Nat Turner and John Brown were slaves both known for their vicious assault during anti-slavery revolts; Brown's militant abolitionist revolt raided the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry Virginia in 1859 and Turners organized a rebellion of both the freed and enslaved negro in Southampton County Virginia in 1831. During and after the time that these rebellions took place many people view them as terrorists even today most of the American people share those same sentiments, but a minority of Americans view them as heroes and martyrs who chose to fight for the rights and freedom of enslaved people. This essay will thoroughly explain the similarities, and differences, and identify how racial identity has determined the legacy of Nat Turner and John Brown.
Nat Turner was not only a slave who understood the circumstances and conditions of slavery being morally wrong and unjust he felt as if he was a prophet ordained by God to free his people from bondage and also lead them to freedom. His religious ideals helped cultivate the undying desire to follow the Lord and change the conditions of enslavement by any means necessary. 1 There is a sense of irony that lies in the fact that the exact same book, the Bible, was being used to enforce the ideals of slavery among whites and slaves, “For he who knoweth his master's will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes” (Luke 12:47) and inspire a slave revolt as vicious as what Turner was about to do. Nat Turner has known for years of his calling realizing the only way he could effectively change the ideas point of view of slavery was through violence. Nat was the definition of a freedom fighter and was given no other choice but to Annette's violent acts of revolution in order to achieve freedom.
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John Brown was an American abolitionist leader born in Torrington, Connecticut on May 9, 1800. at the age of 5 brown was exposed to the ideas of abolition and taught by his father (Owen Brown), about human rights and the opposition to slavery, around this same time his family moved to Hudson, Ohio. Like Turner, John Brown would also inherit the beliefs of God and adopt the Christian faith as a code of morality which later inspired his ideas for the freedom of the bondmen and bondwomen. 2Scott John Hammond explained, “Brown appears to have been a practitioner of the Christian ethic framed by the imperative of universal love and compassion for others, especially those who suffer under the yoke of oppression and injustice” (62). Brown was a man who believed in equality for all and felt the dire need to act in his own hands because of the lack of representation for blacks and slaves. Brown had lost hope in the legal system, so he resorted to violence to help fight against the injustice whites set up.
Turner and his supporters carried out an assassination on August 21, 1831, which sparked their revolt against white owners. Signs and divine voices were among Turner's beliefs. He witnessed the bloody conflict between black and white spirits in 1825. Three years later, he received a second message from God. 3Unlike slave revolts that occurred in the decades before and after Turner's rebellion of 1830, Turner was able to detail the activities leading up to, during, and following the attack through his confession to Thomas Grey. An attack led by John Brown on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in October 1859 by an armed band of abolitionists. It was a major factor that precipitated the American Civil War. 4 His focus from the beginning was on the American arsenal and armory station Harpers Ferry, and he knew that he wanted this attack to include not only white men who were strong in their moral convictions against slavery but also slaves who wanted to rise up and fight for their own freedom. As a result of the corrupt Dred Scott v. Sanford court case, African American slaves and their descendants were not constitutionally protected, prompting Brown to become dissatisfied with the verdict and plan one of the most recognizable slave revolts in American history.
Both John Brown and Nat Turner believed that their violent opposition to America's slavery was a manifestation of God's will. 5 Both men, Turner and Brown used violence as a means of ending slavery, and Douglass, a great influence on all abolitionists and the greater white community, was inspired by these men. They also had very distinct differences in their approaches to fighting the law and opposing slavery. 6 One obvious difference between these two men is that one, Brown, was a middle-class white man who fought for justice towards black slaves, and the other, Turner, was a black slave who fought for freedom for himself and his people. Turner is regarded as a hero who fought for the liberation of his people, whereas Brown is regarded as a terrorist who betrayed his own race in order to help people who were different.
Nat Turner was a hero because he was among the first to fight to end slavery. All slaves could see freedom, and because of his willingness to act, freedom is now on the way. Nat Turner's slave revolt was a pivotal moment in the history of American slavery, ushering in a fundamental shift in the relationship between master and slave. As a result of this incident, slavery underwent an unprecedented transformation that transcended paternalistic notions. Prior to the American Civil War, John Brown was one of the most prominent abolitionists. Unlike many anti-slavery activists, he is not a pacifist and believes the government should act against slave owners and those who support them. Brown was an abolitionist, a martyr, and, for both black and white activists, and deserves to be remembered as a hero for his contributions to fighting for the rights and freedoms of enslaved people.
In conclusion to this essay, it has thoroughly explained how Turner and Brown compared and contrasted as well as how racial identity has shaped both their legacies. The will to act against the prejudiced system of slavery and fight for the freedom of enslaved people has cemented both Turner's and Brown's legends in history. Rather you disagree with how they used violence to justify their anti-slavery rebellions, there's no denying the fact that they should be remembered as heroes.
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