John Brown

John Brown was an American abolitionist leader and used to be a businessman who failed at almost everything, and went completely insane.

Biography
John Brown was born on May 9, 1800 in Torrington, Connecticut. He had a religious family that were abolitionists who hated slavery. At a young age, his mother passed away in 1808, and he never felt an emotional bond with her. At 16, Brown left his family and came east with the design of acquiring a liberal education to be a business man. Brown married Dianthe Amos in 1820 and described her as "a remarkably plain, but neat, industrious and economical girl, of excellent character, earnest piety, and practical common sense." Brown then became a businessman for about 13 years in order to raise money. However all of his attempts failed. In 1855, Brown learned from his adult sons in Kansas that their families were completely unprepared to face attack, and that pro-slavery forces there were militant. Determined to protect his family and oppose the advances of slavery supporters, He left for Kansas, enlisting a son-in-law and making several stops just to collect funds and weapons. Brown felt that violence was necessary to end American slavery, since peaceful efforts had failed. He said repeatedly that in working to free the enslaved he was following the Golden Rule, as well as the U.S. Declaration of Independence which stated "all men are created equal". In October 1859, he decided to try to bring an end to slavery by force. He planned to seize arms from the town of Harper's ferry, free the slaves, and continue south inciting a major slave uprising. However unlike his previous plans while he was a businessman, it failed when Robert E. Lee and the US Marines surrounded Brown. Brown was arrested and a couple of months later, he was found guilty and was executed.

Appearances

 * The American Civil War (Part 1)