Was John Brown A Hero

First, history should judge John Brown while remembering the fallacy of black and white reasoning. Second, the majority of judgement for John Brown should be based on his actions. With that said, he should not be judged solely for his actions; History must also consider Brown’s motives. And third, good and bad are subjective, one man's hero is another man’s terrorist. Looking at Brown’s early and mid life he was not particularly successful, he spent his life moving from place to place, failing at most every career he tried (396). However, in death John Brown successfully gained notoriety after he was hanged after orchestrating the Pottawatomie massacre and the overtaking of Harpers Ferry, Virginia (417). So if we were to judge Brown as his …show more content…
However, if we consider his motivation for the uprising it isn't hard to understand why some people think Brown a hero. Brown since childhood thought “that slavery was wrong and ought to be destroyed” (395). And after the debate over slavery in Kansas turned violent in the 1850s. In 1856 Brown fought fire with fire and retaliated against proslavery leading eight men in a raid that killed five men who supported proslavery. Afterwards in 1859 escalated his war on slavery and lead a twenty one man militia to overtake Harpers Ferry, Virginia. After taking over the town Brown and his men were surrounded by marines sent to subdue them. Brown was captured and sentenced to death, yet in his death many found a martyr for a just cause. Brown told the court “If it is deemed necessary that i should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice . . . I say, let it be done” (417). So on one hand Brown is a convicted murder who harmed innocents, but on the other he committed these acts in retaliation to the evil conditions slaves were forced to endure. From my perspective John Brown was not a good person. He was however fighting for a just cause, and so I believe Brown should be commemorated for efforts to empower and ultimately free