John Brown
- ISBN-10
- ISBN-13
- 9798672978062
- Series
- John Brown
- Pages
- 161
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2020-08-06
- Author
- W. E. B. Du Bois
Description
Published in 1909, it tells the story of John Brown, from his Christian rural upbringing, to his failed business ventures and finally his "blood feud" with the institution of slavery as a whole. Few figures are more seminal in the abolitionist movement in America than John Brown. His firebrand approach to the movement arose out of his religiously inspired and deep-seated belief that slavery was not only morally unjust but that its removal from American society could only be achieved through armed insurrection. Following his capture in 1859 during an unsuccessful raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry and his subsequent hanging he became an electrifying and symbolical figure for the abolitionist movement. Many historians argue that the incident at Harpers Ferry was the breaking point between pro and anti-slavery forces that led to the secession of the southern states and the subsequent Civil War. Prominent African American W. E. B. Du Bois chronicles the life of John Brown in this 1909 biography. In the words of Du Bois, John Brown was "a man whose leadership lay not in his office, wealth or influence, but in the white flame of his utter devotion to an ideal."Du Bois highlights the moment in Brown's childhood when he first became radicalized against slavery:But in all these early years of the making of this man, one incident stands out as foretaste and prophecy--an incident of which we know only the indefinite outline, and yet one which unconsciously foretold to the boy the life deed of the man. It was during the war that a certain landlord welcomed John to his home whither the boy had ridden with cattle, a hundred miles through the wilderness. He praised the big, grave and bashful lad to his guests and made much of him. John, however, discovered something far more interesting than praise and good food in the landlord's parlor, and that was another boy in the landlord's yard. Fellow souls were scarce with this backwoodsman and his diffidence warmed to the kindly welcome of the stranger, especially because he was black, half naked and wretched. In John's very ears the kind voices of the master and his folk turned to harsh abuse with this black boy. At night the slave lay in the bitter cold and once they beat the wretched thing before John's very eyes with an iron shovel, and again and again struck him with any weapon that chanced. In wide-eyed silence John looked on and questioned, Was the boy bad or stupid? No, he was active, intelligent and with the great warm sympathy of his race did the stranger "numerous little acts of kindness," so that John readily, in his straightforward candor, acknowledged him "fully if not more than his equal."--Du Bois, [1]
