Was John Brown a Terrorist?

Was John Brown a Terrorist?
I. General Info
Your paper should be double spaced and five pages long. All papers should include your name, the name of
the class, and the due date at the top left-hand corner. The title of your paper should be centered two lines below
the due date.
A digital copy of your paper (a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file) must be uploaded to Canvas.
Outside research is NOT required for this assignment.
A List of Works Cited is NOT required for this assignment.
Required Texts:
1. John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry: A Brief History with Documents
2. Give Me Liberty!
3. “John Brown: America’s First Terrorist” by Paul Finkelman
You must incorporate—by way of direct quotations and parenthetical citations—at least four primary sources
from John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry.
You must also incorporate at least one direct quotation from a primary or secondary source in each paragraph of
the essay, not including the conclusion.
NOTE ABOUT PRIMARY SOURCES: The primary sources are the short excerpts of works by Brown and
other historical actors found in Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 of John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry. The
introduction to the book is a secondary source—a historical overview and portrait of John Brown written by the
editor of the book, Jonathan Earle.

II. Was John Brown a Terrorist?
For this final paper, you will write a short paper that answers the question Was John Brown a Terrorist? To
do this, you must address the life of John Brown and the issues of slavery, abolitionism, and violence.
There are six main requirements for this assignment:
1. The essay should be coherent and well organized;
2. Provide relevant biographical information about Brown;
3. Provide relevant historical information about the abolitionist movement;
4. Explain the raid on Harpers Ferry and identify important historical events that led to Harpers Ferry;
5. Define terrorism and answer the central question of the assignment prompt;
6. Incorporate—by way of direct quotations—at least four primary sources from the John Brown
textbook;
7. Include at least one direct quotation from a primary or secondary source in each paragraph of the essay,
not including the introduction and conclusion.
Grading: An A paper will illustrate all of the above requirements. A B paper will illustrate most of the above
requirements. A C paper will illustrate some of the above requirements. A D paper will illustrate a lack of
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understanding of the topic and/or lack a majority of the above requirements. An F will be given to incomplete
and/or off-topic essays.
As we discussed in class, to answer the question Was John Brown a terrorist? you’ll also need to answer two
follow-up questions: Who was John Brown? And what is terrorism?
To answer all these questions, you’ll need to provide some historical context for Brown’s raid on Harpers
Ferry. This will require providing some basic biographical information on Brown. Do NOT write a full, twopage biography of Brown. Instead focus on those aspects of Brown’s life (e.g. his participation in “Bleeding
Kansas”) that best explain why he decided to organize the raid on Harpers Ferry. Your biographical account of
Brown should focus on contextualizing Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry and explaining why Brown came to
believe that violence was the only way to end slavery in the United States.
In other words, only include those pieces of biographical information that are most relevant to your analysis of
Brown’s actions. Ask yourself this: Does this biographical info help explain Harpers Ferry or support my
argument? If the answer is no, then remove it from your paper.
As for terrorism, don’t provide a textbook definition of terrorism. Do take the time to define the term ( here is
the FBI’s definition of terrorism: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition) but
take care to define the term in a way that helps you assess Brown’s use of violence in the name of abolitionism.
We all agree with Brown that slavery was a profoundly immoral and evil institution. We also all agree that
Brown was on the right side of history. But was Brown right to advocate violence? Keep in mind that, in 1859,
hundreds of thousands of Americans believed that slavery was just, warranted, and even necessary. How, then,
could Brown be so sure of himself and his cause—so confident in his convictions regarding the evil of
slavery—that he could condemn people to die in the name of abolitionism?
Again, rather than just focusing on strict definitions of terrorism, focus also on the underlying ethical issue at
play—the advocacy and/or use of violence in the name of a political or religious cause.
Here are some additional questions you might want to consider:
▪ How should we interpret Brown’s actions at Harpers Ferry given the highly controversial nature of the
raid in Brown’s day?
▪ Were Brown’s actions those of a clear-eyed revolutionary?
▪ Were his actions those of a visionary, prophet, or martyr?
▪ Or were they those of a crazed, if well-meaning, mad man or criminal?
▪ Does being on the right side of history justify violence?
▪ How can one know he or she is on the right side of history?
III. Organizing Your Paper
Like the previous source analysis papers, be sure to include each of the following elements of writing in your
essay:
1. Description (exposition): This is one of the most basic and important forms of writing. Before you can say
anything about anything, you must first say what it is that you intend to discuss.
▪ Be sure to properly describe each of the sources—outside sources and class readings—you discuss in
your paper.
▪ Mention the title, author, and date of each source.
▪ What is the main topic and argument of the source?
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▪ Focus only on those parts of your sources that are most relevant to your argument.
2. Context (explication): You MUST provide historical context for Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.
▪ What was going on in the US before Brown organized his raid?
▪ Did Brown commit violence in the name of abolition before his raid on Harpers Ferry?
▪ Why was slavery such a divisive issue in 1859?
▪ What happened after Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry?
3. Analysis (argument): Use your description of the source, and historical contextualization of your source, to
assess Brown’s actions and answer the central question of the prompt: Was John Brown a Terrorist?
▪ Do your sources help you answer the main question above?
▪ Have you identified the most relevant passages from your sources?
▪ Use direct quotations from your outside sources.
Remember: All three tasks—description, context, analysis—are interrelated. You cannot analyze a primary or
secondary source without providing some information about what it is and the time and place in which it was
produced. Before you can analyze, interpret, or explain your document, you will have to provide the reader with
some sort of idea about where it comes from. That is what it means to provide context. This is not a book
report. The focus of these papers should be on providing context and analyzing your primary source.
Don’t just describe the document—explain it to me.