The Impact Of Social Perspectives In The North And South From John Brown’s Raid On Harpers Ferry in 1859. Divyagni Shivashok USI March 18, 2024 Harper Ferry’s Raid in Virginia by John Brown was a carefully planned attempt to create a slave uprising that was planned over several years and led to escalating tensions between the abolitionist and pro-slavery parties. Due to this raid, the southerners had heightened tensions and got an even bigger fear of rebellions for freedom, because of how John Brown was treated as a hero at his execution. Also, since John Brown was considered a martyr, the abolitionist movement escalated as many anti-slavery parties began to consider the radical views of John Brown. As the North began to side with …show more content…
This shows how the reaction the North had fueled the anger of the South even more to the point they considered leaving the nation. John Brown’s actions, his execution, and the way the people reacted created the social perspective that violence was needed to solve this problem. Enraging the South only further solidified this belief. During his sentencing, John Brown stated, “If it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments-I submit.” John Brown insured the South’s beliefs through his directly insulting their methods. The fact that Northerners believed in the South with such hateful ideas and aggression caused the Southerners to also become defensive and aggressive toward the North. As if to match the violence, the South also prepared to shed blood just like how the North would sacrifice their blood and the blood of others to fulfill their goals. The impact of John Brown’s raid …show more content…
The Harpers Ferry raid impacted both the political and social views in the United States at the time and influenced the perspectives of both the abolitionist and pro-slavery parties. John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 sparked significant changes in the social views of the two parties as it contributed to elevated tensions by increasing the fear and anger in the South while also inspiring parts of the North to follow Brown’s radical ideals. John Brown’s ideology spread mostly throughout his sentencing and interviews after his extreme actions. His words and actions made him a martyr in the North, aligning the abolitionists with a more aggressive ideology, but in the South he was considered a radical terrorist, creating a cautious, fearful, and infuriated Southern region. John Brown’s raid on the Harpers Ferry and the ideas that spread from his execution further split an already polarized nation into believing the solution to slavery was the extermination
This would create a productive discussion between readers, not the sporadic, vague, non-committal suggestions the author currently included. McPherson only begins to touch upon an idea for an argument in the last two pages, where he looks into the suggestion of whether or not John Brown was a terrorist or not. However, he leaves this answer up in the air with the statement that what one person believes counts as terrorism, another believes is an act of heroism – yet another open-ended thought with no assertions as to what a firm answer may be. For me, this was the only part in which I was truly made to think deeper into the impact of an individual’s actions as a symbol beyond the Civil War. It was only after that I was able to look back and dig through the essay to find the vague assertion of the broader impact that was woven through the narratives of these individuals’ lives. I understand that these topics are incredibly subjective and sensitive, but that is why, more than any other reason, that McPherson should be writing towards a clear answer in this hotly debated topic as opposed to subtle
Tony Horwitz’s book titled, “Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War” is about the crucial invasion in U.S. history that resulted the start of the Civil War and describes how John Brown helped plan the invasion of Virginia. At the start of the book, Horwitz begins with depicting John Brown’s early life including childhood to adulthood. John Brown was born on May 9, 1800 in the unfriendly peaks of Torrington, Connecticut. When he was eight years old, his mother passed away which made him go through a drastic trauma such as feeling nervous and awkward towards other women.
In the biography Fiery Vision, The Life and Death of John Brown by Clinton Cox, I noticed that John Brown spent more time fighting for slavery than with his family. In finding this, I was very intrigued to learn that someone would fight for something he believes in so much rather than be with his family in time of need. I think that he spent too much time on the cause. Slavery is in fact wrong but to me, family would come first. Brown's family struggled to survive and only saw him every so often, but he did write to his family all the time. On one of his visits, before Brown was really involved in the fight for slavery, he told his second wife Mary Anne Day to "consider herself a widow," and for his children to be "committed to the care of Him who fed the ravens." I think Brown was telling his wife not to get her hopes up of him coming home to her. John Brown loved his family so much, but rarely spent time with them. When he did get to see them, he was a true father. Brown always sang, "Blow Ye the Trumpet Blow" to his family. John, Jr. one of his sons, said ."..For thirty years there was a baby in the house, and he sang us all to sleep...with that same hymn." Brown raised his family around church and required them to worship in the cabin every morning. If Brown loved his family so much why did he leave them? To fight a greater cause, slavery.
A black slave had entered the State of South Carolina earlier and had incited a small but effective rebellion ...
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.
John Brown was a man who lived in the mid eighteen-hundreds and who fought against the evil of slavery. He had a very strong belief that slavery was unjust, and this is true, but he thought that in order to abolish slavery, violence would be the best method. That’s where he went wrong. John Brown led two attacks on slave owners and those who supported slavery, the first at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas on May 24th, 1856, and the second at Harper Ferry, Virginia on October 16th, 1859. At Pottawatomie Creek, joined by seven others, Brown brutally hacked to death five men with sabers. These men supported slavery but weren’t even slave owners themselves. On October 16th, 1859, Brown led 21 men on another raid on Harpers Ferry attempting to take possession of the U.S. arsenal and use the weapons in a revolt against slave owners, gathering up an army of slaves as he made his way south. Brown’s attacks were not in self-defense, they were heinous acts of revenge upon slave owners, and therefore his attack had no justification.
Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry affected American culture more than can ever be understood. Tension between the North and South was building in the 1850's. Slavery among many other things was dividing the country into two sections. Brown was executed on December 2, 1859 for his murderous out-lash on society. Was his mind so twisted and demented that he would commit cold-blooded murder? The answer is no. John Brown was a man with a goal and a purpose. When he said that abolition could not be achieved without blood he was right. It is one of histories great ironies; John Brown's struggle preceded the Civil War by only 17 months. Thousands of people were killed in the Civil War, yet John Brown is still looked on as a criminal. He was not a criminal but a hero, fighting for what was right. He was a man ahead of his time.
Abolitionism quickly gained popularity since 1821 when William Lloyd Garrison assisted in writing an anti-slavery newspaper, The Genius of Universal Emancipation, with Benjamin Lundy. In 1831, abolitionism continued to grow in popularity when William Lloyd Garrison started The Liberator. Although there remained not a need for slaves in the North, slavery remained very big in the South for growing “cash crops.” The majority of the abolitionists who inhabited the North organized speeches, meetings, and newspapers to spread their cause. Initially, only small revolts and fights occurred. However, major events along the way led to the Harpers Ferry Raid. For example, with Kansas choosing whether or not to become a free or slave state. That became the biggest event up until John Brown’s Raid. John Brown had always despised slavery, and this enhanced his chance as an organized revolt. The effect of his raid on Harpers Ferry affected what the South thought about abolitionists and the power that they held.
It was America mid 1850’s and slavery was a sensitive topic between the north and the south. It seemed slaves had no hope of ever changing America’s ways until a white man by the name of John Brown decided to stand up and fight for the abolishment of slavery, which has been said to be one of the major events leading up to the American Civil War. Browns actions were defended by himself claiming they were “consisting of God’s commandments” (Finkelman 2011). I will explain Brown’s deontological ethical perspective while preforming the actions for the abolishment of slavery.
Douglass's life as a reformer ranged from his abolitionist activities in the early 1840s to his attacks on Jim Crow and lynching in the 1890s. For 16 years he edited an influential black newspaper and achieved international fame as an orator and writer of great persuasive power. In thousands of speeches and editorials he levied an irresistible indictment against slavery and racism, provided an indomitable voice of hope for his people, embraced antislavery politics, and preached his own brand of American ideals. In the 1850s he broke with the strictly moralist brand of abolitionism led by William Lloyd Garrison; he supported the early women's rights movement; and he gave direct assistance to John Brown's conspiracy that led to the raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859.
Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2006. Print. "Why Was the Confederacy Defeated?"
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 with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say let it be done." (http://members.
Davidson & Lytle utilize the notion that many historical figures, including heroes and artists, may have shared John Brown's mental condition to suggest that labeling him as bipolar does not diminish the significance of his actions. They argue that Brown's fervent commitment to human liberty and equality, driven by his bipolar condition and profound religious nature, propelled him to challenge societal norms, particularly regarding slavery (p. 168). Despite the controversy surrounding his character, Brown's radical actions forced society to confront its moral contradictions, ultimately contributing to the upheaval that led to the Civil War. This perspective suggests that Brown, far from being a lunatic or terrorist, was a driven martyr whose ends, though controversial, spurred societal change. An example from the text supporting this is the assertion that "many of history's heroes, inventors, and artists have shared Brown's mental condition.
Although Turner’s actions were said to be in good faith, his actions did cause many white males to feel outraged and vengeful, which later led to the murder of over two-hundred innocent African Americans. Consequently, these actions led to harsher conditions for African Americans. In Virginia, for example, teaching an African American how to read was now prohibited. Similar to Turner, abolitionist John Brown also took the lives of many in the name of ending slavery and became infamous for his methods. Brown was very religious, just like Turner, and shared a common hatred for slavery.
Abolitionist literature, such as pamphlets, newspapers, and books, disseminated anti-slavery ideas and arguments throughout the North. Works like William Lloyd Garrison's "The Liberator" and "Uncle Tom's cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe exposed the brutality and immorality of slavery, fuelling public outrage and increasing opposition to the institution. Abolitionist activists organized lectures, rallies, and protests, advocating for the immediate abolition of slavery. This growing abolitionist sentiment in the North directly challenged the economic and social foundations of slavery in the South. In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in an attempt to initiate a slave rebellion.