The Day the Cowboys Quit

Ashley Tran 9:00 AM History 1301 Lori Lehtola John Brown John Brown was an abolitionist who had a big hatred over slavery. His feelings of hate were so strong over slavery that it led him to seize the United States arsenal at Harper’s Ferry. John began a huge massacre along the Pottawatomie Creek along the Kansas territory. It all began on the month October and the year of 1859. Brown had a psychotic way of thinking and doing things. John’s great plan was to arm slaves for a future rebellion.

He was an anti-slavery man and tried to do everything in his power to keep slavery from happening in Kansas, but he was also a murderer. I believe that he told people he was anti-slavery, which he was, but had a feeling inside him that liked taking other people’s lives. The three authors who contributed to the article about John Brown were W. E. B. Du Bois, Robert Penn Warren, and David S. Reynolds. Their respected backgrounds impacted their views of Brown and his actions. W. E. B. Du Bois’s background was greatly respected by Brown’s article. W. E. B. elieved that because of John Brown’s actions over slavery, it gave everyone his or her right to freedom. According to Du Bois, all men are equal and are no less than one another. Du Bois stated that “slavery is wrong” so we must “kill it”. His opinion is respected by John’s actions because he views it in a way in which that what John Brown did was right. He earned us our freedom. If it weren’t for what Brown did, we wouldn’t have our freedom. W. E. B. was one of the most influential African American intellectuals of the 20th century. He played a founding role in the NAACP, which was a path breaking civilization.

Because of how Du Bois viewed John Brown’s actions and how he strongly believed that what he did about slavery was right would be an impact on why he got involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Robert Penn Warren believes that even though John Brown had such an enormous religious faith, God was not on neither sides of John Brown nor the South. What Brown did was abnormal and not Godly, according to Warren. Robert’s background has impacted his view on John Brown in a way that he believed Brown was responsible for his criminal- like actions.

He believes that what Brown did to the proslavery was not based on God. Meaning, it wasn’t a God based decision, it was more of a Godly excuse he used towards his criminal actions. Robert mainly focused on themes of Southern culture and history. His personal understanding of John Brown’s actions has greatly impacted his history about the south and his knowledge about its history of culture. David S. Reynolds wonders how John Brown could spare murder with such a religious faith. David stated that Brown “used violence in order to create a society devoid of slavery and racism. He believed that John Brown didn’t just do it for slavery, but did it because his goal was a democratic society; race, religion, and gender didn’t even matter. David has his particular opinion about Brown’s actions because he thought that what Brown did to these proslavery people wasn’t for the reason he said for doing so. Reynold’s background has impacted his view on John Brown and his actions because he can inform others about his opinion on Brown’s actions. His opinion ”reflects a twenty-first century on Brown informed by the September 11, 2001, terrorists attacks on the United States. Basically, he thought of John as more of a terrorist than a hero of slavery. W. E. B. Du Bois, Robert Penn Warren, and David S. Reynold’s were all impacted in different ways by John Brown’s actions. Their own particular opinions were based on how they viewed John Brown’s actions. John’s huge massacre at Pottawatomie Creek was his psychotic way of handling things. He was a murderer of proslavery and his excuse was God. These three authors who contributed to John Brown’s article were interested in African American society or Southern history. Their view on John Brown’s history has impacted their own.