Tony Horowitz's Midnight Rising

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Of the many works by notable Tony Horowitz, like Blue Latitudes and Confederates in the Attic, the most significant is Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War. Horowitz has been a devout journalist and writer of history since the early ninety's after graduating from Brown University with a history major and a master of journalism at Colombia University. With these credentials, he displays a passion in reflecting American history, thus giving him initiative to write Midnight Rising, subjecting the raid led by John Brown at Harper's Ferry in 1859. Horowitz depicts Brown's home existence, economic struggles, and all persistent endeavors into abolitionism, which leads to this effectual raid. The purpose of this monograph is to establish how it, amongst all abolitionist fights, was the most prominent in the movement, being the catalyst of the Civil War. Although referred to aliases like “I. Smith” and “Osawatomie Brown”, John Brown …show more content…

With providing the reader substantial information about the abolitionist’s domestic life, economic setbacks, and divine motivations for the cause, Horowitz concludes that Brown was not only a martyr for abolition, but the figure accounted for the beginning of the Civil War. The importance of the topic is conception of the Civil War occurring from a contribution of events because although there were countless instances prompting it, the raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 instigated its occurrence. To America today, this monograph demonstrates the significance of determination and civil disobedience in the face of a corrupt political system, and puts into perspective what the country would be today without leaders like John Brown. Anyone finding significance in learning the history of how American civil rights came about would benefit from Tony Horowitz’s Midnight

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