The role of John Brown and his quest to end slavery and how it may or Essay

The role of John Brown and his quest to end slavery and how it may or may not have the nation toward Civil War - Essay Example Brown moved to live amongst the black community to lead asafather to the slaves.Varied opinions emerged about his main objective and critics claimed was to arm slaves for a rebellion; he however denied that but eventually, his actions resulted to civil war. At the age of 50, Brown became a radical abolitionist who he deemed God had preferred him to lead slaves to freedom (DeCaro 15). According to him, even if the freeing slaves would entail force that was God’s will. Brown first declared his interest in leading an anti-slavery movement during his meeting with Frederick Douglas (DeCaro 15). In 1847 and according to Douglas, despite being a white man, he sympathized with the Blacks as if he felt the pains and cruelty that characterized their daily lives. In 1854, the Kansas –Nebraska Act gave citizens residing in either of the territories rights to decide whether they will cease from holding onto slavery of persist with it. He took advantage of this and moved to Kansas together with five of his sons. Numerous people who were against servitude also started relocating to Kansas with the intention of securing it for the pro slavery faction. He turned to be a significant icon undertaking anti-slavery guerilla agitations besides initiating slavery attack in Lawrence. In 1856, the invaded the town and killed five of its residence. He did this by combining his efforts together with that of sons to continue opposing slavery in Kansas and Missouri for the remaining part of 1856. Brown decided to launch an attack in Virginia whereby before then embarked on gathering an army and acquiring adequate funding to support his it (Elliot 61). He came up with an army of 21 men comprising of 5 blacks and 16 whites. Preparation took place in the freedman farm as they planned how to capture Federal Arsenal at Harpers Ferry. In their planning, they provided weapons such as pikes and rifles (DuBois, William, Finkelman, &