A Plea for Captain John Brown: Henry David Thoreau's Passionate Defense of John Brown's Actions

by Henry David Thoreau

The present book 'A Plea for Captain John Brown' was written by famous American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian - Henry David Thoreau. It is an essay which is based on a speech Thoreau first delivered to an audience at Concord, Massachusetts on October 30, 1859, two weeks after John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, and repeated several times before Brown’s execution on December 2, 1859. It was first published in the year 1859.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Essays, Philosophy, Politics, American, Biography

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2001

About the author

Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, philosopher, and abolitionist who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism.

In 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born in Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1837, taught briefly, then turned to writing and lecturing. Becoming a Transcendentalist and good friend of Emerson, Thoreau lived the life of simplicity he advocated in his writings. His two-year experience in a hut in Walden, on land owned by Emerson, resulted in the classic, Walden: Life in the Woods (1854). During his sojourn there, Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and the Mexican war, for which he was jailed overnight. His activist convictions were expressed in the groundbreaking On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849). In a diary he noted his disapproval of attempts to convert the Algonquins "from their own superstitions to new ones." In a journal he noted dryly that it is appropriate for a church to be the ugliest building in a village, "because it is the one in which human nature stoops to the lowest and is the most disgraced." (Cited by James A. Haught in 2000 Years of Disbelief.) When Parker Pillsbury sought to talk about religion with Thoreau as he was dying from tuberculosis, Thoreau replied: "One world at a time."

Thoreau's philosophy of nonviolent resistance influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. D. 1862.

More: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/tho...

http://thoreau.eserver.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Da...

http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu....

http://www.biography.com/people/henry...

Reviews

[Theo Logos · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Plea For Captain John Brown is an important historical piece. Thoreau was the first to come out defending John Brown after his Harpers Ferry raid. When all of the South and most of the North was acting aghast at Brown’s actions, Thoreau came out with this full throated defense of Brown as moral, God fearing, and heroic. He even likened him to Christ. This at a time when even the abolitionist paper The Liberator was calling Brown’s action misguided, and many others were calling him mad.

This began a historical debate that has really never stopped around John Brown. Is violence ever a justifiable tool to use against legal injustice? Brown forces us to examine this complex, difficult question still. And Thoreau was the one who opened the debate with this defense when all other voices were raised in condemnation.

Despite the importance of this piece, the actual writing is rather dull. Thoreau was far better with ideas than he was with words. But it is a short piece, and worth reading for its historical significance. (Note that the monotone delivery on the LibriVox audiobook accentuates the dullness — you may want to just read this one.)

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You can get more in your market for a quart of milk than for a quart of blood, but that is not the market that heroes carry their blood to".-Henry David Thoreau

[Illiterate · Rating 1 out of 5]

A case for Brown cannot be about his religious fervor. It must be about when and why it is OK illegally to kill people whose actions are legal but wrong.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving public eulogy for John Brown, in response to his unjust execution for treason by the state of Virginia for trying to liberate enslaved people.

It felt especially relevant reading this today when we are drowned in conversation about what is appropriate or polite in effecting change and liberating people. Thoreau's passage on "human sentiment" is especially resonant.

Was very short (and very free, I got it through my library on Hoopla) so I can't recommend it enough.

[Arsène Poulain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je suis convaincu et pas qu'un peu, que c'était justifié et bien d'attaquer un dépôt d'armes accompagné "d'hommes d'une haute moralité" pour déclencher une révolte d'esclaves.
Comme je suis convaincu le plaidoyer a visiblement marché sur moi !

[Lyonsl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very, very interesting. One of the best things I've ever read.

[Evelyn Riales]

he was a little upset

[Sylvain Bérubé · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry David Thoreau est connu, de par son influent livre La Désobéissance civile, comme apôtre de la philosophie de la résistance passive en tant que moyen de protestation. Cet essai a entre autres eut une grande influence sur deux personnalités de la non-violence, soit Gandhi et Martin Luther King.

Or, dans sa défense de l'abolitionniste John Brown, lequel a organisé la lutte armée contre l'extension de l'esclavage au Kansas et a tué des colons sudistes, il s'éloigne de ce principe et en vient à l'acceptation de la violence au service d'une cause juste, comme en témoigne cet éloquent extrait prononcé à la mairie de Concord.

«Il avait sa doctrine personnelle, à savoir qu'un homme a parfaitement le droit d'intervenir par la force chez le propriétaire d'esclaves pour délivrer les esclaves. Je suis d'accord avec lui. Ceux qui sont continuellement choqués par l'esclavage ont le droit d'être choqués par la mort violente du propriétaire d'esclaves, mais pas les autres. D'aucuns seront plus choqués par sa vie que par sa mort. Je n'aurai pas l'aplomb de dire qu'il se trompe de méthode, celui qui réussit le plus vite possible à libérer les esclaves. Je parle pour les esclaves quand je dis que je préfère la philanthropie du capitaine Brown à une philanthrope qui ne tue pas, mais ne me délivre pas non plus. De toute manière, je ne pense pas qu'il soit sage de passer sa vie à parler de ce sujet, à écrire dessus, à moins d'être continuellement inspiré, et je me suis gardé de le faire. Il se peut qu'un homme ait d'autres occupations qui l'accaparent. Je n'ai pas envie de tuer ni d'être tué, mais je peux envisager certaines circonstances où je serais contraint inévitablement de le faire. Nous maintenons quotidiennement la prétendue paix de notre communauté par des actes de violence mesquine. Regardez le policier avec sa matraque et ses menottes! Regardez les prisons! Regardez le gibet! Regardez l'aumônier du régiment! Nous espérons seulement vivre en sécurité à proximité de cette armée provisoire. Donc, nous défendons tout seuls, nous et nos poulaillers, et nous maintenons l'esclavage. Je sais que la grande masse de mes concitoyens pense que le seul usage respectable des fusils Sharps et des revolvers est pour se battre en duel contre les nations qui nous insultent, pour chasses les indiens, ou tirer sur des esclaves qui s'enfuient. Je pense que pour une fois les fusils Sharps et les revolvers ont été employés pour une noble cause. Les outils étaient entre les mains de qui savait s'en servir.»

[Mischa Daanen · Rating 4 out of 5]

...

Is it not possible that an individual may be right and a government wrong? Are laws to be enforced simply because they were made? Or declared by any number of men declared to be good, if they are not good? Is there any necessity for a man’s being a tool to perform a deed of which his better nature disapproves? Is it the intention of law-makers that good men shall be hung ever? Are judges to interpret the law according to the letter, and not the spirit?

Thoreau’s plea for Captain Brown, who was with the Underground Railroad at the time, questioning the ethics of law and government that had him hung for freeing slaves from captivity and helping them escape. He fairly points out how established laws are not necessarily in line with ethics and describes how a many good men have been prosecuted (and sentenced to death) for seemingly noble and heroic deeds, but that were nonetheless against “the law”.

[Galicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What is that I hear cast overboard? The bodies of the dead that have found deliverance. That is the way we are ‘diffusing’ humanity, and its sentiments with it.”
I love Thoreau and this essay is powerful. The above quote is typical of its strength. He is describing a slave ship disposing of dead bodies. But I am reading a contradiction. Thoreau is against capital punishment:
“When a government takes the life of a man without the consent of his conscience, and is taking a step towards its won disillusionment.”
Yet he writes a little bit earlier in the essay: “I think that for once the Sharp’s rifles were employed in a righteous cause. The tools were in the hands of one who could use them.”
He objects to capital punishment but see no problem with killing slave owners.

[Jeff Whittum · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Brown's name, to those who even know who he was, lives in infamy as a man who violently descended upon a sleeping town, massacring many in the night. He would be hanged for this offense. What most will never know is that this man lived, and ultimately died, for the 4 million slaves for whose liberty he worked. You won't find many works of literature praising this man, but there are thankfully a few essays out there that at least attempted to give Brown's actions the proper context and so offer some exoneration of his character. Frederick Douglass offered one powerful example and here Thoreau offers another. This essay is worth anyone's time to read as an example of great writing, but especially those interested in the history of abolition.

[Brumaire Bodbyl-Mast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoreau’s speech, though choked somewhat in its contemporary references and 19th century syntax, is genius in condemning the weak liberals, who sided with the Status quo and the slow repeal of slavery, rather than with Brown, whose actions forced the issue to a head. As Thoreau notes, Brown could not be tried by his peers because, amongst those legally allowed to perform jury, he had none. Thoreau points out several interesting things too: for one, Brown’s absurd knowledge of logistics, something which put him ahead of the curve in many ways in terms of pulling of certain militant stunts, for two: Brown’s distinctive discipline, and that of his men, for three: the role of stochastic violence in affecting political change and finally: the nature of dual power prior to the civil war. The first one, though only a brief mention, is something worth mentioned as a necessity for organizations. Brown’s father helped to supply beef to the army in the war of 1812, and as a result Brown grew decently knowledgeable about logistics, recognizing the necessity of a well supplied fighting force in winning a war, something which many strategists and tacticians fail to account for. In terms of discipline, Thoreau mainly focuses on the Christian aspects. As in, no swearing and roughness of character, rather than… you know, the spartan aspects (he does shine a fair amount of light on brown specifically though). While there is a hint of this, when he notes that brown did not tolerate bullying, more emphasis was based on the sort of parochial Christian moralism of Brown and his men, rather than their cohesion as a group. Though, I suppose Thoreau believes that’s why. For three, and this is the most notable to me, is his praise of Brown’s stochastic attack. Throreau seems to believe that it was only a stochastic attack which could have shattered the sectional crisis, and I don’t disagree. The republicans are heavily condemned here, which at the time there were still mostly infantile in their development, but their inability to say that what Brown did was right frustrates Thoreau to no end. It’s comparable to say, if DSA or whoever condemned October 7th. Looking at dual power, he does note the authority of the government to conduct much business in the north beyond basic administration fading, in favor of the Vigilant Committees, at least in terms of executing (or in their case, not executing) the law. Worth noting the federal government of that time was very weak. I think this work is worthy to be a definite addition to the canon of debate regarding stochastic violence in the left. But also, it is definitely too flowery and antiquated at points too.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Any man knows when he is justified, and all the wits in the world cannot enlighten him on that point. The murderer always knows that he is justly punished; but when a government takes the life of a man without the consent of his conscience, it is an audacious government, and is taking a step towards its own dissolution. Is it not possible that an individual may be right and a government wrong? Are laws to be enforced simply because they were made? or declared by any number of men to be good, if they are not good? Is there any necessity for a man's being a tool to perform a deed of which his better nature disapproves? Is it the intention of law-makers that good men shall be hung ever? Are judges to interpret the law according to the letter, and not the spirit? What right have you to enter into a compact with yourself that you will do thus or so, against the light within you? ... A counterfeiting law-factory, standing half in a slave land and half in a free! What kind of laws for free men can you expect from that?"

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

HIS SOUL GOES MARCHING ON

As the Civil War becomes more of a holy war, as the mounting casualties are retroactively justified by the moral rightness of the cause, John Brown becomes more of a martyr. Even Julia Ward Howe cribbing his anthem couldn't slow his fame down.

But before any of that, our boy, HDT, back up on the pulpit testing the apparently infinite patience of his fellow Concordians with another rant against their moral cowardice. He's always a big talker, and there's no difference here, making Brown out to be literally Jesus, but I wonder how he felt about actually speaking these things as opposed to just writing them down for Emerson to have printed.

Here's to being on the right side of history, anyway.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He could not have been tried by a jury of his peers, because his peers did not exist.”

“We talk about a representative government; but what a monster of a government is that where the noblest faculties of the mind, and the whole heart, are not represented. A semi-human tiger or ox, stalking over the earth, with its heart taken out and the top of its brain shot away. Heroes have fought well on their stumps when their legs were shot off, but I never heard of any good done by such a government as that.”

“Memento mori! We don't understand that sublime sentence which some worthy got sculptured on his gravestone once. We've interpreted it in a grovelling and snivelling sense; we've wholly forgotten how to die.”

[Cynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read from Civil Disobedience and Other Essays.

This apologia is based on speech delivered several times before John Brown's death (1859).
Many of the Transcendentalists and their friends in Concord supported Brown's efforts by listening to him speak and by donating money to the cause of John Brown.
Today few people I know approve of Brown's actions in such a complete way.
However some quotes in this essay are worth recording/liking on Goodreads. You will find them below.

[Byren Burdess · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Truth is his inspirer, and earnestness the polisher of his sentences."

"The only government that I recognize—and it matters not how few are at the head of it, or how small its army — is that power that establishes justice in the land, never that which establishes injustice. What shall we think of a government to which all the truly brave and just men in the land are enemies, standing between it and those whom it oppresses?"

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever read anything about Captain John Brown, read this. Thoreau impassioned plea for the man that John Brown was and what he was giving his life for, to end slavery. John Brown, a staunch abolitionist who was more than willing to die for the cause. Thoreau wrote this about him while he was still alive. Brown was eventually hanged.

[Eeeee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Less of a plea and more of a defense of a certain set of morals that built the United States and a man thereof. A shame it seems people at the time quickly forgot what it took to start the US much less build it up to what it was by the mid 1800's.

[Jullveig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certo, tu puoi guadagnare di più con un quarto di latte che con un quarto di sangue, al tuo mercato, ma non è la che porta il proprio sangue un eroe.

[Robert Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be an interesting anf impassioned defense of the notorious (or legendary, depending on the audience) John Brown.

[LaGina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read but wasnt my kind of story.

[kate :~) · Rating 3 out of 5]

i never know how to rate essays and that sort of thing so my bad

[Skye Ralston · Rating 3 out of 5]

like… okay? 2.5

[R P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this if you love...Italian-American cooking. Read this and cry.

[G.G. Melies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pocos conocen la historia de John Brown. Si bien es historia norteamericana, su ahorcamiento fue una de las chispas que detonaron la guerra de secesión. Este Capitán del ejército cansado de los abusos hacia la comunidad de esclavos, y luego también de cansarse en liberarlos conduciéndolos hasta la frontera de Canadá, decidió una estrategia definitiva... junto a una veintena de hombres (tres de sus hijos) tomó el depósito de armas del ejército de Virginia occidental (Harpers ferry) tomó de rehén a un esclavista (creo que el nieto de Washington) con la idea de darles esas armas a los "negros" y conducirlos a una tierra virgen donde ellos puedan volver a ser libres y crear su comunidad. Claro está que las tropas del Gral. Lee lo apresaron luego de un feroz tiroteo, y lo enjuiciaron y colgaron con celeridad. Se defendió diciendo algo como "Los valores de la justicia cristiana no se mueven con tanta celeridad para los crímenes cometidos contra los esclavos"

En este escrito Thoreau (un pacifista nato) comete apología en su defensa. Dice que al menos alguien hizo algo y que no es necesario colgarlo "parece que colgar a la gente es lo único bueno que sabe hacer este país", nos muestra a un Brown que no sabe poner un acento latino (un poco bruto) pero con ideas nobles de corazón. Así marcharon las tropas del Norte cantando "El cuerpo de John Brown" Gloria, gloria aleluya....
Este escrito de este padre de los derechos civiles es una pieza de la historia que ha influenciado el movimiento abolicionista mundial.

amazon.com/author/ggmelies

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never knew that Thoreau wrote this type of book. He gives a background of John Brown and really praises him and what he did. He also critizes the press. One unusual thing I found interesting was his use of the term 'plug-uglies' which I thought originated with ganster movies but apparently it was in use long before that.

A very interesting book.

[Jessica Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, it's history

But it's scattered, speculative history. Better to read things like John Brown's speech from his trial. It's also extremely critical of the politicos and the fourth estate. From a LITERARY point of view, well...just give this one a miss.

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoreau' s martyr

This fascinating treatment of John Brown provides a clear look at abolitionist thinking in 1859. Thoreau borders on the blasphemous in his description of Brown. Still, an all together fascinating little apology.

[Tjitske · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thoreau likes commas.