Braden Edwards

History 2700

Mr.Jensen

10/13/19

Historical Novel Essay

Plot:

In the book The Good Lord Bird, John Brown with his army storms the Armory. He and

his followers successfully take the Harper ferry armory as well as some hostages. Fighting broke

out between civilians trying to take back the hostages and in the end they are surrounded by the

state army with general Robert E Lee outside (James McBride pg. 364) It said John Brown is

fifty-nine years-old at the time of the raid. After researching at history.com it is found to be true.

All of the events listed here were historically accurate. Robert E. Lee as Colonel brings United

States Marine troops and ends John Brown's raid on Harper Ferry just like it talked about in the

book. It is also historically accurate that hostages were taken. One hostage in particular was the

great grandson of George Washington, whose name was Lewis William Washington. This also

happens in the book. The main character does not do anything, it is only the characters that

actually existed that fight in the book. This leaves things exactly as they were in history and is

very accurate to how the fight happened.

There is a point in the book where John Brown with his sons barge into a cabin that is the

residence of James P. Doyle. They take him and his two sons outside and kill them only sparing

the mother and the youngest of the sons who is a sixteen year-old boy. They are brought outside

to be questioned and are then killed with broadswords (James Mcbride pg 51-53). Through
research it is found that most of this is true. The only detail changed is John Brown shot James P.

Doyle after he is stabbed to ensure Doyle is dead. The book never specifies if one of the sons is

killed because the main character runs off, although it is assumed. The author left out this detail

to keep the focus of John Brow trying to build support ending the practice of slavery not just

murduring individuals that practiced it or allowed it.

Frederick Brown is one of John Brown's sons. He is with the main character in the woods

when Reverend Martin White shoots Frederick without warning after coming up to them. This is

not how it transpired. Frederick brown was leading some anti-slavery men near Osawatomie.

Reverend Martin told him to halt, and when he did not, Martin White shot him.(Battle of

Osawatomie 2016) This part was changed to increase the symbolism and importance of the good

lord bird. It is right before Frederick Brown dies that the good lord bird is killed accidentally. It

is very unlikely to be false because in the book the bird represents good luck and to kill a good

luck charm would mean bad luck ensues.

Setting:

The setting in the Good Lord Bird is very much in sync with the time period the book is

modelled after. Many of John Brown's followers were not religious and this was alright,

especially because it was during a time that was after the enlightenment. It was also because

states lost control over religion during the fight for American independence allowing for those

with different or no beliefs on religion to do as they pleased.

In the book, John Brown and slaves that had caused an insurrection were seen by the

protagonist being publicly hung. It had been done where everyone can see it. This is historically
accurate because, until 1868 when the Capital Punishment Amendment Act of 1868 was

instilled, those that were given the death sentence could be hung while many bystanders

watched. Most came just for that reason, treating it like some sort of entertainment dehumanizing

the person.

In the 1800s there were not any cars or phones. The only way to communicate was

through letters, telegraphs or word of mouth. In the book it shows that the dilemma of gaining

African American support for the Harper Ferry raid .“How would you pass word fast to thousand

of folk who got no telegraph and no letters?” ( Mcbride pg 307) The railroad was their

communication. The normal means of transportation was through wagons and train(Mcbride pg

283). At that time cars were not around to use and so wagons were the best way to transport

goods and people, especially since trains could not go everywhere.(History.com Editors 2010)

The best way to commute was through a wagon as it allowed passage through many different

types of terrain.

Characters:

The first character is John Brown. In the book, he is portrayed as fervently religious,

offering prayers and giving sermons lasting hours. When analyzing the facts behind the book it is

found he is indeed deeply religious. The article even went so far as to say “John Brown's

religious beliefs motivated his violent abolitionist” (Atwater 2005) He is a very important

character in the book. He lead the raid on Harpers ferry with his army of volunteers and in the

book on December 2, 1859 he was hung (McBride pg. 413).Verifying the validity, it was found

he was hung during that time. This was checked through history.com.
He also briefly discussed plans with Harriet Tubman (McBride pg. 248) although she never

ended up helping him in the book or in actuality. John Brown was a man that respected others

and was no madman. He was a man of action that even said so himself in the book. He had to be

during a time that was so polarized.

Mr.Douglass in the book is described as being, “a stout, handsome mulatto with long

dark hair”(Mcbride pg. 215). He is a real person that existed during the time of slavery and even

John Brown actually consulted him, just like in the book, about the harpers ferry raid and gaining

his support. In both the book and in reality, he was denied support. In the book, he was seen as a

man with influence who John Brown wanted on his side so that African Americans would flock

to the raid that he was about to instigate. Mr. Douglass has two wives at the same time in the

book. Miss Ann and Miss Ottilie.( McBribe pg. 219 ) This is not true, as although he had two

wives throughout his life, he only had one at a time. He married Anne Murrary in 1838. She later

died in 1882 and after two years, Frederick remarried to Helen Pitts. ​ ​This Information was found

through the​ ​Frederick Douglass Timeline. Ottilie Assing was only an affair that Douglass had.

They are all real people that did exist. Ottilie was never married to Mr. Douglass.

The third character is The Railman. The Railman helps the main character by trying to

bring in supporters through the train. In the beginning of the raid he is killed because kagi was

not told the password the main character was supposed to relay. This character could have been

Heyward Shepherd. Heyward was the first to die in the raid of Harper Ferry at the train. He was

also a porter for the railroad that passed through Virginia(Johnson 2015). The difference is that

The Railman conspired with the main character to help John Brown and was part of the

underground railroad. Heyward also did not have children in slavery.

Theme:

The theme is how one person making a stand can be an example for others to do the

same. John brown fought against slavery before the Civil War. He was leading the way for others

to do the same. The Good Lord Bird is symbolic. At the very end of the book it adds that a good

lord bird is “ looking for a tree to roost on, a bad tree, I expect, so he could alight upon it and get

busy, so that it would some day fall and feed the others”. This is intentional symbolism to

connect it to John Brown’s role in igniting those that were against slavery to act. It spoke often in

the book of how he was a man of action and believed people were all talk. This is more than

coincidence the book included this line at the very end after John Brown had been hanged for his

crimes. He was someone that fought for slaves, cutting at the tree of slavery. A white person that

wanted to dissolve the racial bias that existed in America. His actions fed others that were

yearning for a movement to abolish the same injustice he fought. With the momentum from his

actions, thirteen months later, war broke out to finally let the tree fall.

Overall Analysis and Impact:

This book is a very good read and is quite historically accurate. On almost all occasions

that I fact checked, this book was found to be correct with the facts of that time period and

events. Almost all of the people in the book actually existed, excluding the main character

whose viewpoint the book was seen through. The book was still very interesting even with its

accuracy because of the few things that were not accurate. Old John Brown was not as eccentric

as it was portrayed, and although he was religious, he was not constantly praying and reciting
verses to his men and himself for hours on end. Minor things were tweaked along with the

viewpoint from a third party allows for a different way to tell the story. This grants more emotion

to be put into the book as well as showing how scenes could be interpreted by an individual

during that time period.It is a great historically accurate novel.

Works Cited:

Atwater, G. (1970, January 1). John Brown, religion and violence : motivation in American

history. Retrieved from ​https://esirc.emporia.edu/handle/123456789/950​.

Battle of Osawatomie. (2016, July). Retrieved from

https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/battle-of-osawatomie/19722​.

Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868. (1978, June 1). Retrieved from

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/31-32/24/1991-02-01​.

History.com Editors. (2010, April 5). Conestoga Wagon. Retrieved from

https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/conestoga-wagon​ .
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. (2009, November 13). Retrieved October 13, 2019, from

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-browns-raid-on-harpers-ferry​.

Johnson, M. (2015, December). Share Heyward Shepherd. Retrieved from

https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/391​.

McBride, J. (2014). ​The Good Lord Bird​. United States: Thorndike Press. doi: 31181120222634

Rein, Christopher. "Pottawatomie Massacre" Civil War on the Western Border: The

Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865. The Kansas City Public Library. Accessed Sunday,

October 13, 2019 - 17:53 at

https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/pottawatomie-massacre

timeline of Frederick Douglass and family. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/hwny-douglass-family.html​ .

Weiser, K. (n.d.). Battle of Black Jack, Kansas. Retrieved October 13, 2019, from

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-blackjack/