1. Was John Brown insane? Why/why not?
2. How did Brown affect "Bloody Kansas?"
3. How did Douglass interact with Brown? Why did he support him at first, but then refuse to join him? Give examples.
4. Why does Stauffer believe the "happiest days of Brown's life" were on death row?
5. How did Brown's execution impact the Republican Party and the Election of 1860?
Plot John Brown on the graph...
NOT CRAZY
FREEDOM FIGHTER
TERRORIST
CRAZYTOWN: POPULATION: 1
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He's straight­up CRAZY.
He's a HERO and is NOT CRAZY.
He's crazy AND a hero.
He's not a hero, but he's not crazy.
He's got some serious anger issues, but he's NOT crazy.
Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen
"You may dispose of me very easily. I am nearly disposed of now. But this question is still to be settled ­ this Negro question, I mean; the end of that is not yet." ­ John Brown, 1859
Many historians maintain that John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859 was the straw that broke the camel's back; the defining cause of the American Civil War. John Brown was arguably the most radical white abolitionist to ever emerge out of the movement. However, his sanity has often been called into question. Was John Brown really crazy? Sure, he thought himself to be an "instrument of God" who was to cleanse this guilty land of its sins. And yes, his plan to capture a federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry and lead a slave revolt in Virginia was a bit far­fetched. But does that mean he was nuts? Let's look into it.
Despite the fact that Brown's lawyers may have used the insanity plea to get him off, Brown was hardly thought of as insane during his time. As James Loewen puts it in his book Lies My Teacher Told Me, "(Brown) favorably impressed people who spoke with him after his capture, including his jailer and even reporters writing for Democratic newspapers, which supported slavery. Governor Wise of Virginia called him "a man of clear head" after Brown got the better of him in an informal interview. "They are themselves mistaken who take him to be a madman," Governor Wise said. In his message to the Virginia legislature he said Brown showed "quick and clear perception," "rational premises and consecutive reasoning," and "composure and self­
possession." (Loewen, pg. 167).
Also, of all the black people who met Brown, none thought he was insane. Once again I quote Loewen: "Many black leaders of the day ­ Martin Delaney, Henry Highland Garnet, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and others ­ knew and respected Brown. Only illness kept Tubman from joining him at Harper's Ferry. Frederick Douglass called Brown "one of the greatest heroes known to American fame." (Loewen, 170).
OK, so Brown's contemporaries admit he wasn't insane. But what about the raid in Virginia? Surely he wasn't a military strategist, and his overall scheme seemed highly unrealistic and crazy in itself. I mean, was it really possible for Brown to arm enough slaves to defeat the Virginia militia and go on to secure their freedom? Not likely at all. But the true meaning of Harper's Ferry was not on the plan's surface. Anyone could devise a scheme that be deemed ridiculously feeble. Brown, however, knew of the impact such an attempt would have on America even if the plan failed, something he admitted to Frederick Douglass. It was an act that Brown knew would start a fire that would not be put out except through bloodshed. He was right.
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n the opening paragraph, I stated that Brown thought himself to be an "instrument of God." Well, I was lying a bit, playing the role of devil's advocate. It has been popular belief that such a notion be true. However, Brown was a devout Christian who saw slavery and Christianity to be incompatible. He didn't see himself as being commanded by God, but rather as a Christian who could not stand to see such a sin as slavery be allowed to continue in his country.
John Brown was most likely far from insane. It has been a defense mechanism of Brown critics to label him crazy to justify his martyrdom, as if to say had he been of sound mind, he would not have carried out his plans, nor have been deemed a hero. He was a passionate, sane, white, Christian man who became a hero to the cause of emancipation. And he quite possibly, in one act of "insurrection," caused the Civil War, an event he saw necessary for the settling of the "Negro question."
Source Used: James Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me: 1995. 3
Henry David Thoreau
I am here to plead his cause with you. I plead not for his life, but for his character,­­his immortal life; and so it becomes your cause wholly, and is not his in the least. Some eighteen hundred years ago Christ was crucified; this morning, perchance, Captain Brown was hung. These are the two ends of a chain which is not without its links. He is not Old Brown any longer; he is an angel of light. I see now that it was necessary that the bravest and humanest man in all the country should be hung. Perhaps he saw it himself. I almost fear that I may yet hear of his deliverance, doubting if a prolonged life, if any life, can do as much good as his death. Thoreau then quotes Brown...
"I wish to say, furthermore, that you had better, all you people at the South, prepare yourselves for a settlement of that question, that must come up for settlement sooner than your are prepared for it. The sooner you are prepared the better. You may dispose of me very easily. I am nearly disposed of now; but this question is still to be settled,­­this negro question, I mean; the end of that is not yet."­­John Brown I foresee the time when the painter will paint that scene, no longer going to Rome for a subject; the poet will sing it; the historian record it; and, with the Landing of the Pilgrims and the Declaration of Independence, it will be the ornament of some future national gallery, when at least the present form of slavery shall be no more here. We shall then be at liberty to weep for Captain Brown. Then, and not till then, we will take our revenge. ­­Henry David Thoreau, "A Plea for Captain John Brown"
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Argument made by Loewen? Textbooks from 1890­
1970 treated Brown as INSANE, using words like "crackbrained," focusing on his mother's mental illness, etc.
Loewen's arguments post­1970?
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