John Brown's legacy hasn't changed; America has

A century and a half later, we still don't know quite what to think of John Brown .

[Eric]

Brown was a murderer and should have been flayed, beheaded, and quartered like Nat Turner

[souljatruth]

John Brown is a great and wonderful human being. He is one reason why I know there are decent caucasians. He renewed my fait in the capacity of caucasians to be members of the human race and not some mutation. I wish African-Americans and all Americans raised John Brown to a higher level because he is certainly deserving of respect. He is my hero. The reason there are not more posts here is because Americans are ignorant to the history and this is deliberate. Keep the populace ignorant so special interest can have their way.

[Hampton Handyman]

If your familiar with history then you know Brown was nothing more than a terrorist that deserves no respect or celebration

[WvWs]

What color was John Brown's old gray mule?

[Beat]

Great man.

[Sean]

Do you see similarity between Brown and the Jihadist in Arkansas who murdered Army Private William Long at the recruiting station?

[InTheNews]

Sean wrote:

Do you see similarity between Brown and the Jihadist in Arkansas who murdered Army Private William Long at the recruiting station?

I see the relatives of the murdering terrorist, John Brown are doing their best to rewrite history. They will get some help from the distortions put forward by the Franklin County Tourism Bureau and the Public Opinion.

[Sensored]

InTheNews wrote:

<quoted text> I see the relatives of the murdering terrorist, John Brown are doing their best to rewrite history. They will get some help from the distortions put forward by the Franklin County Tourism Bureau and the Public Opinion.

A century and a half later, this is what to think of John Brown.

[yougottabekiddin g]

John Brown was a cold-blooded murderer and he got what he deserved.

[XML 420]

If the Fr. Cty. Tourism bureau thinks that old skank stand of a house is going to bring em in on busses, they are sadly mistaken. No one cares.

It should be moved intact to Harper's Ferry or Charlestown.

[WOW]

Interesting perspective and well written. Thanks for the information. Times then aren't like times now.

[Alabama]

Amen to the article and as evidenced by the 11 previous posters, JOHN will be a perpetual enigma and continue to trigger debates.

Remember, too, that our Cbg is sometimes referred to as a part of Alabama. We are NOT a typical northern town for sure.

[Historybuff]

souljatruth wrote:

John Brown is a great and wonderful human being. He is one reason why I know there are decent caucasians. He renewed my fait in the capacity of caucasians to be members of the human race and not some mutation. I wish African-Americans and all Americans raised John Brown to a higher level because he is certainly deserving of respect. He is my hero. The reason there are not more posts here is because Americans are ignorant to the history and this is deliberate. Keep the populace ignorant so special interest can have their way.

John Brown was raised to a higher level, than quickly dropped, had he waited six months history may have been kinder to this man, but we will never know. Hero, not by a long shot. Killer, ask the families of the ones who died that day!

[HairyLegs]

Seizing the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, [West] Virginia, falls into that category that we call “political violence.” These actors are variously called freedom fighters, terrorists, liberators, and mujahedin. Brown endeavored to create a slave uprising, cause the Virginia government to fall, and change the legal landscape through direct, violent action. In our time, this attack has an ideological and emotional equivalent in Timothy McVeigh’s attack on the Oklahoma City federal building.

[Eolian Harp]

HairyLegs wrote:

Seizing the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry,[West] Virginia, falls into that category that we call “political violence.” These actors are variously called freedom fighters, terrorists, liberators, and mujahedin. Brown endeavored to create a slave uprising, cause the Virginia government to fall, and change the legal landscape through direct, violent action. In our time, this attack has an ideological and emotional equivalent in Timothy McVeigh’s attack on the Oklahoma City federal building.

Equating Timothy McVeigh with John Brown is like equating Reagan with Lincoln. Not even close. Brown was fighting for a cause that took a country to civil war. McVeigh was a nutbag with reactionary right-wing leanings. His political philosophy was muddled at best. John Brown was an abolitionist, moved by his religious beliefs. A good part of the world had outlawed slavery by the mid 1850s. Just the fact that a civil war that claimed the lives of a half-million Americans was fought, validates the issue. Just as David Ben-Gurion and his ilk used terrorist tactics agaisnt the British to form the country of Israel; just as Colonial Americans used many of the same "terrorist" tactics to secure our independence, the great ends justified the means. I would put John Brown at the very start of the Civil War--as I would the Kansas Jay Hawkers--and both he and his victims on the other side as casualties of war. If Bloody Bill Anderson and Quantril's Raiders can be considered Confererate Cavalry (even after Lawrence, Kansas), John Brown can be considered a soldier. He was on the side that won the war, so it's amazing that his legacy wasn't seen as more positive. Most of that is a result of Reconstruction and the compromises the north made in order to place a president: a compromise that led to the removal of northern troops from the south, and the beginning of a 100 year reign of terror wrought by the KKK and other racists. Funny that John Brown is demonized, while we'd like to forget the lynchings, rapes, murders, and general mayhem caused by whites against blacks. The Emancipation Proclamation did nothing until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it the law of the land.

[Hampton Handyman]

Eolian Harp wrote:

<quoted text>
Equating Timothy McVeigh with John Brown is like equating Reagan with Lincoln. Not even close. Brown was fighting for a cause that took a country to civil war. McVeigh was a nutbag with reactionary right-wing leanings. His political philosophy was muddled at best. John Brown was an abolitionist, moved by his religious beliefs. A good part of the world had outlawed slavery by the mid 1850s. Just the fact that a civil war that claimed the lives of a half-million Americans was fought, validates the issue. Just as David Ben-Gurion and his ilk used terrorist tactics agaisnt the British to form the country of Israel; just as Colonial Americans used many of the same "terrorist" tactics to secure our independence, the great ends justified the means. I would put John Brown at the very start of the Civil War--as I would the Kansas Jay Hawkers--and both he and his victims on the other side as casualties of war. If Bloody Bill Anderson and Quantril's Raiders can be considered Confererate Cavalry (even after Lawrence, Kansas), John Brown can be considered a soldier. He was on the side that won the war, so it's amazing that his legacy wasn't seen as more positive. Most of that is a result of Reconstruction and the compromises the north made in order to place a president: a compromise that led to the removal of northern troops from the south, and the beginning of a 100 year reign of terror wrought by the KKK and other racists. Funny that John Brown is demonized, while we'd like to forget the lynchings, rapes, murders, and general mayhem caused by whites against blacks. The Emancipation Proclamation did nothing until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it the law of the land.

The hole in your arguement is that John Brown attacked the U.S. Army not the confederate army. He attacked the U.S. government not the confederate government.