John Brown, Through the Eyes of a Modern American Public College Student

It is not an easy task to judge people back in the past from our comfortable present life with our morals. The same goes for the most divisive American figure, John Brown, from the most violent American era so far. When people hear the name John Brown, the first question comes to mind, is he a martyr for abolition or a domestic terrorist, who set the sparks of the Civil War? His violent actions in Kansas and at Harpers Ferry set the stage for the Civil War, which ultimately ended slavery here in the land of the free. This made him the figure admired by some for his sacrifice and condemned for his barbarity. As a modern American student, looking back to John Brown’s past it is clear that he might be a domestic terrorist in the eyes of the law. Still, morally he is an American hero who ultimately sacrificed his life to terminate slavery in the United States of America.

In the eyes of the Southerners, John Brown is a Grade-A domestic terrorist. A white man willing to die to end slavery represented their greatest fear. But to answer why John Brown is not a terrorist, we first have to understand what a domestic terrorist is and how they execute their businesses. “Terrorists generally do not care who they kill – adults, children, old people, women, men – although sometimes assassinations are an exception to this”, in his flawless article about John Brown, said the author, Pual Finkelman. On the night of May 24, 1856, Mr. Brown led a party with his sons and two other men. They butchered five pro-slavers, but not all the Southern settlers they faced during the raid. We can also see the same pattern during the raid of the U.S. arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Brown’s men captured some slave owners including the great-grandnephew of the founding father and President George Washington. Brown did not kill any of these men and also went out of his way to protect them, according to the author and historian Pual Finkelman. From these two examples, we can conclude that Mr. Brown did not indiscriminately slaughter people. Most of his raids were unexpected and unplanned, not cold-blooded assassinations. He only killed the elites of the Southern society who owned slaves. One of his man killed a free black during a raid, but it was because the black guy didn’t listen to the raider’s order to stop and leave. Neither Brown nor his men physically harm any children, women, or old people. While judging John Brown, we have to remind ourselves that all his victims were people who brought and sold humans. They separated children in front of their mothers to make money. They raped those women to expand their slave numbers. At this point, these rich aristocracies of the South don’t deserve to live anymore. With this logic, yes, Mr. Brown disobeyed the law of the land, but he is a hero because he stood up for the powerless.

In modern American society, the legacy of icons like John Brown has the power to put fear in the minds of American elites. Brown’s story made us question the boundaries of acceptable activism. The killing of United-healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, by an Ivy League Graduate, Luigi Mangione, shows us that the spirit of John Brown did not perish with the history, but still runs strong in our American blood. We can argue that humans like, Brian Thompson, are the modern American version of the rich aristocracies of the pre-Civil War South. Just like their old mates of the South, who made their wealth off the back of the slaves, raping and selling humans was their typical Tuesday afternoon. Back to the future, this modern elite made their money off the backs of common dead people, denying help at their most vulnerable times. Some people might argue that Luigi Mangione’s, action is unjust and violent. Still, everybody else knows that such tactics are extremely effective in challenging the deeply rotted systems of injustices in modern America. And Luigi Mangione is a hero and forever will be in the hearts of those people. This phenomenon is not just an American thing. People all over this Earth have been using radical violence to shed light on systems of injustices, like The Burning Monk, 1963 in Saigon, South Vietnam. Here in modern America, the legacy of Mr. Brown will live on perpetually, ordinary people will choose violence if the elites keep taking advantage of us.

In conclusion, I wholeheartedly believe that John Brown’s attack on Pro-slavey families in Kansas and his attempt to raid Harper’s Ferry makes him a martyr. People who disagree with me and think that Mr. Brown, was a domestic terrorist are weak-minded and will bend over backward to please the elites for personal gains while exploiting the powerless. When the government does little or nothing to address major social issues throughout history, there will always be someone like John Brown and Luigi Mangione, to break the boundaries of acceptable activism. In the pages of history books, they might be a domestic terrorist, but in the hearts of ordinary people they will forever be a hero.