John Brown: Villain Or Hero?

John Brown should be remembered as a villain and a hero because he took armed possession of the federal arsenal and launch a massive slave insurrection to free the nation’s 4 million slaves.

Some people remembered John Brown as a hero because, According to Document B, “He had dared to act on the conviction of his life…” to save slaves.He gave land to fugitive slaves even if he’s not financially successful. He also participated in the Underground Railroad and in 1851 he helped establish the League of Gileadites, an organization that worked to protect escaped slaves from slave catchers.

Some people remembered him as a villain because he killed people. “John Brown, with four of his sons and three others, dragged five unarmed

men and boys from their homes along Kansas’s Pottawatomie Creek and hacked and dismembered their bodies as if they were cattle being butchered in a stockyard.” According to Document H, Lincoln Abraham says “ … he agreed with us thinking slavery wrong. That however, cannot excuse violence, bloodshed and treason.”

John Brown believed in using violent means to end slavery, and, with the intent of inspiring a slave insurrection, eventually led an unsuccessful raid on the Harpers Ferry federal armory. Brown's forces held out for two days; they were eventually defeated by military forces led by Robert E. Lee. Many of Brown's men were killed, including two of his sons, and he was captured. Brown went to trial and was executed on December 2, 1859. In a speech to the court before his sentencing, Brown stated his actions to be just and God-sanctioned.

In conclusion, some people think that John Brown should be remembered as a hero and some people think he should be remembered as a villain. According to document B, … his manliness in all things, will not be quickly forgotten; but rather a contemplation of this heroic old man’s character will irresistibly compel thinking men to ask themselves whether it is John Brown, of Pottawatomie, or the system of slavery which has failed in this conflict.”