welcome we will begin promptly at 10 a.m

WELCOMEWe will begin promptly at 10 a.m.

The silence you hear now is fine. If you do not hear anything when the images on the screen change, e-mail Caryn Koplik for assistance.([email protected])

John Brown:Hero or Villain?

An Online Professional Development Seminar

mailto:[email protected]

W. Fitzhugh Brundage

National Humanities Center Fellow1995-96

William B. Umstead Professor of HistoryUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Southern Past: A Clash of Race and Memory(2005)

A Socialist Utopia in the New South: The Ruskin Colonies in Tennessee and

Georgia, 1894-1901(1996)

Lynching in the New South: Georgia and Virginia, 1880-1939

(1993)

John Brown’s raid simplifies the major issue that roiled the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century.

If slavery is wrong, what should be done to eliminate it?

If the Union is so precious, should we tolerate slavery to preserve it?

John Brown’s Provisional Constitution and Ordinances for the People of the United

States

Discussion Question

How does Brown’s Provisional Constitution and Ordinances for the People of the United States alter his popular perception?

John Brown’s Provisional Constitution and Ordinances for the People of the

United States

PREAMBLE.

Whereas slavery, throughout its entire existence in the United States, is none other than a most barbarous, unprovoked, and unjustifiable war of one portion of its citizens upon another portion-the only conditions of which are perpetual imprisonment and hopeless servitude or absolute extermination-in utter disregard and violation of those eternal and self-evident truths set forth in our Declaration of Independence:

Therefore, we, citizens of the United States, and the oppressed people who, by a recent decision of the Supreme' Court, are declared to have no rights which the white man is bound to respect, together with all other people degraded by the laws thereof, do, for the time being, ordain and establish for ourselves the following Provisional Constitution and Ordinances, the better to protect our persons, property, lives, and liberties, and to govern our actions

Discussion Questions

Brown’s Provisional Constitution reveals many of Brown’s aims and justifications for his actions in 1859.

What does the preamble reveal? How does it compare to the preamble of the federal constitution?

John Brown’s Provisional Constitution and Ordinances for the

People of the United States

ARTICLE IQualifications for membership

All persons of mature age, whether proscribed, oppressed, and enslaved citizens, or of the proscribed and oppressed races of the United States, who shall agree to sustain and enforce the Provisional Constitution and Ordinances of this organization, together with all minor children of such persons, shall be held to be fully entitled to protection under the same.


Who does Brown envision as a citizen in his nation? Who is excluded and on what apparent grounds?



ARTICLE XXXIII.Voluntaries

All persons who may come forward, and shall voluntarily deliver up their slaves, and have their names registered on the books of the organization, shall, so long as they continue at peace, be entitled to the fullest protection of person and property, though not connected with this organization, and shall be treated as friends and not merely as persons neutral.

Discussion Question

How did John Brown propose to deal with slave holders?



ARTICLE XXXIV Neutrals

The persons and property of all non-slaveholders, who shall remain absolutely neutral, shall be respected so far as the circumstances can allow of it, but they shall not be entitled to any active protection.

Discussion QuestionHow did he propose to deal with non-slaveholders?



ARTICLE XXXVI.Property confiscated

The entire personal and real property of all persons known to be acting either directly or indirectly with or for the enemy, or found in arms with them, or found willfully holding slaves, shall be confiscated and taken whenever and wherever it may be found in either free or slave States.


What are the implications of this article of the provisional constitution?

On what grounds do you think Brown justified these restrictions on the rights of property owners (eg. slave holders)?

In other words, on what basis did Brown restrict the sanctity of property ownership?



ARTICLE XLVI.These articles not for the overthrow of government.

The foregoing articles shall not be construed so as in any way to encourage the overthrow of any State government, or of the general government of the United States, and look to no dissolution of the Union, but simply to amendment and repeal. And our flag shall be the same that our fathers fought under in the Revolution.


What was the likely intent of this article?

Why might Brown and his allies have believed this article was needed?

John Brown to Rev. Luther Humphrey:

I suppose I am the first since the landing of Peter Brown from the Mayflower that has either been sentenced to imprisonment or to the gallows. But, my dear old friend, let not that fact alone grieve you. You cannot have forgotten how and where our grandfather fell in 1776, and that he, too, might have perished on the scaffold had circumstances been but a very little different. The fact that a man dies under the hand of an executioner (or otherwise) has but little to do with his true character, as I suppose. John Rogers perished at the stake, a great and good man, as I suppose; but his doing so does not prove that any other man who has died in the same way was good or otherwise.

Discussion Question

During his captivity before his execution Brown used letters to supporters to clarify his aims and to promote his cause. In this letter Brown claims historical precedents for his actions.

On what basis did he make those claims, and how cogent were they?

John Brown to Mrs. George L. Stearns:

Charlestown, Jefferson Co Va. 29th, Nov, 1859. Mrs George L StearnsBoston Mass

My Dear friend

No letter I have received since my imprisonment here,has given me more satisfaction, or comfort: than yoursof the 8th inst. I am quite cheerful: & was never morehappy. Have only time [to] write you a word. May Godforever reward you & all yours. My love to All who lovetheir neighbours. I have asked to be spared from havingany mock; or hypocritical prayers made over me, whenI am publicly murdered: & that my only religiousattendants be poor little, dirty, ragged, bare headed& barefooted, Slave Boys; & Girls; Led by someold greyheaded, Slave Mother. Farewell. Farewell.

Your FriendJohn Brown


In this exchange, Brown self-consciously adopts the role of a martyr.

How do you think Americans in 1859 would interpret his request?

What significance might they have attached to it?Why did Brown request that slaves attend him at his execution?

John Brown to his wife and family, Nov. 30, 1859:

I am waiting the hour of my public murder with great composure of mind and cheerfulness, feeling the strong assurance that in no other possible way could I be used to so much advantage to the cause of good and of humanity, and that nothing that either I or all my family have sacrificed or suffered will be lost. . . . I have now no doubt but that our seeming disaster will ultimately result in the most glorious success. . . I bless God I never felt stronger confidence in the certain and near approach of a bright morning and a glorious day than I have felt, and do now feel, since my confinement here.


What insights into Brown does this final letter to his wife and family reveal?

Do his words confirm the worst suspicions of white southern slaveholders or the fervent hopes of white northern sympathizers?

From The New Hampshire Patriot

Notwithstanding the melancholy result in the loss of so many lives, these events will not be without advantage to the country, if they shall serve to recall the public mind from prejudice and excitement to a clear and honest consideration of the dangerous tendencies of the pernicious doctrines which, during a few years past, have been so zealously taught and advocated by political leaders and partisan preachers here at the North. . . . We could not admit violence or force as, in any case, a necessary or proper recourse, in this country, for the establishment of any political principles, or for relief from political evils. But we did not then expect so soon to see so striking a proof and illustration of the correctness of our views, as is now offered by these tragical events at Harper's Ferry. They are the natural and perfect fruit of the seed sown in Kansas.

Discussion Question

The Patriot, like virtually all newspapers, had to make sense of Brown’s raid and execution. The event was of such obvious importance that no respecting editorial writer could remain silent. The Patriot apparently was not swayed by Brown’s rationale or behavior.

Why did the Patriot conclude that no good would come from Brown’s life?

From the Petersburg (Virginia) Express

The Harpers Ferry affair is but a small eruption on the surface of a diseased body. Brown and his desperados are but a sign of the cancerous disease with which a great part of northern society is polluted by traitorous views of men who have been raised to honor, and surrounded by applause, and maintained in power, by whole communities and even whole states. . . . The Harpers Ferry affair was but premature fruit. A whole harvest of sterner rebellion and bloodier collision is growing up and ripening from the see these men have sown. . . Unless a change – a speedy and effectual change – sweep over northern society, the great conflict must come.

Discussion Question

The Express similarly saw Brown’s raid as a great tragedy, but for very different reasons than had the Patriot.

What lessons did the Express draw from Brown’s actions?

From the Albany Evening Journal

Upon the question whether he had any right to go there with such intentions, or whether, when taken, he ought to be punished, there is no general difference of opinion or sentiment. Though we "would that all men" were Free, we should as readily go to Virginia to run off their Horses and Cattle, as their Slaves. By the Constitution and Laws, Slavery is recognized and tolerated. It was a compact made by our Fathers, and one that binds their heirs. We will oppose both its extension and its encroachments. Thus far, and no farther, goes our sense of duty to Freedom.John Brown seems to have counted the cost of his enterprise; and, like a brave man, is prepared to meet his fate. Since the day that Paul spoke to Agrippa, we have read nothing more truly sublime than John Brown's response to the Tribunal before which he stood to receive Sentence of Death.

Discussion Question

The Evening Journal took yet another view of Brown’s raid and death. How did the Journal square Brown’s methods and cause?

John Brown’s Image

Because Brown was such an iconic figure (both through his own efforts and those of others), it is useful to trace the evolution of his image.

The following images reveal how he was initially represented in the northern press and then how a fabled event prior to his execution – his kiss of a slave infant – became codified in the visual arts.

How did the depiction of Brown and his execution change over time?

Why do you think the myth of that he kissed a slave infant acquired such significance and visual power?

Origin of the Kiss Story

New York Daily Tribune, Dec. 5, 1859

“On leaving jail, John Brown had on his face an expression of calmness and serenity characteristic of the patriot who is about to die with a living consciousness that he is laying down his life for the good of his fellow creatures . . . As he stepped out of the door a black woman, with her little child in her arms, stood near his way. The twain were of the despised race, for whose emancipation and elevation to the dignity of the children of God, he was about to lay down his life. . . . He stopped for a moment in his course, stooped over, and with the tenderness of one whose love is as broad as the brotherhood of man, kissed [the child] affectionately.”

__________________

From John Greenleaf Whittier’s, “Brown of Ossawatamie,” 1859

John Brown of Ossawatamie, they led him to die;And lo! A poor slave mother with her little child pressed nigh.Then the bold, blue eye grew tender, and the old harsh face grew mildAs he stooped between the jeering ranks and kissed the negro’s child!

A Premature Movement,1859

John Brown. “Here! Take this, and follow me. My name is Brown.”

Cuffey: “Please God! Mr. Brown, dat is ospossible. We ain’t done seedin’ yit at our home.”

John Brown in the firehouse, Harper’s Weekly, November 12, 1859

Harper’s Weekly,November 12, 1859

After Louis Ransom, John Brown/ Meeting the slave mother and her child on the steps of the Charlestown jail on hs way to execution/ Regarding them with a look of compassion Captain Brown stopped, stooped, and kissed the child, 1863. Lithograph. Currier and Ives.

Discussion Question

Who is depicted in this image and why?

Brown of Osawatomie, 1865

After Louis Ranson, John Brown—the Martyr, 1870. Lithograph. Currier and Ives

After Louis Ransom, John Brown . . . Lithograph, 1863. Currier and Ives

Thomas Satterwhite Noble, John Brown’s Blessing, 1867. Oil and canvas

The Last Moments of John Brown, oil on canvas, Thomas Hovenden, 1882-84

After Louis Ranson, John Brown—the Martyr, 1870. Lithograph. Currier and Ives

After Louis Ransom, John Brown . . . Lithograph, 1863. Currier and Ives

Thomas Satterwhite Noble, John Brown’s Blessing, 1867. Oil and canvas

The Last Moments of John Brown, oil on canvas, Thomas Hovenden, 1882-84

Twentieth Century Interpretations

Jacob Lawrence, Nos. 21 & 22, The Legend of John Brown, gouache, 1941; prints, 1977 (Series available at http://www.arts.wa.gov/public-art/legend-of-john-brown/About_Brown.html)

No. 22 • John Brown was found “Guilty of treason and murder in the 1st degree” and was hanged in Charles Town, Virginia on December 2, 1859.

No. 21 • After John Brown’s capture, he was put to trial for his life in Charles Town, Virginia (now West

Virginia).

Twentieth Century Interpretations

Kara Walker, John Brown, gouache, 1996

From Seeing the Unspeakable: The Art of Kara Walker by Gwendolyn Dubois Shaw (2004)

“After Brown’s execution, seemingly benign representations of him placated concerns over the state of race relations in war-torn and Reconstruction America.”

. . .“The beatification of Brown by blacks began on the actual day of his death, when many free African Americans . . . celebrated ‘Martyr Day.’”

. . .Brown’s star “faded from popular consciousness” as “the civil rights movement found new, African American martyrs and saint.” Walker’s drawing of Brown illustrates this “cultural amnesia.”

. . .Walker’s Brown “subverts nineteenth- and twentieth-century visual constructions of the convicted and condemned Brown by recasting the viral, patriarchal white icon as an impotent, feminized figure.”

. . .“Brown is revealed in Walker’s work to be a faded icon, one that persists beneath layers of allegory and myth.”

Final slide.

Thank You

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