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A new series on Showtime starring Ethan Hawke as abolitionist John Brown prompted me to dig into the Almanack archive for articles about Brown. (And don’t miss scholar/writer Amy Godine’s virtual Grange Hall talk tomorrow night about the historic statue of Brown at his Lake Placid farm.)
Here are a few gems:
- His last days: 2009 marked the 150th anniversary of Brown’s anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, his subsequent execution and the return of his body to North Elba. That fall, Almanack founder John Warren penned a series of articles about Brown’s last days.
- Brown’s widow: All about Mary Ann Day Brown, John’s wife and Washington County native.
- Adirondacker Hall of Fame: Tim Rowland on why John Brown gets top billing in list of famous Adirondackers.
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“Old John Brown has just been executed for treason against a state. We cannot object, even though he agreed with us in thinking slavery wrong. That cannot excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason. It could avail him nothing that he might think himself right.” — Abraham Lincoln, Dec 3, 1859
Nice quote, Robert! The same can be said for Aamon Bundy and the seditionists who plotted against the governor of Michigan…wouldn’t you say?
+10 points for article re Mary Brown :):)
The Showtime series once again portrays Brown as a lunatic; he was anything but. People disagree about his methods, particularly in Kansas often without taking in the context of what was taking place at the time. Be as that may, his focus was in leveraging change and in that he succeeded, though not in a way he envisioned. He did believe that the process would be a very violent one; on that score, he was correct.