Mixing idealism with violence; abolitionist John Brown cut a wide swath across the United States before winding up in Virginia; where he led an attack on the U.S. armory and arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Supported by a “provisional army†of 21 men; Brown hoped to rouse the slaves in Virginia to rebellion. But he was quickly captured and; after a short but stormy trial; hanged on December 2; 1859. Brian McGinty provides the first comprehensive account of the trial; which raised important questions about jurisdiction; judicial fairness; and the nature of treason under the American constitutional system. After the jury returned its guilty verdict; an appeal was quickly disposed of; and the governor of Virginia refused to grant clemency. Brown met his death not as an enemy of the American people but as an enemy of Southern slaveholders. Historians have long credited the Harpers Ferry raid with rousing the country to a fever pitch of sectionalism and accelerating the onset of the Civil War. McGinty sees Brown’s trial; rather than his raid; as the real turning point in the struggle between North and South. If Brown had been killed in Harpers Ferry (as he nearly was); or condemned to death in a summary court-martial; his raid would have had little effect. Because he survived to stand trial before a Virginia judge and jury; and argue the case against slavery with an eloquence that reverberated around the world; he became a symbol of the struggle to abolish slavery and a martyr to the cause of freedom.
#142890 in Books Harvard University Press 2008-04-30 2008-03-31Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.20 x .90 x 6.10l; .95 #File Name: 0674027205384 pages
Review
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Ute and Shoshone focus in this bookBy Chester MorrisonThis book examines the relationship between the Spanish in New Mexico and the Ute Indians; interlaced with the thread of violence and slavery and how that permeated through the Ute to the non-equestrian Shoshone of the Great Basin. The author also examines the ecological impact on the Great Basin of the great fur trading combines of the 18th century and the tensions between Mormon settlers in Utah and the indigenous people who resided there.The introduction of European technology ( the horse; metalwork; etc.) along with the Spanish endorsement of slavery through the principle of rescate ( or rescue for religious purpose) and the outright avarice of Spanish administrators in slave raids for resale purposes; changed the social context of not only Spanish New Mexico but also the Great Basin and the southern plains. While violence and slavery were not unknown to the area before the Spanish entrada; both were incorporated into cycles of war and peace often driven by ecological hard times. The Spanish introduced both as economic concepts of empire building and radically changed the social context of the pre-contact American southwest.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Kindle version needs updatingBy NitsedyThis is for the kindle version. The book itself is excellent; but the Kindle version has an annoying lack of images. Rather; inserted in the middle of the text is a box stating; "[To view this image; refer to the print version of this title.]" The images in this work are important to the work and the Kindle edition needs to be updated to include them.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Mona G. BondExcellent book; well researched and contributes to the narrative of the Native American people's history in the borderlands.
