John Brown was a man who lived in the mid-nineteenth century and who fought against the evil of slavery. He firmly believed that slavery was unjust, and this is true, but he thought that violence would be the best method to abolish it. That's where he went wrong. John Brown led two attacks against slave owners and those who supported slavery, the first at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas, on May 24, 1856, and the second at Harper Ferry, Virginia, on October 16, 1859. At Pottawatomie Creek, together to seven others, Brown brutally hacked five men to death with sabers. These men supported slavery but were not even slave owners. On October 16, 1859, Brown led 21 men in another raid on Harpers Ferry in an attempt to seize the U.S. arsenal and use the weapons in a revolt against slave owners, raising an army of slaves as he headed south. Brown's attacks were not in self-defense, they were heinous acts of revenge against slave owners, and therefore his attack had no justification. Violence inflicted on other people cannot be justified unless it is in defense of one's life or the defense of a group. of lives, like a city where war has been declared. In the case of John Brown, his raids were neither in self-defense nor to preserve the lives of a people. While it is a fact that many slaves were treated harshly and mistreated, there are many who were treated with kindness and respect, even if they received an education. The slaves, although oppressed, were not all in danger of losing their lives. John Brown's use of violence is nothing more than bullying and intimidation, in an attempt to persuade slave owners and their supporters to change their opinions. Some see John Brown as sel...... middle of paper ......w one Bible passage and ignoring others to justify his own actions. Works Cited King, Martin Luther Jr.; Teaching American History, Ashbrook Center, Ashland, Ohio, 2006-2012, http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-power-of-non-violence/Foner, Eric, What led abolitionists to move from pacifism to condone Violence, Africans in America, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4i2975.htmlWashington, Margaret, John Brown's Heroism, American Experience, WGBH Educational Foundation, 1996-2010, http://www.pbs .org/wgbh/amex/brown/filmmore/reference/interview/washington06.htmlStowe, Harriet Beecher, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center , 2011, https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/hbs/William Lloyd Garrison, Bio True Story, 1996 -2013, A+E Television Networks, LCC.http://www.biography.com/people/william-lloyd-garrison-9307251