Revolution is a word that was getting more broad in the era between 1750 and 1850's. The independence of the United States of America was a major event in our history. Thomas Paine, an english guy who was an important figure leading to independence, was the first person to illustrate the idea of a revolution and demanding their justice rights, by writing the Common Sense. Scott Leill published a book called “46 Pages”, demonstrating the consequences of this pamphlet on the american community and on the events leading to the independence. On the other hand, slavery was an issue in the US during the 1850’s. The act of slavery was a normal act that many states agreed on. Horwitz introduced to us John Brown as an abolitionist who was fighting for the freedom of slaves in a book called “ Midnight Rising: John Brown And The Raid That Sparked The Civil War”. Regarding the title of the book, Horwitz argues the early life of John Brown until he becomes an abolitionist. In addition to that, he argues the consequences of the Harpers Ferry Raid on the civil war. Linking these two books to each other, we can say that these two authors can be arguing the same idea but in two different eras and different plot. Each author is trying to illustrate how did each character struggled to convince the community that change is the answer.
Born in Torrington, Connecticut, John Brown spent most of his childhood in Ohio. The Brown family was a religious one who believed in God, but also believed that slavery is the most cruel act in their life. Regarding that, Brown’s father raised his children as anti- slaveries who soon became abolitionists. In his early life, Brown faced a lot of social and business failure. John Brown always believed that slavery is wrong and should be abolished from the whole country. So he raised his kids to hate slavery and taught them that it is an act of violence and against humanity. Before Brown, abolitionists like Garrison belived that slavery can be fought with words and not violence. Brown agreed with Garrison that slavery should be abolished completely, but he opposed the idea of moral suasion. Garrison believed that he can fight the pro slavery community by writing articles that prove them wrong, and by making speeches and try to convince them that slavery is wrong. On the other hand, Brown considered that if abolishing slavery requires violence and brutality then why not? He believed that it’s God’s choice, and that God chose him as a saver to free the slaves. So if it required violence then it is God’s will too. In 1854, the government passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which gave people the choice to vote between spreading slavery in these two states or to prevent it. As all abolitionists, Brown moved to Kansas with five of his children. The two opposing communities were pouring to these two states in order to secure the future of this country. The pro slavery wanted to gurantee that they win in these two states and spread slavery, and abolitionists tried their best to prevent slavery from reaching Kansas and Nebraska. This act built a bridge of hatred between the northern territories and the southern ones. John Brown became famous in the North and hated in the south due to his opposition to slavery. One night in 1856, Brown and his four kids attacked a proslavery colony, slaughtering five men in a brutal way, leaving a scene of dead bodies with their hands and heads chopped off. At this moment, Brown was considered as a violent abolitionist who had a lot of supporters and abolitionists under his command.
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On october 16, 1859, Brown and his army who consisted of twenty one of his fellow abolitionists, attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, which was later known as the Harpers Ferry Raid. This move was a total failure as Colonel Robert E. Lee destroyed this act and surrounded them at the spot. Ten of Brown’s partners were dead, two of them were his sons. Brown was injured and then captured. He was later accused of treason against the country, and executed on Dec. 2, 1859. Brown did not fulfill his dream and the thing he strived for his entire life before his death. We can say that the Harpers Ferry Raid was unsuccessful regarding the consequences of the raid itself, which resulted in the death of ten people, and the execution of John Brown. Looking at that from a different point of view, this raid was a major turning point between the North and the South which later affected the presidential election of 1860. Due to the raid, any approach to a compromise between the north and the south was kind of impossible. This grew the tension between them which led to their split and then the civil war.
Thomas Paine and John Brown were two historical characters who actually had the ability to make a change that could benefit the country in one way or another. In my opinion, the shock that Thomas Paine made to the British government had a bigger impact on the fate of the country. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was a direct factor that lead to the war between Great Britain and America. His approach to convince many colonists was an actual success, as he created this idea of change and that americans should be independent from Britain. Brown in advance, didn’t have a direct effect on the end of slavery. His actions helped to build up the events leading to the civil war. Slavery wasn’t affected by John Brown’s actions as much as the impact of Thomas Paine on the independence. Let’s pretend that these two characters were not born and their actions were never made, the question will be what would be the fate of the country if these men were like normal people who obeyed the law. Looking at the events that lead to the independence and the civil war, we can say that it would have happened anyway. The people back then were waiting for any little reason to start the war with Britain, due to the persecution and the injustice the americans were undergoing. Also, the tension between the north and the south was about to come to an end in one way or another. These events helped to set the war between the two opposing sides. In my opinion, I enjoyed reading “Midnight Rising” since it was a new story I didn’t know, and the way Tony Horwitz expressed Brown’s actions was kind of interesting to read. In conclusion, these two books can be considered a success in explaining the consequences of Common Sense and the Raid of Harpers Ferry on the destiny of the country.
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