Was John Brown Crazy?: John Brown's Special Madness

» sanjuan - John Brown's Special Madness

You must be sick of dealing with this topic by now but I would like to consider the issue of John Brown's madness in the context of his times. If memory serves, the mid-nineteenth century was extraordinarily rich in terms of visionary experiences, particularly in frontier areas where religion, in general, took on a distinctively native tone. Two home born religion--Mormonism and Christian Science--came our of this era, each claiming its own foundation in visions and visitations by heavenly beings. It would not have been at all out of character for his times, if John Brown believed he had seen a vision and had acted directly on it.

It also would not have been out of character with his times if he had believed himself called to a special work: a martyrdom even if his religious sensibilities had been sufficiently aroused. An intense opposition to slavery, fueled by several experiences with pro-and anti-slavery terrorism, would certainly have "pricked him on."

In biblical terms, his vision may have been as though he were "looking through a glass darkly." He could not have known the end from the beginning except to the extent that that end had been illuminated by his own contemplation of himself, the situation of slaves, the role of national institutions, and the strategic position of the forces of good and evil that worked on him and his fellow countrymen.

Yes, it seems, he was hoping for a mass insurrection of slaves. Yes, he may have thought that the taking of Harper's Ferry would have created the catalyst for and means to support that uprising. I can relate to such feelings as a child of the Cold War. I can remember when a doctrine was bandied about that all we had to do was give the Russian people the means and they would rise en masse against their Communist overlords. Wasn't that the idea behind "Radio Free Europe?" Isn't that one framework in which to evaluate the situation in Iraq?

That he proved mistaken is not proof of madness in John Brown. It is probably proof that he staked everything on a religious conception that is so alien to our highly secularized society that we can only see it in terms of insanity.

In the Old Testament there is an incident when a prophet (Elisha, I believe) is questioned by a young man who fears the army of Israel is about to be overrun by a huge enemy host. Elisha opens the young man's eyes to a spiritual realm where a vast army of angels is arrayed in support of Israel's forces. Elisha says something like: "Be not afraid for we are more than they."

John Brown would have been steeped in that tradition together with a fundamental American belief (even during Revolutionary War days) that God was on the side of right and that with His help, right would prevail. His last remarks, as you quote them, are evidence of the outcome of rather intense introspection in which John Brown realized that his "pre-judgement" of how God would accomplish His ends with regard to ending slavery was wrong. He was, however, no less certain about the cause for which he had martyred himself.

Faith, according to the religion of John Brown, was a belief in things not seen. Isn't that a special form of madness in which believers of every stripe ultimately participate?

-- posted by sanjuan