John Brown’s actions at Harper’s Ferry in October 1859 created a lasting strain that developed between the northern and southern regions of the United States from the years 1859 to 1863. The North’s political and ideological view quickly aligned with Brown’s abolitionist ideology and efforts, establishing a culture that condemned Brown’s actions but illuminated his cause. The progressive is North took into account John Brown’s cause as a cause of benevolence that advocated the innate rights of man. Such thought brought more abolitionist ideology to establish itself in the north causing further tension between the North and the South’s views on slavery. The South, on the other hand, supported slavery and justified it through the …show more content…
Both Kansas and Nebraska mounted in cross-border acts of violence over the terms of slavery. As a result of the Kansas-Nebraska act, the conflict was a main point of argument the North had on the continuation of slavery in the West. The conflict between the North and the South’s rhetoric behind slavery caused them much tension. Abraham Lincoln gave a campaign speech referring to the Democrats as bushwhackers and informants of false information that cannot be justified (E). Since the Democratic Party inhabited much of the southern lands of the United States, this perception of the Democrats similarly denounced the ideals of the south. This claim drew a political wedge among the Democratic and the developed Republican Party that Lincoln was a part of. The abolitionist perspective of the North attributed to their growing hostility towards the southerner’s ideals about slavery as shown in Lincoln’s denouncement of southern ideals. Frederick Douglass, a free African-American author, reminisced about his relationship with John Brown and how he respected him very much, so much to claim that it is an “honor to ourselves in doing and honor to him, for it implies the possession of qualities akin to his” (F). Frederick’s heightened respect for Brown stems from Brown’s purpose of his cause. John Brown sought to free slaves in his attack on Harpers Ferry. Frederick, as a former slave himself, took up the responsibility of supporting and leading the abolitionist movement across the nation. His purpose in writing to an abolitionist group the greatness of Brown is to influence the