John Brown, religion and violence : motivation in American history.

Abstract

John Brown's religious beliefs motivated his violent abolitionist crusade. His parents inculcated their Calvinist Christian beliefs into young Brown, including their abolitionist views of slavery. Brown grew from a skeptical spiritual seeker as a child to a young Christian adult who was a determined, but peaceful abolitionist. As Brown grew into a full adult, his Old Testament inspired sense of Christian justice decreed that he declare war on slavery. He took his abolitionist crusade to Kansas Territory where he was instrumental in fomenting violent conflict between pro-and-anti-slavery forces, helping to make Kansas Territory earn the sobriquet "Bleeding Kansas." Brown was willing to risk his life for slavery in "Bleeding Kansas," but had not yet accepted the role of martyr for the abolitionist cause. Brown left Kansas when the Free State forces prevailed in Kansas Territory, and prepared for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and began to accept the role of martyr for the abolitionist cause. When his raid on Harpers Ferry failed, his faith grew exponentially, and he fully embraced the role of martyr for the abolitionist cause, and went to his death He was correct, for his Christian abolitionist crusade exacerbated ideological tensions between the North and South, lighting the fuse for the conflagration of the Civil War, and ending slavery, making his abolitionist crusade a success. Brown's Christian beliefs were outside of the mainstream of antebellum Christianity, and this work does not defend the orthodoxy of Browns religious beliefs. However, John Brown's religious beliefs motivated his violent abolitionist crusade. Brown's actions demonstrate the powerful effect of religion on the flow of American History.