Madness of John Brown
... The authors present an ample amount of evidence that proves that Brown walked on both sides of the line. The problem was that when Brown was insane, he was sanely so, and when he was sane, his sanity was so controlled by emotions, egotism, and self-righteousness, that it constituted a form of insanity within itself. If Brown had trouble adhering to either side of the line, then so did society in general, and that fact constitutes another problem because sanity is based upon the actions that a reasonable man, or men, would take in certain situations. ... Brown finally became a catalyst that showed that both sides of the divided population was similarly affected by a sort of madness. This general sense of madness blinded the eyes of many who failed to appreciate that while Brown might be mad, like Shakespeares Hamlet he employed a method in his madness. ... The capture of arsenal did not lead to a general uprising of slaves as Brown contemplated. More than that, after taking the arsenal, Brown made no offensive effort to extend the hostilities. ... Even so, should a similar situation arise, would historians consider our actions in a different light, or would they still be as divided over our actions as they are in regards to John Brown? ... In John Browns case, he clearly sent mixed signals about his true intentions, professing at first his intention to equip a slave army and provoke a general slave insurrection. ... Brown was trying to walk on both sides of the line, an impossible task under any condition. ... The underground work could be classed as a sanely defensible act, even though illegal, but the raid on the arsenal and the uprising that Brown hoped for, could only be classed as an act of insanity, somewhat like killing a sinner to prevent his sinning. Perhaps there is a touch of insanity in all trye martyrs who see in a cause something more than themselves, and this appeared to be the reasoning that Brown employed in a letter to his wife: "(my) execution would do vastly more toward advancing the cause I have earnestly endeavored to promote, than all I have done in my life before." If this is madness, then clearly there is a method within it.