JOHN BROWNNational Hero or Domestic Terrorist?

A STANDARDS BASED LESSON USING LITERACY STRATEGIES TO TEACH CONTENT

SSUSH9: The student will identify key events, issues, and individuals relating to the causes, course, and consequences of the Civil War.a.Explain the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the failure of popular sovereignty, Dred Scott case, and John Brown’s Raid.

COMMON CORE LITERACY STANDARDS: L11-12RH6: Evaluate author’s differing points of view on

the same historical event or issue by assessing the author’s claims, reasoning and evidence.

L11-12RH9: Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

L11-12WHST2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events.

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JOHN STEUART CURRY’S

“A TRAGIC PRELUDE”

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IN REGARDS TO THE PAINTING…

What does the artist convey by the title, “A Tragic Prelude”?

What evidence of this prelude can be seen in the painting?

At what time would you assume this painting was done?

Based on what you can see in this painting, how do you believe the artist would have described John Brown: national hero or a domestic terrorist?

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WHAT DOES THE ARTIST CONVEY BY THE TITLE, “A TRAGIC PRELUDE”?

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WHAT EVIDENCE OF THIS PRELUDE CAN BE SEEN IN THE PAINTING?

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AT WHAT TIME WOULD YOU ASSUME THIS PAINTING WAS DONE?

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BASED ON WHAT YOU CAN SEE IN THIS PAINTING, HOW DO YOU BELIEVE THE ARTIST WOULD HAVE DESCRIBED

JOHN BROWN: NATIONAL HERO OR A DOMESTIC TERRORIST?

DISCUSSION

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HARPERS FERRY 1859

John Brown’s attack on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia was a culmination of his decades-long fight to end slavery. He expected that such an attack by a company of both white and black liberators would incite slaves to escape from plantations across the South. According to his plan, the freed slaves would join him in safe havens in the mountains, where he would arm and train them for guerrilla warfare. The loss of slaves and fear of insurrection would destabilize the South and build political support for abolition in the North.

Excerpt from: John Brown: The Abolitionist and His Legacy. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York. 2009.

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COL. ROBERT E. LEE'S REPORT CONCERNING THE ATTACK AT HARPER'S FERRY – OCTOBER 19, 1859

In groups of no more than three, read Col. Lee’s report. As you read, answer the following questions in the margin.

… When and where was this report written?

… What do you know about the author?

… Who might be reading this report?

… Why do you think this document was written?

… Besides the author, what other people are mentioned?

… Are any casualties mentioned? If so, how many? Who are they?

… How does the author / speaker feel about John Brown? The other people involved?

… Does the author say why John Brown did what he did? If so, what is said?

… Is there any part of the document that you have questions about? If so, highlight or underline that part and write a note next to it to remind you.

Adapted from The Civil War Trust: John Brown – Hero or Murderer?

www.civilwar.org

Lee’s Report

EXCERPT FROM LEE’S REPORT

…it appears that the party consisted of nineteen men- fourteen white and five black. That they were headed by John Brown, of some notoriety in Kansas, who in June last located himself in Maryland, at the Kennedy farm, where he has been engaged in preparing to capture the United States works at Harper’s Ferry.

He avows that his object was the liberation of the slaves of Virginia, and of the whole South; and acknowledges that he has been disappointed in his expectations of aid from the black as well as white population, both in the Northern and Southern States. The blacks, whom he forced from their homes in this neighborhood, as far as I could learn, gave him no voluntary assistance. The servants of Messrs. Washington and Allstadt, retained at the armory, took no part in the conflict, and those carried to Maryland returned to their homes as soon as released. The result proves that the plan was the attempt of a fanatic or madman, who could only end in failure; and its temporary success, was owing to the panic and confusion he succeeded in creating by magnifying his numbers.

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JOHN BROWN’S ADDRESS – NOVEMBER 2, 1859

In groups of no more than three, read John Brown’s address. As you read, answer the following questions in the margin.

… When and where was this report written?

… What do you know about the author?

… Who might be hearing this testimony or address?

… Why do you think this testimony given?

… Besides the author, what other people are mentioned?

… Are any casualties mentioned? If so, how many? Who are they?

… How does the author / speaker feel about John Brown? The other people involved?

… Does the author say why John Brown did what he did? If so, what is said?

… Is there any part of the document that you have questions about? If so, highlight or underline that part and write a note next to it to remind you.

Adapted from The Civil War Trust: John Brown – Hero or Murderer?

www.civilwar.org

Brown’s Address

EXCERPT FROM BROWN’S ADDRESS TO THE COURT

I have, may it please the Court, a few words to say.

In the first place, I deny everything but what I have already admitted, of a design on my part to free slaves. I intended, certainly, to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter when I went into Missouri, and there took Slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moving them through the country, and finally leaving them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again on a larger scale. That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite Slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection.

DISCUSSION

IF YOU WERE A CONTEMPORARY – WOULD YOU JUDGE JOHN BROWN A

NATIONAL HERO OR DOMESTIC TERRORIST?

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THOUGHTS ON JOHN BROWN FROM HIS CONTEMPORARIES

“If John Brown did not end the war that ended slavery, he did a least begin the war that ended slavery.” – Frederick Douglass, 1881

“This old man Brown …was nothing more than a murderer, a robber, a thief, and a traitor.” – Senator Andrew Johnson (Tenn.), 1859

“I find in John Brown…a lover of mankind-not of any particular class or color, but of all men…He fully, really, practically and actively believed in the equality and brotherhood of man” – Charles H. Livingston, Black Leader in Ohio, 1859

You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We deny it; and what is your proof? Harper's Ferry! John Brown!! John Brown was no Republican...” – Abraham Lincoln, Copper Union Address, February 27, 1860

ASSESSMENT

John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry further divided a nation already marred by sectional conflict and mistrust. In the wake of the event, newspapers anxiously published stories of the event and its subsequent trial . Editorials were written by northerners and southerners anxious to make sense of John Brown and his raid. It was the news of 1859 and would come to shape the discussion that led a nation to war. As a newspaper editorialist, how would you have written John Brown’s story? Was he a murderer or a hero?

Role:1)You are a northern Republican newspaper editor.

2) You are a southern Democratic newspaper editor

Format:Newspaper editorial

Task:Write an editorial that addresses John Brown, the events at Harper’s Ferry, and its impact on the nation as a whole.

Audience:Readers of your newspaper

DISCUSSION