Midnight Rising Book Review Before reading “Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War” by Tony Horwitz I believed that Abraham Lincoln was the man whose policies and beliefs sparked the Civil war and the Abolition of slavery. I believed that because even though there are many abolitionists in the history books none or are as famous or as notable as President Lincoln. I had never heard the name John Brown or how he and his small gang of followers may have single handedly ignited the fire that would spiral into a full-fledged civil war and national divide. The argument over slavery and its moral convictions has had a presence in American society long before the time of John Brown.…
The chapter goes on to discuss the Fugitive Slave Law and its impact on Lincoln’s political future, the devastation of the War Between the States, and Lincoln’s plan to save the…
Tony Horwitz in “Why John Brown Still Scares Us” examines the story of John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry in what would one day become known as West Virginia in October 1859. The attack on Harpers Ferry was financed by a group of well known abolitionist with the support of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. Why John Brown Still Scares Us focuses mainly on John Brown, who was a well known abolitionist in the 1850’s. He traveled with people that tended to have some of his beliefs, but “didn’t fit the mold of his wide eyed fanatics” (Horwitz 43). Brown and his followers traveled through the boarder states attacking proslavery, farmers, and settlers.…
This completely undermined and contradicted the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which sought to phase out slavery in the expanding territories. Even Senator Douglas himself viewed the 1820 compromise as “a sacred thing, which no ruthless hand would ever be reckless enough to disturb.” But disturb it he did, to the outrage of all anti-slavery and free state proponents. The passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act also brought about violent conflicts and uprisings known as “Bleeding Kansas,” which pitted proslavery and free state activists against each other in bloody fights, which left 55 people dead. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2952.html The vote to pass Douglas’ Kansas-Nebraska Act divided the Democrats, with the North firmly against it and the South enthusiastically for it.…
Before 1860 the American government had always settled its disagreements with compromise. The Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas Nebraska act are all instances where there were disagreements settled with compromise. This worked until the tension over slavery started to result in violence. By the year 1860 it seemed that nobody was willing to compromise. This was because there was no more room for compromise with slavery, the growing hatred of it in the North meant it had to be dealt with, each side had compromised as much as they were willing to.…
John Brown’s intention was good; however, he executed his plan in a horrible way. Due to that, individuals may believe that he is insane and a murderer. He went through months of preparing and one impatient move made him go to trial. John Brown believes that what he did is not wrong; he is fighting for something that he feels strongly against. He believes that “the only way to defeat the slaveholders who controlled the U.S. government… was to form guerilla bands and fight” (Earle, p. 44).…
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.…
As Brown presents Harpers Ferry as a target and determines the loyalty of his men, the author provides a letter from Owen Smith stating, “We have all agreed to sustain your decisions, until you have proved incompetent, and many of us will adhere to your decisions as long as you will” (Horwitz, p.112). The letter informs the reader of Brown’s growing relationship with others. Horwitz use of the sources is appropriate to the monograph because it explains a lot of the speculation that has grown around Brown’s story. Another monograph that recognizes John Brown’s contributions is John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights by David S. Reynolds. This book is a cultural biography of John Brown, discussing the controversial violent tactics against slavery.…
It was obvious that Brown had a passion for ending slavery. The influence of his father hating slavery had a huge effect on him, but he also had an experience that scarred him. As a young, 12-year old boy, John Brown witnessed an African American boy being beaten, haunting his mind and influencing his hatred of slavery. Ever since that day, “With every drop of his honest blood he hated slavery, and in his early manhood, he resolved to lay his life on Freedom’s altar in wiping out that insufferable affliction. He never faltered.…
Dred Scott was slave who sued for his liberty in the Missouri courts, arguing that four years on free soil had made him free. He was once owned by army surgeon John Emerson. Dred Scott’s attorney argued that between 1831 and 1833, John Emerson had taken Scott with him during various military postings to areas where the Missouri Compromise banned slavery, making Dred Scott a free man. When nearly after six years in the Missouri courts, the state Supreme Court rejected this argument in 1852, Dred Scott, with the help of abolitionist lawyers, appealed to the United States Supreme Court. In a 7 to 2 decision, the Court ruled against Dred Scott.…
Two years later, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed by President Fillmore. This act was much more isolating, splitting the Democratic Party according to sectional interests and increasing the Republican Party. Other than that, it was basically the same as the Compromise of 1850. The struggle between the North and South fighting over Kansas led to people soon flooding into Kansas to fight about slavery, which leads to the “Crime against Kansas”, also known as one of the most famous political historical events. (Senator Charles Sumner talks smack about Preston Brooks relative, and Brooks beats him with a…
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was drafted by Stephen A. Douglas, established two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, and let the citizens there decide the question of slavery. Controversy sprouted mostly…
Ferry increased sectional tensions caused the election of 1860 to be crucial for the nation’s survival. Brown’s raid helped tensions between the North and South so strong that an upcoming Civil War would be…
Slavery is an important aspect of American history; it has shaped our country into what it is today. The civil war took place from 1861-1865. Without slavery, the civil war would not have occurred. Slavery divided the north and south, the differing opinions on things especially slavery is what led to the American civil war. The south expressed how slavery was beneficial for the whole nation because everyone depended on the southern economy and slavery was key to the prosperity of our nation.…
John Brown devised a plan to incite a slave rebellion in the Appalachian Mountains, arming slaves as they were freed and pushing on to free more men, the army of former slaves growing drastically as it rolled along (Stoddard and Murphy, 15). Slave rebellions had failed miserably in the past, but Brown's idea of properly arming the slaves gave some abolitionists the idea that it could work. On October 16, 1859, John Brown led a group of twenty-two men into Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, to secure weapons from the federal armory stationed in the small town nestled between the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers (Stoddard and Murphy, 15). The weapons stored in the armory would be more than enough to kick off Brown's envisioned revolution. Events did not unfold as the men had hoped, and they were soon surrounded by townspeople and fired upon, with marines (led, ironically, by then Colonel Robert E. Lee) arriving by the following afternoon (Stoddard and Murphy, 15).…