Narrative
Here is information, based on a social studies textbook, about
the man with the white beard and the events leading up to what
the picture shows.
John Brown
John
Brown, a white man from Kansas, was a passionate and militant
abolitionist. He was wanted by the police in Kansas because he
had already committed murder in the name of abolition. He was
determined to end slavery. He decided that the way to do this
would be to go to the South, give the slaves weapons, and let
them fight for their own freedom.
Not all abolitionists thought this was such a good idea. A famous
black abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, listened and discussed
the idea with Brown, but would not join him. Brown also tried
to get some slaves who had run away to Canada to join the revolt,
but they, too, refused.
Frederick Douglass
Still, John Brown decided to go ahead with his plan. In October
1859, two years before the Civil War began, he gathered eighteen
people (13 white and 5 black). They stole weapons from the arsenal
at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Then they went to the estates of several
nearby farmers and freed about 30 slaves by forcing them to come
with him and his group. Ten people were killed in this raid. The
rest went back and took cover in the arsenal.
The United States Marines surrounded the arsenal. Five of the
group escaped. But the rest were trapped. The Marines battered
down the doors and arrested Brown and the rest of his followers.
The survivors were all hanged by the state of Virginia.
John
Brown, who had been slightly wounded, was tried for treason (disloyalty)
to the state of Virginia. He was sentenced to be hanged. After
his sentence, he said "Now if it is deemed necessary that
I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice
and mingle by blood . . . with the blood of millions in the slave
country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust
enactments, I say let it be done."
After
his death, there was a lot of discussion and angry arguments about
whether he was a heroic martyr (someone who gives up their life
for something they believe in), or a violent fanatic. On hearing
of his execution, Abraham Lincoln said, "Old Brown has just
been executed. We cannot object even though he agreed with us
in thinking slavery wrong. That cannot excuse violence, bloodshed,
and treason."
The
painting you looked at and answered questions about is called
"The Last Moments of John Brown". The artist is Thomas
Hovenden. The painting shows him coming out of the jail on his
way to the gallows where he was hanged.
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