acceptance
History Intertwined: America and John Brown When we examine the life of John Brown we see one filled with struggle against the oppressive system that was slavery in his era. John Brown’s fight against slavery, and ultimate demise after the raid on Harpers Ferry, can be, quite readily, related to what was happening in the country at that time. The struggle that was occurring between the northern abolitionists and the pro-slavery southerners in the antebellum era only helped push the country closer to war, with secession being the last straw. Much of John Brown’s life was filled with struggle but his actions helped fuel the fire that became the American civil war. The life of John Brown, from when he first witnessed the beating of a young slave to his final speech at his execution, follows the growth of America as a whole in that era and shows how, for a long period in American history, slavery was an accepted institution and those who fought against it were looked upon with hostility and distrust.