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Cite all VALID sources. Please answer in this order, it really…
Cite all VALID sources. Please answer in this order, it really helps with studying. Attached are valid sources.
YouTube Video (Watch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l4BftXQhU
“John Brown’s body lies a moulderin in the grave…” Union Army Civil War marching song.
Abolitionist John Brown’s efforts to secure racial justice were numerous and diverse. He promoted a school for blacks. He insisted that his two hired black employees be allowed to sit in his pew at his Congregational Church–an unprecedented demand that led to his expulsion from the church. He became a stationmaster in the Underground Railroad, constructing a hiding place in his barn and taking fugitive slaves on nocturnal rides north to the next station.
Late in the evening of Sunday October 16, 1859 John Brown, accompanied by 14 white men from Connecticut, New York, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Maine, Indiana and Canada, and 5 freed black men from Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, conducted a raid on the United States armory in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). A staunch abolitionist, Brown believed that the raid would encourage black slaves and white citizens to rise in insurrection and overthrow slavery (Earle, 2008).
During the invasion, Brown and his group of insurgents killed a railroad worker, and captured about 40 citizens of Harper’s Ferry who were taken to the Fire Engine House to use as hostages. Unsuccessful rescue attempts were made by the local militia. As a result regular US Army troops were called into action. Commanded by Robert . E. Lee, along with his aid J. E. B. Stuart, on October 18 the US troops quickly gained control of the situation killed and captured most of the raiders and rescued the hostages. A few of the raiders escaped. Brown survived, was tried convicted of murder and treason and hanged on December 2, 1859. One of the commanders of the execution was Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson(Earle, 2008). A young member of the Virginia Militia – John Wilkes Booth – witnessed the hanging.
Beginning during the six day trial October 29-November 2, 1859 the question of Brown’s mental stability first surfaced and continues to foster debate 150 years later. Brown’s defense attorney wanted to use the insanity defense to save his client certain conviction (McGlone, 2009). By arguing that Brown suffered from “monomania” (a single fixation-slavery in this case) Brown’s attorney may have been successful in preventing an execution. Some within Brown’s circle questioned the notion of the Harper’s Ferry Raid as an insane act that could only be considered by someone who is unbalanced. Thus, only an insane man could be against slavery and would plan a raid that had no chance of success.
Brown refused to agree to this line of defense because he did not want history to write that the revolt against slavery was commanded by a ‘madman”. This thinking would cause future abolitionists to discount the importance of the anti-slavery movement. Brown believed that people would not want to be associated with a cause that was lead by an insane man. McGlone (2009) writes: “Brown understood that the greatest object in his life, his quest to destroy slavery, would be seen as delusional if he were declared insane” (p.44).
However, history has portrayed Brown as insane. Pictures, paintings, movies, and books characterize Brown as a wild-eyed psychotic, incoherent rambling fanatic religious zealot. Some authors claim that mental illness was predisposed in the Brown Family. A medical review of members of his immediate family finds that his oldest son, John, Jr. suffered a psychotic episode prior to the Civil War. It is speculated that this was the result of experiencing what is now called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as the result of fighting in the Kansas-Missouri Border Wars (Bleeding Kansas). Also, later in her life Brown’s oldest daughter, Dainthe, is reported to have suffered major depression for over ten years. Today we might look to hormonal imbalance as a possible explanation. McGlone (2009) points out that a review of historical Brown family documents does not support a consideration of a major mental disorder that could be explained through contemporary psychology.
The result of the raid left a smoldering ember in the South as many slave owners feared another uprising similar to the Nat Turner rebellion of 1831. Additionally, one reason given for succession by some Southern States was that Union States would not extradite the raiders who had escaped from Harper’s Ferry. Frederick Douglas and W.E.B. Du Bois later wrote that Brown sparked the fire that destroyed slavery. In 1910 a “John Brown Day” was declared by the Black Intellectuals and community leaders. 106 years after the raid, Malcom X recalled the sacrifice of John Brown as a means to gather support for civil rights.
So where are we now?
The debate will continue through time and will not likely be fully resolved. What we do know is the planning and organization of the raid would be difficult to accomplish by someone who was psychiatrically impaired. And yet…those who were closest to him had their questions.
REFERENCES:
Earle, J. (2008). John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry: A Brief History with Documents. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
McGlone, R. E. (2009). The ‘Madness’ of John Brown. Civil War Times: October, pp42-49.
Answer the questions below and post thoughts regarding John Brown here.
What were the issues related to Brown’s sanity?
How does the Brown trial relate to the history of psychology?
What is your opinion regarding Brown’s sanity?
