Journal 4: How should John Brown be remembered?

     John Brown was a man who used his anti-slavery political views and warped sense of what Christianity stood for to justify violence. The definition of a terrorist is the use of violent acts to try to frighten people as a way of advancing a political goal. What John Brown did at both Pottawatomie and Harper's Ferry would certainly fall under this definition. He killed individuals, depriving them of their lives without due process of law, for the purpose of advancing the cause of abolitionism. No matter whether the cause is worthy or not, the violence he used in his attacks still categorizes him as a terrorist. The definition must be applied when the acts fit under terrorism, not just when the acts are for a seemingly unjust cause or the acts are commited against ourselves. For example, al Qaida would not consider themselves as terrorists, and there are many sympathetic to their cause that would feel the same way. But under the definition, they are using violence, in the most extreme way, as a means of intimidating people and advancing their political goals. John Brown lived in America, which even back then was the most free and open country, and the country where anybody can rise from nothing and become influential in politics. This country was founded, in part, of the principle of self-government. So if John Brown wanted to impact political change, he could have run for office or convinced people through speaking or the press that his cause was one worth voting for a candidate for. He did not go through the established political channels in this country, and instead chose to violate the natural laws upon which our country is founded. He chose to deprive individuals, who were not violating the law, of life without due process, and that is why he is not a hero. He would have been a hero if he had managed to convince people that slavery was wrong by legitimate political means such as running for office, but he did not do so. Although people today see a man who stood up for what he believed in, he committed murders and the political cause does not make the murders any less wrong.