The Execution of John Brown - Essay Example

? The Execution of John Brown The abolitionist John Brown was considered by the North as a Champion of the abolishment of slavery, but to the South, he was a criminal accused of treason, murder and fomenting insurrection. After being arrested by General Robert E. Lee of the South, Brown was tried in court and sentenced to death. John Brown’s “Last Statement to the Court” was written in 1859 right after his last trial and after he was sentenced to death. Practically, the “Last Statement” was authored by John Brown himself and spoke of his convictions as a man and as a dedicated abolitionist. On the other hand, the statement of David Hunter Strother on the account of Brown’s execution described in full detail the final moments of John Brown before he was executed. The intended audience are the same – both Southerners and Northerners. The two documents have many parallelisms regarding John Brown’s character and beliefs, but they have a few noteworthy differences. The “Last Statement” and Strother’s Statement actually had parallelisms. Brown’s “Last Statement” is the final statement of Brown spoken after he was sentenced to death by the South. Whether it was Brown himself who wrote the speech or someone who simply noted down what he spoke, the speech seems to say one thing: the South has been wrong in its stance for slavery and the North, including Brown himself, is vindicated in their cause. The speech was wholly a denial of the charges and a testament that explained the basis of the abolition. One of the main points that Brown emphasized in his speech is a denial of the accusations previously hurled against him, and he did this with pride. He said, “I deny everything but what I have all along admitted of a design on my part to free slaves” (Author 148). For Brown, therefore, storming the armory at Harper’s Ferry was not at all a sign of rebellion but rather merely an act to free the slaves. Thus, for him, “It is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty” (149), and “I feel no consciousness of guilt” (150). The pride in which Brown proclaimed such denials somehow paralleled the “grim and grisly smirk” on his face during the execution (300) as well as the display of “bravado” and “alacrity” that he afforded his presence on the same day (300). It is actually Brown’s pride that is being shown here, although Strother’s account somehow suggests that Brown died with so much display of haughtiness – as using the words “grim and grisly smirk,” “bravado,” and “alacrity” (300). Strother must have been a sympathizer of the South for him to write the execution account like this, especially as he described Brown as “notorious” (299). However, towards the second half of Strother’s report, somehow he changes his sentiments to that in favor of Brown. He describes him as rather waiting for his death “quietly and civilly” and “without impatience” for such choice of words – “quietly” and “civilly” – somehow shows that indeed, for Strother, Brown died with dignity and honor (301). In fact, when someone seated beside Strother told him that Brown was already starting to break down –“He trembles, his knees are shaking” – Strother rather dismissed it as false (301). For Strother, it is the scaffold that shakes and not Brown’s knees, thus making the other person feel that he was wrong and that Brown here was not the cowardly guilty criminal that the man thought he was but rather a man who is ready to face death and brave enough in accepting his fate (301). What happened then to the original sentiments of Strother at the first half of the article? Perhaps, the hatred in Strother was replaced by admiration for the unflinching manner by which Brown faced his execution. The “Last Statement” actually contained more information about Brown than Strother’s account of the former’s execution. While Strother only described a man of dignity and honor standing at the scaffold, Brown’s “Last Statement” contained the religious basis of Brown’s fight against slavery, and thus contained his heart – which is something that neither Strother nor the crowd of Southerners during the execution could clearly see. Brown emphasized three subtle points. First, according to him, the reason why he got involved in the anti-slavery campaign was simple: the Bible taught him “that all things whatsoever I would that men should do to me, I should do even so to them,” and translating it in the context of the society where he moved, Brown believed that the “rights [of the slaves] are disregarded” (150). Second, he implied that the court was unjust for he pointed out that the court was using a Bible when in fact the court did not realize that what prompted Brown to be an abolitionist was also explicitly and clearly stated in the Bible. Third and lastly, Brown pointed out that some of his former companions have falsely accused him of forcing them to join – a thing which he vehemently denied and which he used as a basis for calling them weak (150). From these three points that Brown raised, the argument that he was actually trying to make in front of the court is that the court itself was ridiculous and not him. The ridiculousness of the court shows in the hypocritical use of the Bible and the false accusation and lies against an innocent man. Brown therefore had no faith in the court that tried and sentenced him to death. If we are to see in Strother’s report some traces of Brown’s lack of faith in the justice system, then it must have been in the instances when Brown gave that “grim and grisly smirk” and showed such “bravado” and “alacrity” (300). Such unusual display of confidence in him must therefore have been a sign of a distrust against the justice system and was perhaps his last sign of rebellious nature. Even his words “You will have to guide me there” (300) and “No, I don’t care: I don’t want you to keep me waiting unnecessarily,” as well as the fact that he refused to drop a handkerchief as signal, are actually statements and acts of sarcasm (301). Brown therefore belittles the execution procedures as he belittles the justice system. Thus, his honor was only his and that can never belong to such a justice system as this one which is about to unjustly remove the life out of him. John Brown’s “Last Statement” and David Hunter Strother’s report on the execution of Brown both show a consistent man who was tried in the Southern court and who believed that he was unjustly sentenced to death by a court that did not believe in the Bible upon which it was founded, and by a group of traitors who false accused him. This lack of faith in the courtroom as attested by his speech was the same lack of faith in the scaffold that Strother noticed and one which probably moved him to change his sentiments. Top of Form Bottom of Form Works Cited Brown, John. “John Brown, Last Statement to the Court (1859).” Reassessing the Presidency. New York: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print. Brown, John. “John Brown’s Body Dangles from a Rope (1859).” Reassessing the Presidency. New York: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print. Read More