American Experience; John Brown's Holy War; Interview with historian Dennis Frye 6 of 6

as in the south in many respects reacted more angrily there and vehemently to the reaction the north than it did to john brown zach forayed to hear people in the north to talk about st john the just and comparing brown to christ comparing him to washington saying that that doug brown had every much as right to attack harpers ferry as george washington had a right to lead us to victory in the revolutionary war of washington of course was a virginian and how a bear the north compare john brown and george washington and so people became incensed it was almost as those two different languages emotional languages or being spoken north itself these people didn't understand their different languages they didn't

appreciate what they were trying to say and they didn't communicate anymore again brown carved canyon in public opinion a canyon that split north and south and no longer were there any bridges no longer were there any ties brown had taken his sword and sliced the connections a very small narrow thin connections of ballmer's country together john brown slice them and now we have to really separate thinking people's floating away from each other as two separate islands and if they tried to stay together there would be a clash the civil war began in kansas and eighteen fifty four eating

fifty five years before it erupted at fort sumpter and trust and harbor south carolina americans report each other over the issue of slavery we were killing each other in kansas oh indeed it was a political settlement we were supposed to be able to work out our differences through the ballot box and the attempt to come up with a resolution that everyone be satisfied with but no one can be satisfied with a compromise on slavery and kansas really brought that to the forefront brown went to kansas not seeking compromise but seeking a final solution ultimate solution to this problem and if that meant violence if that meant fighting to free people then he was willing to be a freedom fighter his son's ask him to come he rarely acquiesced and short period time we have captain john brown with a small army fighting his way through the plains of

kansas brown a taiwan ma it shows the extreme of john barr it shows that this man could lose control that his emotion and passion could overwhelm him and that he could be so angry so frustrated and so demonic or that he could kill people watcher people party massacre there's a glittery of people and people and pieces with artillery support that are not very long just extensions only are close order deadly cold blooded killing how do you explain that troops point

where we simply can't dismiss ms blanchett again did ron see himself as an instrument of god a god who ordained killing to erase to eradicate slavery this certainly doesn't represent the teachings of christ christ believed in forgiving people and helping people overcome their sentence brown part won him a truly represents a guide he was angry at god in his vengeful a god who is willing to destroy his creation and perhaps brown apollo ono may simply again justified himself as an instrument of god killing on behalf of his god no matter how atrocious how ugly it was worse the bloodshed

in an attempt to free slaves so let's say you're talking to john brown was very capable of bending the truth he was very capable of having a selective memory and he was very capable of presenting good out of terrible he would not be truthful about paul won that he would not in it to the terrible brutal killings which occurred there he were to in essence wash his hands of the whole fair somewhat like a poncho spot that well we had this happened but it's not a big fair and we were very

involved and we certainly aren't going to admit to any kind of atrocity like that we would be involved in such terrible dealings so brown was not truthful about pot a lot to me and we don't notice because he did feel guilt or if it was something that he just simply explain away as when you fight and you're in war you need to kill and the killing comes regardless of the price the effort or the problems there carlotta me is a a outburst of emotion it was not the typical john brown i wanted to not

represent leadership it does not wear present an effort to bring about some solution it represents revenge it it potter wanted me is nothing more than taking vengeance against someone or some group of people because you are now inspired by hate and you are consumed by the emotions that drive you to commit they act ok renee by any legal definition by any mall of the land that tata was it is nothing more than a cold id murder killing people up close based on anger

and vengeance it is bloody murder that blood was all over the weapons and hands of john brown and his men but our water is better john brown had failed and virtually everything he attempted he was not a good businessman and he was constantly and that he migrated from job to job in position to position state a state he had difficulty caring for his very large family and he often expressed guilt that he was not the father that he hoped he could be or wished he could be that he was not the mall father but it was very clear that

he knew he could be a model and he knew he could do his father's work a work of god but when you are a soldier a freedom fighter often it is difficult to also be a good father brown was torn by this call and he was i think rick inside bae what route should i follow if i care for my family worked for my family and everything i can to be there mall father then i will not be able to serve my god and enter his calling to free these people in bondage but if i become a soldier a warrior in god's army and go here and there and everywhere and my attempt to

free his papal letter and bombs then i can not be with my family it was a real dilemma and i think he strove with it throughout much of his life where you at john mann was a man of great faith but he did not need to require it any intermediary any act for religious faith to be between himself and has got brown never actually espoused any one religion but instead communicate directly with his god god

gave him his faith gave him of morality and gave in this direction so brown although very religious a man who read the bible daley who shared his observations and opinions about the bible with others you would preach to others and at others come to listen to him preach this is a man who was a very straightforward man of god who have no allegiance to any particular religion is all allegiance was to his father in heaven and there is a speculator it's so funny the

competition for coffee you know struggling to succeed in some ways is that what he was obsessed with the financial success brown was obsessed with earning money with taking care of his finances and i think that it was a matter of necessity and he had a very large family om had many many children if he had to take care of these people it was his responsibility to help brain these young children into the world and it's the responsibility of every father to provide for the children and so i think that he was driven by the fact that he needed money to support his large family i dont think brown was ever a man who believed in and accumulating great wealth or driving himself to accumulate great wealth but i think that he wanted to be able to

have himself and his family live in comfort without worrying about where that next dollar would come from for that next meal would come from but that he would always have money in the bank so he felt secure and if he had that security if he had the money to provide first family that would also have given him more time to indulge and what inspired him his efforts to bring into slavery perhaps he could get more money to the anti slavery cause perhaps he could hire people that would be runners the work on the underground railroad that would help rein slaves to freedom or perhaps he would be able to accumulate enough money to become more involved himself into slavery movement but he did need he did want money but i believe it is primarily sunni to provide for the needs of his family and over and perhaps

to provide for the needs of the anti slavery movement this bill in his business dealings and sensibility there's a course that's something that ruthie everything that brown did in his business dealings were driven because john brown was a driven man he was an ambitious man he had specific goals and he would work very hard to achieve those goals i don't know if it was just ego as much as it was that he believed he could succeed he wanted to have success are almost measure ourselves by some form of success and brown needed those same types of success is to show that he himself that

was making a valuable contribution to society and to his family and so i believe that he was very driven and very ambitious but i think he was driven because he he needed to obtain the successes that he could use to measure yourself in the society i think john brown's plan went well beyond an attack on harpers ferry and arsenal and well beyond his capture of those hundred thousand weapons brown really intended to declare economic warfare against the south a good slave and eighteen sixty dollars cost anywhere from a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars for one slave the average yearly income at that time was just a bit more than two hundred dollars a year

most people one of have to work five six seven years to be able to just one good slave realm knew that an investment and slaves potentially could be a bad investment if your investment has legs and arms and a mind and it walks away it runs away you just lost three thousand dollars it's got it's evaporated and have several dozen of your slaves if you are fortunate enough to be that wealthy suddenly leave disappear you probably will be bankrupt so much of southern wealth was

invested in the property of slavery and brown recognized it was not a secure security they could very easily disappear in the night and that money was gone the southern economy was based on slavery southern economy was a slave economy well with very few min organization couldn't easily sent shockwaves through that economy and disrupted it and eventually destroyed it so brown's planned to run slaves here ron slaves they're bringing the freedom was one that indeed would have been f implemented

would've been economic suicide for self destruct economic destruction for the self that would get more suicide intimate themselves well as well as plenty of the woman but brown's jerry brown's plan implemented with not a whole lot of people and even with little organization could have potentially produce economic disaster for sale last barrier seems to have an opinion about john brown they may not know what the bases in their opinions but they feel something something within them

says that you should feel this way about this man and and his effect on this nation sometimes i think that opinion is based on geography if you're from new england where the north you probably were taught certain things about john barr and if you live in the south you met probably got a different perspective very different perspective on by now but to bryant borrow a saint or madman a murderer or laredo or an evil devil or christ reincarnation only speaks in its streams and we cannot chaos history by extremes brown was a very complicated man an extremely complicated period when so much of america

was fooled by its feelings wise emotions that would eventually overcome much of its recent round affected this nation as one would write he was a clear flash of lightning into the heart of the southern so and others would say that brown did more to rouse itself arouse sells passion and sells nationalism than any other manhattan history but i think what's most important is that following john brown's raid and his trial and his execution no man no woman no child could ignore john brown

no american could ignore his message no one could any longer ignore the issue of slavery john brown did not buy himself start the civil war but he was one very bright flame that fuel that absolutely said a piercing timbre into the hearts and souls of america that sent us irreparably and undeniably on the path or war that ultimately will bring about the victory john brown so desire is followed to his jailer john brown summarizes life

so will he said with her husband the man that typified the southern reaction to john brown and russell had to be there at the final moment he was a civilian not a member of a militia unit of virginia and he would literally sneak in now as part of the virginia military institute corps to witness the execution himself to make sure that this man who had dared to attack virginia dared to strike at the heritage of virginia and dared to assault the very institutions that it may virginia so great and glorious he had to be there to see this man dropped through the gallows to make sure that he

was dead gone forever a blight a scourge remove forever from virginia so well it was a moment that rough and would always remember imitation a lot all i think of john brown new john carroll knew that he was having a dramatic effect reporter coined back to him from friends and through letters and from people that would visit him

that the attitudes in this country were changing the people we're talking about slavery the people were thinking about what the real meaning of slavery was and that some people who haven't dared thought about changing it before now are giving it very serious consideration i think that he went to the gallows knowing full well that he had changed america forever that he had indeed had an effect a dramatic effect and that although a failure most of his life failure after failure after failure and these final weeks of his life at harpers ferry in charles town that he had accomplished his mission now his mission patients buried