DBQ John Brown: Murderer or Martyr Prompt: To what extent was John Brown a murderer or a martyr during the years 1850-1860? Directions: 1. Read and take notes on each of the following documents. For 2 of the documents, fill out a 6 Cs Primary Source Document Analysis sheet. 2. Write a 5 paragraph Thesis-driven essay (intro, 3 body & conclusion) arguing one side of the above prompt using at least ½ + 1 (9 or 10) of the documents and ALSO bringing in outside knowledge/information. 3. From this assignment, the student is expected to: a. Practice a number of important analytical and argumentative measurements essential to understanding the Antebellum Era in American history while investigating a number of key players and events leading up to the Civil War. b. You are required to examine and take notes (analyze) EACH of the 17 documents (2 in-depth using 6 Cs Sheets). c. From this analysis, you are then to write a brief outline structuring your 5 paragraph essay and argument you plan to make. d. Lastly, the student needs to write the THESIS DRIVEN ESSAY fully using correct grammar, sentence and paragraph structure and finally, proof reading before submitting it.
Documents: Doc A: Map of the USA in 1854 Doc B: Kansas Voting #s (1855) 2,905 Registered Voters in Kansas 6,307 TOTAL votes cast 5,427 Pro-Slavery votes (87% of total)
Doc C: Voting in the mid 1800s County Election, 1852 by George Caleb Bingham Unknown artist and date
Doc D: Kansas Pro-Slave Territorial Legislature: An Act to Punish Offenses against Slave Property (1855) Sec. 3 If any free person shall, by speaking, writing or printing, advise, persuade or induce any slaves to rebel, conspire against, or murder any citizen of this Territory shall be guilty of felony and suffer death. Sec 4. If any person shall entice, decoy, or carry away out of this Territory any slave belonging to another shall be adjudged guilty of grand larceny, and on conviction thereof, shall suffer death, or be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than ten years. Sec. 9. If any person shall resist any officer while attempting to arrest any slave that may have escaped from the service of his master or owner shall be guilty of felony, and punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term of not less than two years. Doc E: Three Paintings on the Sack of Lawrence, Kansas in 1856
Doc F: George Caleb Bingham s Order No. 11 (1868) Doc G: Accounts of the Pottawatomie Massacre (1856) Testimony of Mrs. Doyle We were all in bed, when we heard some persons come into the yard, and rap at the door, and call for Mr. Doyle, my husband. several men came into the house, and said they were from the army. My husband was a pro-slavery man. They told my husband that he and the boys must surrender; they were then prisoners. I asked them, in tears, to spare him. In short time afterwards I heard the report of pistols; I heard two reports then moaning then I heard a wild whoop. My husband and two boys, my sons, did not come back any more. I went out the next morning and found [them] lying dead in the road about 200 yards from the house. Testimony of Mrs. Wilkinson we were disturbed by the barking dog. I was sick with the measles and woke up Mr. Wilkinson and asked him if he heard the noise. Are you a Northern armist? He answered, I am. I understood the answer to mean that my husband was opposed to the Northern or Free-Soil Party. My husband was a pro-slavery man, and was a member of the Territorial Legislature held at the Shawnee Mission. You are my prisoner; do you surrender? He said, Gentlemen, I do. They said, Open the door. They searched for arms then took my husband away. The next morning, Mr. Wilkinson was found about 150 yards from the house, in some dead brush. My husband was a quiet man, and was not engaged in arresting or disturbing anyone.
Doc H: Various Comments of Brown in Kansas 1856-58 1. It seems that this Brown is a power in the Territory neither the Territory nor General Government having been able so far to stop his depredations. He is fast taking rank with guerrilla chiefs and the robber bands of Cane Hill, Arkansas; and unless something is done to put a stop to his career, volunteer forces will be necessary to put him down. --The Kansas City Enterprise (1856) 2. there is no one for whom the Border Ruffians entertain a more wholesome dread than Captain [John] Brown. They hate him as they would a snake, but their hatred is composed 9/10ths of fear. He is a strange, resolute, repulsive, iron-willed, inexorable old man. --William Philips of The New York Tribune (1856) 3. God sees it; I only have a short time to live only one death to die, fighting for this cause. There will be no more peace in this land until slavery is done for. I will give them something else to do than to extend slave territory. I will carry the war into Africa [the South]. --John Brown while watching Osawatomie burn (1856) 4. Brown was a presence in Kansas and an active presence all through 1856. Yet it was his presence more than his activities, that made him a power, --the idea of his being. He was a ghostly influence. No man in Kansas was more respected. Yet, after Pottawatomie he moved much in secret. R. G. Elliott (1859) Doc I: Kansas Population Figures 1860 Census It is safe to say, despite the attention paid to the political tumult and violence known as Bleeding Kansas, most of the people who came to Kansas Territory sought land and opportunity. In many ways these immigrants were quite similar, and, regardless of their particular political persuasion, it is probably safe to say that a big majority wanted Kansas to be free from the institution of slavery and the "Negro." These settlers sought free-soil for whites only. For their part, Missourians may have been as concerned about preventing the establishment of a safe haven for run-away slaves on their western border as they were about having Kansas become a slave state. In its early years, Kansas Territory had several relatively distinct "cultural regions" and the settlers in those regions, whether Yankees or Southerners, had different value systems. However, the extent of these differences was often exaggerated in the newspaper stories of the Bleeding Kansas era. Stereotypes on both sides certainly influenced the Eastern press, and were frequently employed by local partisan editors to fan the flames of border conflict. In reality of course, most of Kansas' territorial settlers were not "Yankees." The Northern states--new England, northern tier states west of New England, and Iowa--contributed 16 percent of the territory's 1860 population of 107,209, while the "lower South" contributed only 13.5 percent. It was the Border States that populated the territory of Kansas: northern Border States, 35.3 percent; southern border states (including Missouri), 24.1; the total border state contribution was 59.4 percent. Nevertheless, despite the "relative statistical unimportance of the New England contribution," a mere 3.9 percent, these folks wielded a disproportionate amount of influence, which tended to magnify the differences between early settlers on the slavery issue. The Kansas population (1860), in terms of the place of birth of residents, received its greatest contributions from Ohio (11,617), Missouri (11,356), Indiana (9,945), and Illinois (9,367), followed by Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and New York (all three over 6,000). The territory's foreign-born population stood at roughly 12 percent, most of who hailed from the British Isles or Germany. Racially, of course, the population was overwhelmingly white. The 1860 census takers found only two slaves in Kansas Territory and 625 "Free Colored" residents. One hundred and eighty-nine Indians were listed in the census, 141 of whom resided in Wyandotte County. And, of course, the population was overwhelmingly rural. The territory had only two communities that the U.S. Census Bureau classified as cities: Leavenworth with 5,000
inhabitants, which had the only telegraphic service in Kansas at the time of admission, and Atchison with 2,500 residents. Lawrence had a substantial population (2,000) and seven other towns had over 500 inhabitants. The number of slaves in the Kansas territory was never large, but the number of "free" blacks in Kansas grew steadily. During the territorial period, many passed through on the "Underground Railroad" and during the war hundreds of contrabands fled Missouri for freedom in the Union state of Kansas. The number of slaves assisted by this secret, rather ill defined network is impossible to determine. Because of this, its impact has been both exaggerated and inappropriately minimized. It should not be surprising that Missouri would feel threatened. After 1861 enslaved blacks continued to make their way across the border in even larger numbers. Whatever the numbers involved, black flight to free Kansas was an important factor in the relations between Missouri and Kansas, before and during the Civil War. http://www.territorialkansasonline.org/~imlskto/cgi-bin/index.php?screen=immigration&option=more Doc J: Blacks/Slaves in Missouri Census Graph (1810-1870) Doc K: John Brown Interview with Virginia Senator James Mason, Representative Clement Vallandigham and others (1859) Senator Mason: Can you tell us who furnished money for your expedition? John Brown: I furnished most of it myself. Mason: You killed some people passing along the streets? Brown: I did not allow my men to fire when there was danger of killing those we regarded as innocent persons, If I could help it. Congressmen Vallandigham: Mr. Brown, who sent you here? Brown: No man sent me here Vallandigham: How long have you been engaged in this business? Brown: From the breaking out of the difficulties in Kansas. Mason: What was your object in coming [to Harpers Ferry, VA]? Brown: We came to free the slaves, and only that.
Mason: How do you justify your acts? Brown: I think, my friend, you are guilty of a great wrong against God and humanity,--i say it without wishing to be offensive I do not say this insultingly. Mason: I understand that. Brown: I think I did right. I hold that Golden Rule, Do unto others as ye would that others do unto you, applies to all who would help others to gain their liberty. Lieutenant JEB Stuart: But don t you believe in the Bible? Brown: Certainly I do A Bystander: Do you consider this a religious movement? Brown: It is, in my opinion, the greatest service man can render to God. A Bystander: Do you consider yourself an instrument in the hands of Providence? Brown: I do. Bystander: Upon what principles do you justify your acts? Brown: Upon the Golden Rule. I pity the poor in bondage that have none to help them: that is why I am here Bystander: Why did you do it secretly? Brown: Because I thought that necessary to success; no other reason. Vallandigham: Did you expect a general rising of the slaves in case of your success? Brown: No, sir; nor did I wish it. I expected to gather them up from time to time, and set them free. Reporter: Do you have anything further to say, I will report it Brown: I have nothing to say, only that I claim to be here in carrying out a measure I believe perfectly justifiable, and not to act the part of an incendiary or ruffian, but to aid those suffering great wrong. Unknown: Brown, suppose you had every nigger in the United States, what would you do with them? Brown: Set them free! Bystander: To set them free would sacrifice the life of everyman in this community. Brown: I don t think so Bystander: I know it. I think you are fanatical! Brown: And I think you are fanatical you are mad Unknown: Was it your only object to free the negroes? Brown: Absolutely our only object.
Bystander: Did you know [Doyle] in Kansas? I understand you killed him. Brown: I killed no man except in fair fight. Doc L: Excerpts from the Trial of John Brown Opening remarks of Brown to VA Court (Oct 27, 1859): Virginians, I did not ask to have my life spared will I be able to have a fair trial? If you seek my blood, you can have it at any moment, without this mockery of a trial. I have had no counsel. I am perfectly unconscious of insanity, and I reject, so far as I am capable, any attempt to interfere in my behalf on that score. Last Address of Brown to the VA Court (Nov 2, 1859): In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted, of a design on my part to free the slaves. When I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. That was all I intended [at Harpers Ferry]. I never did intend murder or treason. Had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends either father, mother or any of that class and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments I submit; so let it be done! But I feel no consciousness of guilt. I never have had any design against the life of any person, nor any disposition to commit treason, or excite slaves to rebel. Doc M: John Letters from prison (oct -dec, 1859) Letter to Friend E.B of R.I., Nov 1: God s will, not mine, be done. You know that Christ once armed Peter. So also in my case I think he put a sword into my hand, and there continued it so long as he saw best, and then kindly took it from me. I do not feel conscious of guilt in taking up arms Letter to Brown s Wife, Nov 3d: I feel quite determined to make the utmost possible out of a defeat. I hope to be able to write you again. My wounds are doing well. Yesterday, Nov 2d I was sentenced to be hanged on 2 December next. Do not grieve on my account. I am still quite cheerful. Letter to Rev. H Vaill, Nov 15 th : I do not feel condemned of Him whose judgment is just; nor of my own conscience. Nor do I feel degraded by my imprisonment, my chains or prospect of the Gallows. I began my work at Harpers Ferry; I felt assured that in the worst event; it would certainly PAY. But Gods will not mine be done. Farewell till we meet again. Letter to Rev. McFarland, Nov 23 rd : Let them hang me; I forgive them, and may God forgive them, for they know not what they do. I have no regret for the transaction for which I am condemned. I went against the laws of men, it is true; but whether it be right to obey God or me, judge ye. Christ told me to remember them that are in bonds I tried to do it, but failed. Letter to Brown s Wife, Nov 30 th : God rules not only the affairs of this world; but all worlds. John Brown writes to his children to abhor with undying hatred, also: that sum of all villainies; Slavery. And now dearly beloved Farewell to God. [PS] December 2d I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land: will never be purged away; but with Blood. I had as I now think; vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed; it might be done.
Doc N: Various Comments on Brown s Hanging After the Harpers Ferry Raid 1. John Brown, if he shall suffer, will make the gallows glorious like the cross. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1859) 2. Old John Brown has just been executed for treason against the state. We cannot object even though he agreed with us in thinking slavery wrong. That cannot excuse violence, bloodshed and treason. It could avail him nothing that he might think himself right. --Abraham Lincoln (1859) 3. John Brown s career for the last six weeks of his life was meteor-like, flashing through the darkness in which we live. I know nothing so miraculous in our history. I have no doubt that the time will come when they will begin to see him as he was. I wish I could say that Brown was the representative of the North. He was a superior man. He did not value his bodily life in comparison with ideal things. He did not recognize unjust human laws, but resisted them. In that sense he was the most American of us all. He needed no babbling lawyer, making false issues, to defend him. He could not have been tried by a jury of his peers, because his peers did not exist. I am here to plead his case with you. I plead not for his life, but for his character his immortal life. Some 1800 years ago Christ was crucified; this morning, Captain Brown was hung. These are the two ends of a chain which is not without its links. He is not Brown any longer; he is an angel of light. When the present form of Slavery shall be no more here, then we shall be at liberty to weep for Captain Brown. Then, and not till then, will we take our revenge. Henry David Thoreau (1859) 4. So perish all such enemies of Virginia! All such enemies of the Union! All such foes of the human race! Col. Preston (1859) 5. We are on the eve of one of the greatest wars in history, and I fear slavery will triumph, and there will be an end of all aspirations for human freedom. For my part, I drew my sword in Kansas when they attacked us, and I will never sheathe it until the war is over. John Brown (1859) 6. Gentlemen, [John Brown] inspired me with great trust in his integrity as a man of truth he is the gamest man I ever saw. [Still,] robbery and treason, began at Harpers Ferry for the purpose of stirring up universal insurrection of slaves throughout the whole South. That danger [still] exists, of serious magnitude. The issue [slavery] is too essential to be compromised any more. We cannot stand such insults and outrages as those of Harpers Ferry without suffering worse than the death of citizens: without suffering dishonor, the death of a state. We must, then, acknowledge and act on the fact that present relationships between the states cannot be permitted longer to exist without abolishing slavery throughout the United States, or compelling us to defend it by force of arms. Governor Henry Wise (1859)
Doc O: Tragic Prelude (1938-40) by John Steuart Curry
Doc P: Imagining John Brown s Last Moments (1863) by Currier & Ives Doc Q: October 16: The Raid by Langston Hughes (1926) Perhaps You will remember John Brown. John Brown Who took his gun, Took twenty-one companions White and black, Went to shoot your way to freedom Where two rivers meet And the hills of the North And the hills of the South Look slow at one anotherand died For your sake. Now that you are Many years free, And the echo of the Civil War Has passed away, And Brown himself Has long been tried at law, Hanged by the neck, And buried in the groundsince Harpers Ferry Is alive with ghost today, Immortal raiders Come again to townperhaps You will recall John Brown