John Brown: Past and Present

John Brown:

Past and Present

Rodney Titus

History 33 155 America: A Historical Survey

Dr. Richard Frucht

April 2, 2005

Host: "Looking into the crystal ball, I wonder who our guest will be. As the fog lifts from the orb, a picture of a man that has had an enormous impact on our socially accepted views begins to appear. Who is this man? Well, he is known as both a martyr and a psychopathic killer. He has been called a blatant liar as well as a man of strong convictions, all in the same breath. But his most notable contribution to our country is undoubtedly his involvement in the antislavery movement. The man I am referring to is John Brown. While we talk with him today, we will compare the consequences of past actions with the consequences of today's actions. So, let's give a warm round of applause as we welcome John Brown to the hot seat.

To begin with, why don't you give the audience a little bit of back ground about yourself. Tell us where you were born and something about your childhood."

John Brown: "I was born on May ninth in the year of our Lord 1800. To understand my story, I must first tell you about my father, Owen. As a child during the Revolution, his father, John Brown, was away fighting in the Revolution and Owen found himself handling a lot of the responsibilities around the home. During the day he worked in the fields alongside a slave, from Guinea, named Sam. Sam used to carry my father on his back and my father grew to love him. When Sam died, it was to be the first funeral my dad had ever attended. Because Owen's dad was gone during the Revolution and Sam stood in as a caring father figure, Sam ended up being the seed of my father's views about slavery. My dad saw Sam as a mentor and not as a slave or a man of color. After Sam's death, my father turned to religion for comfort. This was during the same time as the Great Awakening and my father started attending the revivals. During one such revival, my father heard a sermon by the late Reverend Jonathan Edwards where he stated that slavery was a cardinal sin against God. After hearing this sermon, his attitude towards slavery was cemented. The final incident that caused my father to become active in the antislavery movement then occurred. A preacher by the name of Mr. Thompson had taken refuge in Connecticut with his slaves during the Revolution. After the Revolution, Mr. Thompson decided to take the wife and kids of one of his slaves back to his southern estate. My father was angered by this hypocrite. How could a preacher teach God's word and then ignore his teachings? I don't know what happened to him, but my dad said Mr. Thompson didn't get to take his property back to his southern estate. This last incident is what turned my father into an avid abolitionist" (Abels, 1971).

Host: "I can see how your father's upbringing influenced your beliefs, but what caused you to become such a passionate abolitionist?"

John Brown: "I believe it was from my readings about Toussaint L'Ouverture. L'Ouverture led a revolt in Haiti that freed his people from the white supremacy of the French and the British. After reading these accounts, I realized that Negroes were bold, capable, and willing to fight for their freedom. They wanted no more or less than we did when we left England and came here for the chance of freedom and opportunity" (Abels, 1971).

Host: "What caused you to start taking physical actions as an abolitionist?"

John Brown: "I think after my many failures in business leading to my bankruptcy at the age of forty and my unsuccessful attempts after my bankruptcy left me feeling desolate. Returning to the Bible renewed my outlook on life and steered me back to my childhood ambition of ending slavery. With this new purpose in life, I devised a plan. It would, however, require capital and other resources" (Abels, 1971) (Malin, 1942).

Host: "Are you talking about your plan that eventually led to the Federal Armory being seized at Harper Ferry, Virginia?"

John Brown: "Yes, I am."

Host: "Well as you explain your plan, could you give us an idea of any changes you would make if you were going to negotiate the same plan today?"

John Brown: "Before we go into my battle plan, you need to understand where I received my military knowledge. Back in 1849 when I was in business with Simon Perkins, I had the fortunate opportunity to go to Europe to oversee the sale of my wool. It was during this time that I acquired my military knowledge. While there, I visited the battlefields of Napoleon Ð'- Waterloo, Jena, and Leipzig. One thing all these battlefields had in common was the mountainous, rough terrain that the enemy had to try and negotiate. It seems, in my opinion, that this terrain was the inadvertent weapon that defeated Napoleon's enemy. I made a mental note to deliberately include this factor in my battle plans.

In January of 1851 in Springfield, Ohio, I encountered my first taste of leadership and foresaw the path of success. It was here that I organized the United States League of Gilead. The point of this organization was to band together freed slaves and fugitives. After consolidating them, I intended to encourage them to stop the slave-catchers from taking a fugitive out of a free state and returning them to southern soil; in short, to retaliate against the Fugitive Slave Law by using strength in numbers. The problem with this meeting was the number of supporters that attended. I only received forty-four signatures on the agreement that night because of my lack of recruiting efforts. If I were in the same situation today, I would have reached many more supporters