The Life and Beliefs of John Brown

5 Questions

He believed he had a personal responsibility to overthrow slavery and restore the principles of the Declaration of Independence.

He gained public notoriety in Kansas by dragging five proslavery men and boys from their beds at Pottawatomie Creek and killing them.

He meant that it was necessary to use violence and terror to combat the proslavery forces.

His plan was to capture the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry and use it as a base for a slave rebellion.

He believed that peaceful means had failed to end slavery and that a violent uprising was necessary to bring about change.

Study Notes

John Brown's motivation for wanting to overthrow slavery was to end the injustice and immoral institution of slavery, which he believed was a curse to the Republic.
He gained public notoriety in Kansas by leading a militant abolitionist group, known as the Jayhawkers, in a series of violent skirmishes and guerrilla warfare against pro-slavery settlers, particularly in the town of Lawrence.
When Brown said 'to fight fire with fire', he meant that violence and militancy were necessary to combat the violence and aggression of pro-slavery forces, as peaceful means had been exhausted.
Brown's plan for an invasion of the South involved establishing a base of operations in the Appalachian Mountains, where he would recruit and train a large army of former slaves and white abolitionists, and then launch a series of guerrilla raids and attacks on slave-holding plantations and towns.
Brown believed that only through insurrection, or a violent uprising, could the 'slave-cursed Republic' be restored, as he thought that the gradual and peaceful abolition of slavery was impossible, and that the institution was too entrenched and supported by the powerful slave-holding interests.