John Brown  on a mission by God

John Brown  on a mission by God

John Brown believed he was called on a mission by God to incite a slave revolt, which would then lead to the abolishment of slavery. He lived out his purpose through an attack on Harper’s Ferry and its federal arsenal. Two months before the attack, five blacks and sixteen whites, including three of Brown’s sons, hid in a farmhouse outside the town. When it was time, the small force seized a rifle works, an armory, and took the grandson of the first president, Lewis Washington hostage. Eventually, Brown and his group were trapped in an engine house, and 36 hours after the first shot, the war on slavery had ended. The event caused the death of seven and nine more were wounded. Brown was accused of treason, murder and inciting a slave insurrection by a state court, and was sentenced to death by hanging on December 2, 1859. The attack on Harper’s Ferry caused Brown to be criticized for his savage actions; even Abraham Lincoln spoke out against him. Some viewed Brown as a hero or a martyr, but the majority of people in the 33 states regarded the man as insane, but no one knew what motivated him. Stephen Oates, a Brown biographer, stated, “in many ways, his subject was not normal… but to call him insane is to ignore the tremendous sympathy he felt for the black man in America”(153). Brown was neither a sane or an insane man, but what made people think he was mad was due to his belief in the absolute equality of all races. Even the abolitionists, people who favor the abolition of slavery, thought his idea was nuts. Where Brown’s crazy ideas and insane character came from can be traced to the nineteen= affidavits submitted by Brown’s attorney, Lawson Botts.

In these affidavits, many of them pronounced the pattern of insanity in the family, and his aunts, uncles, cousins, and immediate family members all were said to have shown some mental disorder. Although Brown did admit to his family members being insane, most of the affidavits were submitted by close relatives. They hoped governor Wise would spare his life, and only one of the nineteen came from a doctor, who at the time knew nothing in psychological observation. Instead of looking at his family for the source of his insanity, many trace it to the many business failures he experienced over the years. Lytle and Davison state, “by 1852 he had suffered fifteen business failures in four different states… he had been a drifter, horse thief, and swindler, several times a bankrupt, a failure in everything he attempted”(157). Although Brown was a lousy businessman and failed over and over, it does not prove his insanity. With this theory, much of the adult population would be called insane. The last place to look at to prove his insanity would be if he has any mental disorders. When Brown was young, “all of these he lost but none pained him so much as the death of his Mother… he never grew to love his new Mother and continued to pine after his Mother for years”(165-6). The death of Brown’s Mother made sent him into a deep depression, so far that Brown never grew to love his new one. On top of this, he did not like school but rather pleasurable activities that have a high risk for painful consequences. This evidence suggests that Brown could have been bipolar, and according to Carroll, if he was not bipolar, the attack on Harper’s ferry probably would not have occurred.

Although the authors do focus on John Brown being an insane person more often than not, Davidson and Lytle both have zero bias towards making John Brown seem more insane or heroic. They focus on many different ways that John Brown could be crazy, but his insanity is never proven. The authors use Stephen Oates’s words, “To call him insane, Oates argued, is to ignore the tremendous sympathy he felt for the black man in America”(152). If the authors had a bias on John Brown, they would not use evidence from both sides of the argument. They mention how people call him insane but then give a contradictory statement right after. Another case that could prove the reason for Brown’s craziness was his multiple business failures. The authors use this evidence in a way that might seem biased towards him being nuts, but at the end of the argument, they state, “But to show Brown was a poor businessman and that much of his life he made foolish decisions hardly proves him insane. Under those terms, much of the adult population in the United States would belong in asylums”(157). Every argument on whether Brown was mad or not, the authors present ideas from each side of the fight. The authors even go far enough, comparing Brown to the rest of the adult population. Davidson and Lytle have no bias in this chapter, due to them equally representing each side of whether John Brown was insane or not.

I thought that the article was written very well, but I feel at a couple of points the authors overdid it. They include a story where he wrote to Harry Stearns when he was young. To add a full account of his childhood and then later to talk about, I feel it is useless. Some paragraphs are entirely copied from the letter and put into the text. For example, “Snowball and run and knock off old seedy Wool hats”(161). This quote was taken out of the letter and was copied into the authors writing on the top of 167. There is no reason to include a three-page story and then recite most of the information on the following pages. Besides this, I enjoyed how in-depth Davidson and Lytle went into what could have motivated Brown to become enraged. The article was fascinating and intriguing, and I read it in one sitting because of how well it was written.

Out of ten, I would rate this chapter a nine due to how interesting the character of John Brown is. While reading the episode, I always wanted to learn more about why he could be insane. I am more intrigued by a story that involves some sort of violence, whether it is war or a small rebellion. I had a better feeling about the story coming into it compared to the first essay on we wrote, which was on the constitution. The only cause of the article not being a ten is the authors, including the lengthy letter he wrote to Harry Stearns. I felt there was no point as it was going to appear in the following pages. Overall, I enjoyed my time reading about a man who stood up for his beliefs, and that played a role in the cause of the civil war.