovereignty. They wanted to stop their rule right then and there. To further understand why this was done, we look at for whom it was for, and why Gavrilo joined the Black Hand. Gavrilo was dying of tuberculoses, he wasn’t doing it solely for himself, he looked at how oppressed his people were and wanted to do something meaningful with the remander of his life. In the video we watched it said Gavrilo wanted to be remembered. He knew he was dying but he failed to act the first time because he was scared, he still could have shot even with the commotion that happened earlier. However he did fail to act, now this doesn’t sound like a terrorist or villain. Yes further on he shot Franz because he knew this was what needed to be done. Finally Gavrilo attacked…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays