John Brown

The Father of American Terrorism

“Misguided Fanatic” –Abraham Lincoln

America was in a time of need. A man named John Brown saw the need for change. He
was a renegade abolitionist who was incredibly controversial. But, this occurred in the
later years of his life.
In his earlier years he was in Ohio, he was raised in the wilderness, and was a very
devout Calvinist from the beginning of his life and even was in a ministry for a short
period of time. He married at the age of 20 and his wife promptly died from unknown
causes. He remarried and fathered 20 children, many of which died early on. He
speculated in real estate and lost many monies in the panic of 1837. Brown held himself
in his farmhouse after he lost his farm. After this incident he became a stronger
abolitionist and religious radical. Became dedicated and he moved his family to Kansas
in order to stack vote to abolish slavery in Kansas. Border ruffians, pro-slavery
southerners, invaded in March 1855 to try and keep slavery within Kansas (by killing
abolitionists and voting illegally). Abolitionists did not fight back, and Brown became
angry. Brown got volunteers and went to Pottawatomie creek and killed 5 civilians.
Southerners became angry while unionists admired his efforts. Border Ruffians
continued to Harass Osawatomie and although john brown lost the battle he became a
hero. In October of 1859, he got more volunteers and he went to Virginia and went to
Harper’s Fairy, federal Armory was there. John Brown invaded and took all guns and
plan on distributing guns to slaves for revolt, but local militia stopped plan (had more
manpower). John Brown was arrested and found guilty of treason and was hanged.
South became even pro-slavery and became violent. John Brown became a martyr for
the north as an abolitionist and the union. John Brown is still very controversial in
today’s society. Political terrorists use him as inspiration today, and many historians
believe he was crazy.
John Brown: “The Father of American Terrorism”
John Brown has been considered to be “The Father of American Terrorism” by
many for his notoriously violent acts; however his actions have been a topic of
controversy for many years. One thing that is constant throughout John Brown’s life is
his devotion to the Calvinist faith. John Brown was born in the wilderness of Ohio in
1800 and from a very early age became fascinated with religion. In fact, he traveled to a
ministry in New England at the age of 16, but eventually left. He justified many of his
acts with his religious beliefs and felt he was doing God’s will. At the age of 20, Brown
married and later remarried after his first wife died. In total, Brown had 20 children and
thus struggled to support his family. His early adult life was highlighted by successive
business failures in various occupations and also extreme losses from speculation in real-
estate during the Panic of 1837. Brown was put in a tough situation, and forced to sell his
farm. However, he refused to surrender his property and he barricaded himself within the
confines of his cabin – this was a turning point in his life.
After this point John Brown became increasingly involved in abolitionism. He
worked for several years in the Underground Railroad and was an outspoken, yet
irrelevant, fighter for the emancipation of slaves for many years. John Brown finally
burst onto the Abolitionist scene in 1855 in “bloody Kansas.” In 1854, the Kansas-
Nebraska Act allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska vote on the issue of slavery, and
thousands flocked to these territories; including five of Brown’s sons. Brown did not
plan on traveling until the heavily armed “Border Ruffians” came into Kansas to try and
make Kansas a slave state. Consequently, John Brown began to make his way to Kansas,
along with weapons that he had been gathering. In May 1856, the Ruffians ransacked the
town of Lawrence and John Brown was infuriated by the lack of Abolitionist opposition.
So on May 23, 1856 Brown and eight other men made there was to the pro-slavery camp
and eventually killed six of James Doyle’s men and this event later became known as the
Pottawatomie Massacred. In August of the same year, 250 Ruffians began to attack the
town of Osawatomie and John Brown and 30 men valiantly defended the town, but
ultimately lost. However, Kansas eventually became a slave state and John Brown had
been an integral part of that outcome.
Despite his success, he was not satisfied. He continued to travel the nation and
tried to drum up support for his armed revolution to free the slaves from the south.
Finally, on October 16, 1859 John Brown put his plan into action – he was going to
attack the U.S. government. Brown’s plan was to raid Harpers Ferry, a government
armory, with 20 of his men and then they would drive into the south to start a revolution.
However, his plan did not go well and eventually a Virginia militia was able to subdue to
the rebels and Brown was taken into custody. He was then convicted of treason by a
Virginian jury and sentenced to death. He was hung on December 2nd, 1959 and forever
immortalized as a martyr for the cause of abolitionism.
To this day John Brown is very controversial and draws many different opinions
from different historians and social groups. African Americans have been outspokenly
found of John Brown and all that he tried to do for the slaves of the time and many white
Americans have viewed him as an insane political terrorist. No matter what opinion is
believed, there is no denying that John Brown dedicated his life toward the emancipation
of the slaves and had a profound effect on the issue of slavery in this nation.