The History of John Brown's Life and Heroic Death Against Slavery

John Brown was born May 9, 1800. He was an American abolitionist who wanted to put an end to slavery. John Brown took after his dad, Owen Brown. Owen Brown was also an abolitionist. People accused Owen of freeing slaves. John Brown’s mother was Ruth Mills. Most of the family was against slavery. They did not agree with it. He was a white man who was not racist at all. He was knows as very brave and outstanding in his life because he did a lot of things that could have caused big problems in life.

John Brown had a family of his own as well. He was married to 3 different woman. They were Mary Ann Brown, Dianthe Brown, and Dianthe Lusk. He had children who helped in with later life problems. He had close relationships with some of them and traveled a lot with them because they helped. Some people called this wrong because they did not think that the kids should have been doing such a big job with him. They kept on doing it well. The Brown family did not let people get to them very easily.

John Brown was raised in a poor family. His family lived by the Calvinist Tradition. His parents described him in good ways though. John Brown wasn’t known by a lot until 1856 when he led little groups during “Bleeding Kansas”. John Brown worked very hard and started out small. He eventually became known very well. He was a hero to many people.

In some of John Brown’s adventured to free slaves he had help. His helpers were his 5 sons. They were against slavery as well. His sons were known as brave like John Brown. They were doing a big job at such a young age. Him and his sons were knows as the “secret six”. John Brown also had small armies to attack people that wanted slavery and that owned slaves. His groups, adventures, and fame were growing fast. This was a good and bad thing.

Even though John Brown was growing fame, many slave owners were looking after him. A lot of people were as well. Brown did not let that stop him, he stood for his beliefs. So did his groups and small army. Brown worked very hard to make an impact on ending slavery. Brown had over 20 lawsuits filed against, for many reasons. Many people believed he was bad because he was killing people but he was just trying to end slavery. He was very determined to do so.

In Brown’s earlier life he had failed at any businesses but many people wouldn’t say he failed at being an abolitionist. John Brown tried to help the blacks in many ways. He did not just free slaves but he tried to make schools for them. He wanted blacks to be treated just as well as the whites. He did not believe the unfairness and differences.

John Brown was part of the Under Ground Railroad. He also met Harriet Tubman, who was also a famous abolitionist. She led small groups to freedom like he did. They were good friends and both hard workers. They had a lot of similarities. John Brown also met other famous abolitionist working for the Underground Railroad. Many were happy to meet him.

In 1859 John Brown made a plan to have a big attack to revolt against slavery. This plan was to completely destroy slavery. He wanted to be completely over. He went to many meetings to plan this and get information. He got advice and motivation from other people. A lot of the people that helped him were part of the Underground Railroad. This means they were people he could trust. The people were on his sides but not all of them were going to attack. They were just supporting.

Brown made a group of 22 to take to the attack. They also collected weapons to kill the owners of slaves. The place that they were attacking was Harper’s Ferry. By this time a lot of people were looking for John Brown because many figured out that he was the one leading slaves to freedom. He still did not let that get in his way.

He finally attacked on October 16 1859. He had his party of 22 on that day, ready to attack. With many supporters from all around and hopes that he would defeat the people. He and his party attacked. A little later they were defeated by a company of U.S Marines. Robert E. Lee was in overall command of this.

Somehow John Brown made it out of there. He was wounded but he was still alive. Many people were after him after that. They knew who he was immediately. This did not end slavery at that moment since he got defeated during this time. They started looking for Brown to capture him for what he had done. They were not allowing him to get away for what he and his people did. He was definitely getting punished for what he did. Many people already predicted it to be a harsh punishment. Once again some people did not want him killed because he helped the blacks but some did. It just depended on their beliefs and mostly race at that point in time.

Unfortunately, two days later after the attack they found John Brown. They captured him and tortured him. They were not sure what to do with him yet. After a while they decided his punishment for everything he had done was going to be death. They decided to hang him. They officially hung him on October 18, 1859. He died for his beliefs. Many fans of him were upset. 

To counclude, he definitely died very famous. He was many people’s hero. He helped a lot of black’s in many ways. Eventually slavery ended. John Brown would have been very glad to hear that. He is still known very well today. Many people still consider him as a hero and are very thankful for what he did.