Interpret the Evidence and Put It in Context

1. Question

   How do these different sources describe Brown? What language and imagery do they use? How is religious imagery employed in the various documents?

2. Question

   In what ways do Brown’s admirers, such as Henry David Thoreau (Document 12.7) and J. Sella Martin (Document 12.9), attempt to support Brown without praising the violence of his raid?

3. Question

   Those who condemned Brown often used his raid as a way to criticize the North and abolitionists. On what grounds did they make these more generalized claims of northern guilt (Documents 12.6 and 12.10)?

4. Question

   What is John Brown’s state of mind after his conviction (Document 12.8)? How does he describe his actions?

5. Question

   What images and messages are used in the Currier and Ives illustration (Document 12.11) to portray Brown as a martyr?

• Question

  How do the varied reactions to John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry illuminate the conflicts that led to Abraham Lincoln’s election as president in 1860 and South Carolina’s secession in 1861?