“Capt. John Brown Not Insane”
Newspaper Article in Douglass’s Monthly | November 1859
On October 16-18, 1859, abolitionist John Brown raided Harpers Ferry, Virginia in an attempt to incite a slave revolt. Brown was unsuccessful, and he was brought to trial. Douglass supported Brown’s refusal to be called ‘insane’ on trial, criticizing onlookers for undermining his heroism. Defending Brown’s cause albeit not his actions, Douglass depicted Brown as a noble crusader against the immoral system of slavery.
One of the most painful incidents connected with the name of this old hero, is the attempt to prove him insane. Many journals have contributed to this effort from a friendly desire to shield the prisoner from Virginia’s cowardly vengeance. This is a mistaken friendship, which seeks to rob him of his true character and dim the glory of his deeds, in order to save his life. Was there the faintest hope of securing his release by this means, we would choke down our indignation and be silent. But a Virginia court would hand a crazy man without a moment’s hesitation, if his insanity took the form of hatred of oppression; and this plea only blasts the reputation of this glorious martyr of liberty, without the faintest hope of improving his chance of escape.
It is an appalling fact in the history of the American people, that they have so far forgotten their own heroic age, as readily accept the charge of insanity against a man who has imitated the heroes of Lexington, Concord, and Banker Hill. . . .
Nor is it necessary to attribute BROWN’s deeds to the spirit of vengeance invoked by the murder of his brave boys. That the barbarous cruelty from which he has suffered had its effect in intensifying his hatred of slavery, is doubtless true. But his own sentiment, that he had been contemplating a bold strike for the freedom of the slaves for ten years, proves that he had resolved upon his present course long before he, or his sons, every set foot in Kansas. His entire procedure in this matter disproves the charge that he was prompted by an impulse of mad revenge, and shows that he was moved by the highest principles of philanthropy. His carefulness of the lives of unarmed persons––his humane and courteous treatment of his prisoners––his cool self-possession all through his trial––and especially his calm, dignified speech on receiving his sentence, all conspire to show that he was neither insane or actuated by vengeful passion; and we hope that the country has heard the last of JOHN BROWN’s madness. The explanation of his conduct is perfectly natural and simple on its face. He believes the Declaration of Independence to be true, and the Bible to be a guide to human conduct, and acting upon the doctrines of both, he threw himself against the serried ranks of American oppression, and translated into heroic deeds the love of liberty and hatred of tyrants, with which he was inspired from both these forces acting upon his philanthropic and heroic soul.
Not only is it true that BROWN’s whole movement proves him perfectly sane and free from merely revengeful passion, but he struck the bottom line of the philosophy which underlies the abolition movement. He has attacked slavery with the weapons precisely adapted to bring it to the death. Moral considerations have long since been exhausted upon slaveholders. It is in vain to reason with them. One might as well hunt bears with ethics and political economy for weapons as to seek to ‘pluck the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor’ by the mere force of moral law. Slavery is a system of brute force. It shields itself behind might, rather than right. It must be met with its own weapons. Capt. BROWN has initiated a new mode of carrying on the crusade of freedom, and his blow has sent dread and terror throughout the entire ranks of the piratical army of slavery. His daring deeds may cost him his life, but priceless as is the value of that life, the blow he has struck, will, in the end, prove to be worth its mighty cost. Like SAMSON, he has laid his hands upon the pillars of this great national temple of cruelty and blood, and when he falls, that temple will speedily crumble to its final doom, burying its denizens in its ruins.
Frederick Douglass, “Capt. John Brown Not Insane,” Douglass’s Monthly (Rochester, NY), November 1859, https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=slavery&handle=hein.slavery/dougmo0001&id=151&men_tab=srchresultsn.
