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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that examines Stephen B. Oates' biography of John Brown, The Purge This land with Blood (1984). In his prologue to his biography of John Brown, Oates points out that John Brown, the abolitionist who led the ill-fated raid on Harper's Ferry in order to instigate a slave insurrection, has been characterized as a "great and immortal hero" by some and as a "crazy horse thief, a murderer (and) a psychopath" by others (vii). Oates argues that modern scholars and readers will never fully understand Brown, who he was and why he acted as he did, unless his religious beliefs are taken seriously, as they are the key to understanding this complicated man. Oates does an admirable job of supporting this premise and shows that Brown was motivated almost exclusively by his strong Calvinist beliefs. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khoatjb.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
order to instigate a slave insurrection, has been characterized as a "great and immortal hero" by some and as a "crazy horse thief, a murderer (and) a psychopath" by others
(vii). Oates argues that modern scholars and readers will never fully understand Brown, who he was and why he acted as he did, unless his religious beliefs are taken seriously,
as they are the key to understanding this complicated man. Oates does an admirable job of supporting this premise and shows that Brown was motivated almost exclusively by his strong
Calvinist beliefs. Raised as a strict Calvinist, Brown saw life on earth as a trial, in which all are judged by a strict, but just God. As God was
just, but slavery was evil, Brown felt that it was imminently possible that God, "in a burst of omniscient rage, might well destroy Browns slave-owning country and sweep all Americans--Brown
and his wife and children included--into the flames of everlasting Hell" (Oates ix). As this indicates, Browns beliefs were such that he saw slavery as a personal threat to his
own and his familys safety. With this premise in mind, Oates takes the reader step-by-step through Browns life and the facts support the authors position. First of all, Brown
himself was raised by a strict, fundamentalist father who beat him often for the slightest infraction of rules or signs of religious impiety. Oates argues that Brown came to see
the "rod" as a "symbol of the pain and terror--the inevitable doom -- that awaited one who strayed from the path of righteousness" (8). Oates records numerous instances when Browns
letters and writing indicate a view of God as wrathful and punishing towards those who disobey his commandments. When his wife died, Brown wrote, "We are again smarting under the
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