John Brown: Abolitionist, Fanatic, and The Cause of War
by From Hero or Villain: More Prisoners of Eternity.
John Brown was a religious fanatic. He had failed in everything he had tried, now he devoted himself to the abolition of slavery. He believed he was the instrument of God’s Will. He would fail in that to, but he would hasten the greatest catastrophe in American history.
There are few more controversial figures in American history than, John Brown. To many he is a hero of the anti-slavery movement to others he is a religious fanatic and cold-bloodied killer. Either way, his influence upon the development of American society cannot be denied, even if this influence was one of violence and soaked in blood. He was one of the first to tread the path to war, a war that was to cost the lives of more than 630,000 people.
John Brown was born on 9 May, 1800, in Torrington, Connecticut, but his family soon after moved to the town of Hudson, Ohio. He came from a large family being the fourth of eight children and was himself to father 20 children of his own. His father owned and ran a successful tannery business and John for much of his life was to try and emulate his father’s success; but his many business ventures failed only serving to leave him heavily in debt. Deeply religious he was raised as a strict Calvinist and was for a time a member of the Congregationalist Church but once he left their embrace over some arcane theological dispute or other, he never joined another. Leaving home at the age of 16 he moved to Plainfield, Massachusetts. For the next 20 years he moved from town to town, failed in business, married twice, and fathered children. In 1837, the vocal abolitionist newspaper editor, Elijah P Lovejoy, was taken from his home and murdered by pro-slavery men. John Brown at last found a purpose to his life, at a Church meeting he vowed, “Here before God, in the presence of these witnesses, I, John Brown, consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery”. But John Brown was too busy trying to sort out a life in turmoil. In 1842 he was declared bankrupt, a year later 4 of his children died of dysentery.
Still constantly on the move, partially as a result of trying to avoid his creditors, in 1846 he went into business with Simon Perkins as a wool commissioner. Unable to contribute much financially to the business his main input was to be his expertise. However, his tendency to always side with the small farmers against the corporations with whom he was supposed to be doing business undermined all his best endeavours. Having managed to successfully alienate the manufacturers the business went bust in 1849 owing considerable debts, almost all of which were carried by Perkins..
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