John Brown :: essays research papers

Born in Torrington, Connecticut on May 9, 1800, keister browned was the son of a wandering New Englander. chocolate-brown spent often of his youth in Ohio, where he was taught in local schools to resent absolute education and by his parents to approve the Bible and hate break ones backry. As a boy, he herded cattle for General William Hulls army during the war of 1812 later he served as foreman of his familys tannery. In 1820, he married Dianthe Lusk, who bore him 7 children 5 years later they moved to Pennsylvania to operate a tannery of their own. Within a year after Dianthes cobblers last in 1831, Brown wed 16-year-old Mary Anne Day, by whom he fathered 13 more children.                                                       During the next 24 years Brown b uilt and sold several(prenominal) tanneries, speculated in land sales, raised sheep, and established a brokerage for wool growers. Every venture failed, for he was too much a visionary, not sufficient a businessman. As his financial burdens multiplied, his thinking became increasingly metaphysical and he began to brood over the plight of the weak and oppressed. He frequently sought the association of blacks, for 2 years living in a freedmens community of interests in North Elba, N.Y. In time he became a militant abolitionist, a " theatre director" on the Underground Railroad, and the organizer of a self-protection league for free blacks and fugitive slaves.                                                                &n bspBy the time he was 50, Brown was entranced by visions of slave uprisings, during which racists paid horribly for their sins, and he came to regard himself as commissioned by God to make that vision a reality. In August of 1855, he followed 5 of his sons to Kansas to help make the state a haven for anti-slavery settlers. The following year, his hostility toward slave-staters exploded after they burned and pillaged the free-state community of Lawrence. Having organized a militia unit within his Osawatomie River colony, Brown led it on a mission of revenge. On the evening of May 23, 1856, he and 6 followers, including 4 of his sons, visited the homes of pro-slavery men along Pottawatomie Creek, dragged their unarmed inhabitants into the night, and hacked them to death with long-edged swords. At once, "Old Brown of Osawatomie" became a feared and hated target of slave-staters.                          In autumn 1856, temporarily get the better of but still act to his vision of a slave insurrection, Brown returned to Ohio. There and during 2 subsequent trips to Kansas, he developed a grandiose intend to free slaves throughout the South.John Brown essays research papers Born in Torrington, Connecticut on May 9, 1800, John Brown was the son of a wandering New Englander. Brown spent much of his youth in Ohio, where he was taught in local schools to resent compulsory education and by his parents to revere the Bible and hate slavery. As a boy, he herded cattle for General William Hulls army during the war of 1812 later he served as foreman of his familys tannery. In 1820, he married Dianthe Lusk, who bore him 7 children 5 years later they moved to Pennsylvania to operate a tannery of their own. Within a year after Dianthes death in 1831, Brown wed 16-year-old Mary Anne Day, by whom he fathered 13 more children.                                                        During the next 24 years Brown built and sold several tanneries, speculated in land sales, raised sheep, and established a brokerage for wool growers. Every venture failed, for he was too much a visionary, not enough a businessman. As his financial burdens multiplied, his thinking became increasingly metaphysical and he began to brood over the plight of the weak and oppressed. He frequently sought the company of blacks, for 2 years living in a freedmens community in North Elba, N.Y. In time he became a militant abolitionist, a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, and the organizer of a self-protection league for free blacks and fugitive slaves.                    &nb sp                                            By the time he was 50, Brown was entranced by visions of slave uprisings, during which racists paid horribly for their sins, and he came to regard himself as commissioned by God to make that vision a reality. In August of 1855, he followed 5 of his sons to Kansas to help make the state a haven for anti-slavery settlers. The following year, his hostility toward slave-staters exploded after they burned and pillaged the free-state community of Lawrence. Having organized a militia unit within his Osawatomie River colony, Brown led it on a mission of revenge. On the evening of May 23, 1856, he and 6 followers, including 4 of his sons, visited the homes of pro-slavery men along Pottawatomie Creek, dragged their unarmed inhabitants into the night, and hacked them to death with long-edged swords. At once, "Old Brown of Osawatomie" became a feared and hated target of slave-staters.                         In autumn 1856, temporarily defeated but still committed to his vision of a slave insurrection, Brown returned to Ohio. There and during 2 subsequent trips to Kansas, he developed a grandiose plan to free slaves throughout the South.