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Who Did What Now With Katie Charlwood
150. John Brown - Part I: American Abolitionist
01:23:59
BONUS - 4th JULY SPECIAL
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- [00:10]
Kristen Bell
Thanks for selling your car to Carvana. Here's your check. Whoa. When did I get here? What do you mean? I swear it was just moments ago that I accepted a great offer from Carvana online.
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John Brown
I must have time traveled to the future.
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Kristen Bell
It was just moments ago. We do same day pickup. Here's your check for that great offer. It is the future. It's. It's the present. And just the convenience of Carvana. Sorry to blow your mind. It's all good. Happens all the time. Sell your car the convenient way to Carvana. Pickup times may vary and fees may apply.
- [00:40]
John Brown
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- [01:31]
Kristen Bell
Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.
- [01:43]
James Richardson
Hello everyone. I'm James Richardson and I host the Totally Football show four times a week. If you're not familiar with it, perhaps you'd care to give it a listen in the season ahead because we cover all the big stuff. Premier League, Champions League, in depth, European League coverage, Football League and more. We've got insights and analysis from the best reporters in the industry and we got quizzes and nostalgia too. Plus, we're going to be bigger and broader than ever for the season ahead. So check out the Totally Football show wherever you get your podcast. The rest is not as good as the Totally Football Show.
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Kristen Bell
Unbelievable. This ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com hello, delicious friends, and welcome to a very special bonus 4th of July episode of who did what now, the history podcast. That's not your history class with me, your host, Katy Charlewood, history harlot and reader of books. It is that time of year again where the United States of America celebrates its independence from the British Empire. Something that many other countries have done. And it has an official day of celebration, like many other countries have done, because the British Empire, it had quite a big reach. Empires, as a general rule, tend to, you know, they tend to spread out. And so every year, the United States of America celebrate this with like fireworks and hot dogs, if the movies have anything to tell me. And everyone wears red, white and blue, which coincidentally is also the colours of the British flag and the French. But I'm just saying that there's only so many colours. There's only so many colours. And, you know, dye wasn't cheap back in the day. I'm just saying. Anyway, I thought, what better way to celebrate. Thank you. You know, the 4th of July with my amazing American friends, followers and foes, then to talk about the first man to be executed for treason in the United States. What can I say? It just seemed like a very, very interesting piece of American history. And, like, I had no idea who John Brown was. Like, I mean, I had a very vague notion, like, I had a consideration of who John Brown was. I was like, oh, he's that guy who got executed for treason. Right? That was it. That was my entire wealth of knowledge on John Brown. And I was informed about him when I was in la, Los Angeles. And I don't know if it was like, I know I was in a car and I don't know if it was when I was being picked up from the airport or when I was traveling to my show, my live show. It was one of those two times. I'm fairly certain. I'm fairly certain. Yeah. And so. And so the moment I heard about this, I was like, this is amazing. I need to have this as my fourth of July special. I was like, this is it. My teeth were sinking into it. I was like, I need. And so I have been listening to podcasts and reading journals and old timey newspapers because I've got my subscriptions and documents and books and. Yeah, yeah, the wonderful thing about being a member of my local library is, like, I got access to stuff, but yeah, I've spent. I spent a lot of time researching this just to make sure that everything I was saying was correct. Because this man, I'm so impressed, and I'm really impressed by men. You all know this. But anywho, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, katie, quit your jibber jabber and fact me and fact you, I will. But first we've got to get our source on. Our sources are John Brown by W.E.B. dubois Fire from the Midst of you. A Religious Life of John Brown by Lewis A. DeCaro Jr. John Brown A Cry for Freedom by Lawrence B. Graham. John Brown, Pennsylvania Citizen by Ernest Mil. The Life and Letters of John Brown, Liberator of Kansas and Martyr of Virginia, by Franklin Benjamin Sanborn. John Brown, Abolitionist by David S. Reynolds. John Brown, 1800-1859 by Oswald Garrison Villard. What John Brown did in Kansas by Andrew Johnson. Originally published in the Congressional the Official Proceedings of Congress. The Secret 6. John Brown and the Abolitionist Movement by Otto Scott. Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion by Jeneas P. Rodriguez. I also have articles here from the Virginia newspaper, the Staunton Spectator from 1859. We also have our old favourites, biography.com, smithsonian.com and history.com. are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then let's begin. John Brown was born on the 9th of May, 1800, Torrington, Connecticut. He was the fourth child of Owen Brown, a tanner, and Ruth Mills, a teacher. Now, they were not the richest couple in the world, like they were surviving, but they started off fairly low economically. Fairly low economically is the best way to put it. And so he's like the fourth of eight children. And their family history, like they are, their family history can literally be traced back to the Mayflower. Like John Brown's, like, ancestors, like his patrilineal ancestors came across on the Mayflower. Not like everybody who says their family's been here for generations. We came over here on the Mayflower. Well, how big was this boat, pal? Because there seems to be a good chunk here who say that your relatives came over on the Mayflower. Yeah. Oh, did your ancestor do that? Pfft. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he was descended from them. They're Pilgrims. And so Ruth, she's a teacher. Yeah, I already said that. And his dad, Owen, is a tanner. And that is someone who tans not like their skin, but the skin of others. Not others. Jeez. That would be animals. Okay, so, you know when you take the hide off of like, a cow or whatever, well, you can tan that. And that's what makes it into leather. So. Yay. It's the process of, you know, I'm gonna say, like, weatherproofing the skin because making it strong and sturdy and wearable. So that's what he does. They are a religious family, as one can tell by the amount of children. They have no condoms for them. Although couldn't he just, like, tan one? I feel like he would possess the skill to make a yieldy time condom when you think that they've existed since, what the I want to say at least the 17, at least the 1600s because of King Charles anyhow. So yes, they have a bunch of kids, they are religious, they are strict Calvinists. Now Calvinists are just one of the variations of Protestant. That sounded very dismissive, but they're just like, you know how the schism happened in. So you had like orthodox Christians and then you had Catholics and that was like the first like break. And then the Catholics they split into like Protestant and Catholic and then the Protestants have like, how do I put this? Lutheran, Calvinist. There's so many more. Why can't I think of them? Why can't I think of them? Where are they? Oh, Presbyterian. The Presbyterians are really depressing Christians though because they can suck a color right out of a rainbow. And you've got Baptists. Haha, hahaha. There's more like I used to be able to rhyme these off by heart. So they all kind of split into all these little splinter groups of Jesus loving and they all kind of vary off. And then you get things like Jesuits and the Mormons, the Church of Latter Day Saints and then the cults happen which are all kind of related. So they just, it just kind of gets spread out like a planogram that went too far. But anyway, that is the case. They're Calvinists and they're very religious and they're also abolitionists so they believe that everyone is created equal. Okay. And they're like, hey, maybe it's not cool to own another person. Yeah, it's like, it's just like a vibe they have. They're like, we shouldn't own other people because treating people like property seems like it's in violation to the good word of our Lord God. Like you know, you know, I love the fact that like I'm like, yes, yes. Remember those years you spent in Sunday school, Katie? Yes. They're finally useful. Let me tell you about Jesus, friends. What do you know about Jesus? He's like, hey, don't be dicks to one another, right? Don't be rich because it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven. Which is one of the reasons why is it Marx, he called religion the opiate of the poor. So yeah, they're very, they're very forward thinking for the era. And this is why I always get mad when people go, it was a different time when they try and like have a bigoted opinion about something. Like their argument is bullsht. Because in order for it to be like, oh, it was a different time. Everyone was racist. No, they fcking weren't. Here's my proof. Your proof is in your pudding. Yeah, and the pudding is Mr. Brown. Okay? That's it. Like, that's how it is. And they're just, they're very, very progressive for the time being. And so as John is growing up, like it is instilled in him this opinion that everybody's equal, right? Everybody deserve the same chances. And to hold people in bondage was a sin against God. And so John grows up with this just deep rooted opinion and this understanding that you can't own another person and that people deserve freedom and basic rights and due process. So like, there's this story that when John Brown was younger, he saw this like Southern clergyman of some kind, a reverend, a minister, whatever, he was trying to reclaim freed slaves in Connecticut. And him trying to do that just really pissed like little John Brown off. And he was like, yeah, no, no, I'm not feeling that. I'm gonna, I'm gonna say something about this, which is interesting because people like to think that they're gonna stand up and do, do the right thing when the time, you know, a time occurs. But a lot of the time people are compliant and they'll silence like they don't want to rock the boat. They don't want to put themselves out there. And there are so many reasons for not putting yourself out there. I'm not saying that everybody has to go out and make a scene, but I think everybody has to make a stand in some way. Like you have to know where your moral line is. I say that as if, you know, bad people know they're the villains. Nobody thinks they're the villain in the story. Everyone thinks that they are righteous and whatever they're doing is right for them. Like, you can twist things in your brain to convince yourself, but like, everybody thinks they're doing the right thing, which is really hard when you're trying to teach people basic empathy. But yeah, a lot of people were silent in their compliance and they're like, oh, he's trying to reclaim his slaves. I mean, that's a thing he's doing. I'm not gonna get in the way. I'm not gonna put myself in, in the line of fire here, which is like, no, he can't just say he owns these people because he wants them. Like, so anyway, about this incident, John says that since he was raised an abolitionist, he's gonna die an abolitionist. Which is like such, such strong words. And Opinions from someone so young. But, like, when he's 5, the family moved to the frontier, like, out on the range, which is like Hudson, Ohio, I think at this point, that's where they're at, and it's still part of the range, and so they move there. And here Owen Brown sets up a tannery, a successful tannery at that. Ed does well. He's doing well. And so the family are there in this area on the frontier, Hudson, Ohio. And surrounding them in the area are dun dun dun people indigenous to the land. That's right. Native Americans were living on native American land, and the browns are living there. And they get on well with the native Americans because they show each other respect because, you know, that's what God says to do. You're supposed to respect your fellow man. And so they're like, yeah, just pretty chill with one another. And Owen, even though the family, they're, you know, they're very religious. They're like super religious, but. But religious in the way that, you know, you have to be peace and kindness to all on earth as opposed to, you know, let me force my religion and its rules down your throat and upon your people to whom it has no bearing or meaning, you know? You know, and so they do that, and they live in harmony for quite a while. And John, he's lived there from the age of five, and so he's raised in this community with these native Americans. And John, he spends time with herdsmen, and he called them indians. So he spent his time there. And they teach him how to, like, shoot and ride and to herd cattle. And Owen, they're doing sort of like a bartering system. So you'd exchange bread and meal for, like, turkey, fish and venison, which is deer meat, for those of you who don't know. So they're just like, trading with one another. And so we. John, from the age of five, he's raised amongst native Americans. He's being taught how to dress skins and shoot and herd cattle alone, like, alone. And, like, they end up calling him, like, buckskins. So he's like. Like just one of them. It just shows that he's welcomed into their community. And so he's raised with this care and affection for these people because he. He knew them as his friends, as his neighbors, as his community. And so meanwhile, he's having this very, like, strict religious, like, upbringing. And so John, he's having a really decent upbringing, especially for the era, and things are going great. Well, comparatively, they're going great for him until he's 8 years old, because this is history and so bad things happen. And so when he's 8, his mother dies in childbirth, which was I think, the most common cause of death for women throughout history. Or I think the other cause is men. So one of those two are the top causes of death of women throughout history. Men and childbirth. And with the death of his wife, Owen was now a man in the 1800s, left with six children to care for and raise. So a year later, he gets remarried to a 21 year old with whom he would have eight more children. That is 14 children. That is like, I'm sorry, at least 10 children. Too many. That's a lot of kids. That's too many kids. But, yeah, they just kept, just kept popping them out. Now, John, he never really got on with his stepmother. Like, she wasn't like cruel to him. There wasn't like a big bad situation, but they just didn't gel. And so he spent as much of his time outdoors as possible. So, you know, he's herding, he's shooting, he's dressing skins, he's learning to tan said skins. And he spends a lot of time, like in the forest contemplating. He even has, I think, a pet squirrel at one point. And yeah, he's, he's running about in buckskin furs. I had to Google what buckskin furs wore because I've never held this before. Like, I've heard of it, but I, I, in my head, I'm just like, cowboy. Like, my brain just goes, cowboy wears buckskin furs. Which a buck is. It's like a young deer, right? Innit? Isn't it? Hang on, hang on. Yep. No, it's exactly what I thought it was. It's exactly what I thought it was. Lewis and Clark. Like Lewis and Clark. That's, that's the image I have in my head. That's the one. The, the, the fringe and the leather and the furry little hats. That's, that's what he's wearing. And he's herding cattle for what, a hundred miles? Like at the age of 12? Like, he does that at the age of 12. And him and his pet squirrel, I don't know, was the squirrel herding the cattle with him? That is a good cartoon. I'm just saying, you're welcome. Whoever makes that idea, you're welcome. Just like the squirrel herding cattle. Can you imagine, though? That'd be a good one. That would be a good one because you've got like the young fella dressed like Lewis and Clark trying to herd cattle and they come across, you know, mischief and various dangers that all end up with a moral story in the end. And they all grow as characters and the real herding with the friends they made along the way. But, like, he really is, like, really. I don't want to say really good friends with a squirrel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was really good friends with a squirrel. He had a squirrel as a pet. He had a squirrel as a pet. And when it died, as animals want to do, he mourned for, I shit you not, two years over, his pet squirrel. Now, I'm not here to come between a person and their furry friend, but two years does seem a bit excessive. But anyway. Oh, my God. I completely forgot to mention his grandparents, like, his maternal and paternal grandfathers. Like, they were both involved in the War of Independence. Like, his maternal grandfather, he was, like, a general in the Revolutionary Army. And then the other one also did stuff. But, like, yeah, yeah, they were all, like, super involved in it. Just. They were, like, super into freedom. Just forgot to mention that. But anyway, back to the boy with the dead squirrel. So war happens again, because in 1812, America went to war with England. And so the Brown family, they contracted with the military, and so they provided, you know, horses, cattle, and, like, other provision. And so Owen Brown, he's, like, really active during this time, and he's sort of up and about getting stuff together for the military. And John is like, I don't like this. He's not keen on the army and what the Army's doing. He's just not feeling it. Because the military men, they're. They're not the most polite of people. And what is it he. He doesn't like military affairs. He did not like, and I'm gonna quote him, the profanity, disobedience, and muteness talk of the soldiers. Like, he just. He's just like, what are they doing? Like, where are their prayers? Okay. Why are they talking about mutiny? He's like, nuh. And so he's not really into war or armies and such. And for a while, he's just like, okay. And remember, he's what, still young? Because he's 12? Because it's 1812 and he was born in the 1800s. The math for this is nice and easy. I like when someone is born in a nice zero year, and it makes my life easier. And so while all this stuff's happening, his dad's, like, moving around doing this. He needs to be somewhere. And he doesn't like his stepmom, so. Hmm. So he ends up Staying with a United States Marshal. Like, his dad just put some there. And so he's there with the marshal. And so while under the care of this U.S. marshal, John is treated fairly well. He is clothed, fed. He is, you know, having a fairly regular time of it. Like, in my head, like, considering the religion, the era, and, you know, the. The sort of society of the time, corporal punishment was very much of the norm. So I wouldn't be surprised if John Brown had a lashing or two. Which brings me to John Brown's friend. So he befriended a child who was round about his age, who he met at the U.S. marshal's house because the marshal owned him. This was a slave boy that he befriended because this is John Brown. He was raised amongst Native Americans. He was raised to believe that all men were created equal, you know, and that this was just how it was. You know, you were supposed to care for one another, like that's the golden rule of God. And he noticed the disparity fairly quickly. He saw that this black boy was, you know, insufficiently fed, dressed, and that he didn't really have anywhere decent to sleep when it was cold, when the bad weather came, and when it came to beatings and, like, we can, you know, fairly reasonably assume that John was on the receiving end of a cane once in a while. But this enslaved child, he was beaten with iron shovels. Like anything is a weapon. If you think hard enough, with, you know, enough determination, anything's a weapon. He saw the way his friend was beaten and mistreated and treated as subhuman, and it fucking disgusted him. He hated it. He was horrified by what he was seeing, and this led him to declare an eternal war on slavery. Hi, I'm Kristen Bell, and if you know my husband Dax, then you also know he loves shopping for a car. Selling a car, not so much. We're really doing this, huh? Thankfully, Carvana makes it easy. Answer a few questions, put in your van or license, and done. We sold ours in minutes this morning, and they'll come pick it up and pay us this afternoon. Bye bye, truckee. Of course, we kept the favorite. Hello, other Truckee. Sell your car with Carvana today. Terms and conditions apply.
- [28:37]
John Brown
Say hello to Samantha.
- [28:38]
Kristen Bell
Hi there.
- [28:39]
John Brown
Samantha built a SaaS platform that helps small businesses manage their workflow. But she needed a smarter way to reach decision makers.
- [28:46]
Kristen Bell
That's where Acast came in. They helped me produce a professional audio ad which played to business owners and ops leads using their audience attributes targeting tools. Suddenly, my platform was showing up in the ears of the Exact people I needed to reach.
- [28:59]
John Brown
Now, that's streamlined marketing. Samantha, what's your tip for scaling smart?
- [29:02]
Kristen Bell
Solve a real problem, and make sure the right people hear about it.
- [29:06]
John Brown
Promote your business with podcast ads on Acast. Get started@go.acast.com advertise.
- [29:22]
Kristen Bell
In 1816, John Brown is studying at a school in Massachusetts that's known for, like, channing out missionaries, preachers, all that jazz. He's studying under a reverend because, like, sort of primary elementary school, there wasn't really anything like, for them after that. And so this is one of the choices. So he's very much thinking of becoming a preacher because he's, like, very religious. He's, you know, he has this deep instilled, like, religious morality, which is, like, probably closer to what morality should be as opposed to things today. And so he ends up going to Connecticut, where his, like, cousin's from, and he goes to the Morris Academy. And he's like, he's, you know, gonna go on. He's gonna become a missionary, he's gonna become a preacher. He's gonna devote his life to religion. And so he goes this place. He's at the Morris Academy. He's gonna. He's gonna do it, right? He's gonna do it. And so he's studying under Jeremiah Hallock in Connecticut, and then he ends up going to Plainfield in Massachusetts to Moses Hallock, and he's getting ready for college, and he's supposed to go on to Amherst College and become like a proper big preacher man. But then he gets an eye issue. So he gets, like, an eye infection, and it's like a chronic eye infection. So he's supposed to go and do this. But this eye infection is so bad, like, it's such a problem that he simply cannot continue to study. And so he ends up going back home to Hudson, Ohio, where he teaches himself how to survey from a book. So he just learns to be a surveyor because, you know, that's a thing that needs done. People need to survey the land. Like, cartography, you know, was not what it is today. Like, there's no ordinance surveys going on, you know, not yet anyway. And you need to figure out, like, what's out there. And so this is a very decent sort of position to have. And you could remember as well he's also trained in, you know, tanning. He can tan hides. So he's got these skills, okay, so he can survey, you know, he can herd sheep and cattle. He can tan the hide of sheep and cattle. He can befriend a Squirrel. And he grows to be a very. I don't want to say domineering, because domineering is wrong, but he grows up to be sort of a dominate, dominating figure because he's, like, over six feet tall. Like, he is a tall man. He's tall. He's fairly strong because, you know, it's the 1800s, and one has to be to do the stuff he's doing. But he is a fine specimen of a man. Or so does Diantha Lusk. Diantha. I'm gonna call her Diantha. That just seems correct. So he marries at the age of 20, Diantha Lusk, and she's the daughter of his housekeeper. So, I mean, maybe it was just like, hey, have you considered getting married to him? Have you seen Diantha? Like, maybe it's just Diane. Dianth. I like Diantha. It just sounds like more fun. It's like, you need a wife. Here's one. So, yeah, and like, she is. She is described thusly, remarkably plain, but near industrious and an economical girl. Like, yeah, she's industrious, economical. Well, she's doing something right. Because the two of them, they have. Over the course of 11 years, they have seven children. Now, John Brown, being raised as he was, the. The religious zealism, it's in there. It's definitely in there. Because he believed corporal punishment. Yeah, it's a thing. It's a deep rooted issue. And so initially he thought that his children's disobedience, like, the way that they were acting out or talking back or anything like that, anything they rude or mischievous, any of that, like, that was a direct result of his own sins. Like, he had sinned, and therefore his kids are dicks. Like, that was the. The opinion he had. And so he would. He would cane the children. Like, they'd get the rod. And he would do this for years. Like, at one point, even like his oldest son, like, he has a book which is effectively balances and checks of, like, here are the good things you did. Here are the bad things you did. Like, here are, you know, every wrong thing you did, and here is the punishment you shall receive because of it. And so at one point, he shows his son the book, and he's like, look at the sinning. You gotta get, you know, the rod. And so they do that. And he goes, oh, it's not quite balancing out. You've got more debit than credit. And then he makes the son, like. Like, whip him too. Like, give him lashes. Like, yeah, that's this is the time before therapy existed, so I'm not saying anything there. Over the years, though, John Brown realized that corporal punishment was not the way forward and that there were more appropriate punishments for the children that did not involve whipping them, which is good. Like, we love to see growth. You know, we love to see someone realize that their behaviors or actions were harmful and that they need to change those behaviors and be more positive in their actions. So yay. Yay for learning. And he's a pretty decent dad, too. Beatings aside. That's a sentence I never thought I'd have to say. Who am I kidding? This is history. This is definitely a sentence I thought I'd have to say. So, like, at one point, though, like, his kids are sick. Like, scarlet fever is making the rounds. And so he's staying up, like, all night with the children. He's, like, stocking the fire because it's the only way to, like, keep the house warm. So he's making sure that, you know, his children are okay throughout the night. Like, he's. He's, you know, doing more than a lot of modern fathers do. It's like, will you get up and feed the baby? Nope. What the fuck, man? This guy's doing, like, tanning and shepherding and child saving. Like, like, if he can do this in the 1800s, you can give a baby a bottle. Now. I'm just saying. Meanwhile, back to the Browns. There is a shortage of ministers in Ohio. Like, there is a complete lack of ministers. And so Owen Brown, John Brown's father, helped set up the Western Reserve College and Preparatory School in Hudson. Now, at one point, Ireland had just a surplus of priests. They were everywhere, always trying to preach God and opening your cupboards and, like, a priest would fall out. There's just so many, right, Sweeping down the street. Fucking priests fall out of the bed. Just priests everywhere. And so we had to send them away, but clearly we didn't send them to Hudson, Ohio. So anyway, David Hudson, who was the founder of. Of the school, was a staunch abolitionist. And. And this school became a major stop on the Underground Railroad. And so not only that, not only that, but Owen Brown would then open up his house for formerly enslaved or the enslaved people, just. Anyway, those who were escaping the South. And so it became part of the Underground Railroad. And Hudson became so well known that they actually put a sign up outside the city saying, like, you know, this is the road to Hudson. Like, this is it. And so John decides that he's going to also be involved in the underground railroad. Now in 1825, he ends up in Randolph, Pennsylvania. Now he is appointed postmaster by President Andrew Jackson, who I don't know. Is he the most racist of president? I'm not sure which president was the most racist, but I feel like Andrew Jackson was definitely in the top three. So anyway, he is appointed postmaster, so he's in charge of the post office. And so John Brown moves to Pennsylvania. He's in Randolph. He clears 25 acres of land and then builds a tannery, a two story tannery with like sunken vats. And it's got like a barn and he's got a cabin. So like the barn itself, it was well ventilated. It had a trapdoor that was so well hidden that, you know, you could be standing on top of it and not see it. Like it was very well hidden, like in this barn in a secret room. So it had like a secret room in there as well. And so fugitives like this would become a stop for them on the railroad. See John Brown, what he would do is he would help transport what were then known as runaway slaves. So he would hike them in the wagon that he would use to move mail, like in stuff for his tannery and his survey equipment. We'll get to that in a wee second. And for 10 years it was an important stop on the railroad. And John Brown, he is like the pillar of the community. Like he's so important, he's out surveying land, he's getting schoolhouses built, he's bringing in like ministers and preachers and he's just really like really building the community of this town. Right? So he's, he's got businesses going on, he's bringing people in, he's like giving out books, like to people. He's like, read things, it's gonna be great. And he's really like the moral backbone of this town because he, he would sort of question new settlers, like white settlers, when they were coming. He was like, you know, support the Sabbath. Are you like godly people? You know, are you opposed to slavery? You know, all of those things. He's like, okay, cool, you're good, you can come stay in our town. And he is so well thought of in the community that, that if you were speaking well of someone, if you were like really wanted to praise them, you would say he was as entertaining as and honest is John Brown. And of course this is history, so things are going to get worse before they get better, if they do get better. And in 1832, John's wife Diane dies at the age of 30, giving birth to their seventh child. Now, there are sort of rumors, sort of a swirl about what she was like. Like, there are suggestions that she had some form of mental illness and that some of the children showed similar signs of that mental illness and that she had a deposition to insanity as she got older. But anyway, one year later, him and his dad have similar, similar patterns here. So one year later, John Brown, with six children to his name, marries 16 year old Mary Ann Day. He's 33, the same age Jesus was allegedly when he was put up upon the cross. So, yeah, Mary Ann Day was only four years older than John's oldest son, John junior. And remember how Diantha was, like, industrious and economical? Well, Marianne, catch her if you can. Marianne. She's her own biggest fan. Marianne. She was a large, silent girl. No, I'm gonna do the voice. A large, silent girl of rugged physical health and even greater rugged ruggedness in nature. I'm sorry, Ruggedness in nature. What, has she also got her buckskins on and out chatting to squirrels? I mean, she's only 16. She might have been. So. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, as John ages, one would expect as one gets older, allegedly, that you become more conservative. He just ends up digging his heels in and becoming, like, more of an abolitionist somehow. Now, John, he was initially a supporter of the Whigs. So the Whig party, W H I g, not to be confused with Whigs and the conservatives, the radical superlatives, the liberals and Tories and all the Ballycrew police and the Auxiliary, the Garrison Artillery, the second Inner Skillens and the lifeguards too. Not them. See, there was a slave owner called Henry Clay, and John Brown absolutely despised the man. And so when he took in this, like, larger part, this larger role in the Whig party, John Brown was like, no, I'm not involved in this. And he hated Democratic Republican slaveholder Andrew Jackson. Definitely one of the top three racist presidents, if not the most racist. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know that new ones maybe. So after this, he opposed, like, politics and just straight up stopped voting in the presidential elections altogether. And that's like, after the 1830s. And he's just like, protesting it. He's like, I'm not voting. Which is not. Not what you do. Not voting is not a good idea. You have to vote carefully. You have to slide it. You have to vote carefully and logically in order to ensure that the opposition does not win. Like, that's it. It's just maths. And so for, like, the 10 or so years that he's in Randolph, like, has. Has. Barnett is like a major stop on the railroad. And it is estimated that he had saved about two and a half thousand enslaved people. And so he's just. He's just a good dude, you know what I mean? He's trying to do what's right. And so he ends up hiring this couple, a black couple. It's relevant to, you know, you know, work around the house, help him with his business, you know, jobs, as we call them. And so he invites them to church, you know, to come to Sunday service with him and his family. And so he gets to church and they. They show up and then they are seated, like, at the back of the church. Like, near the door is like, way at the back. And John Brown's like, that's a bit odd. And so the very next Sunday, he invites them to sit in his pew with him. And so the entire congregation is so aghast that this black couple are sitting in the pews in the church, in the house of God, that they're just upset and enraged and shocked, and they're being really shitty about it. Even the minister is angry. The man of God himself, right, he's pissed off. And two of John's sons are, like, so aware of what's happening, and they're so pissed off at everyone around them being such arseholes that they just get up, leave the church and never join another church again. They're like, eh, sorry, it's religion for all or religion for none. Get lost. And off they go. And so the entire Brown family gets a letter from the church saying they are expelled. They're expelled from the church. And it's like, oh, are we now? Are we now because we brought black people to your church? Is that what it is? All right. They are holy man. And, like, it's at this point where the whole concept of organized religion just doesn't sit right with John Brown anymore, which is how he becomes an evangelical Christian. Which get a bad rap nowadays because, for fair reason. But, like, when I was initially told the story of John Brown and how he was an evangelical Christian, my friend had said, like, he is the only good evangelical Christian. And I was like, hey, how dare you, Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn was an evangelical question, right? So one of the core things about evangelicalism, like, at least initially, is that it's internal. Like, you are supposed to pray to God and believe God and do all that stuff in your own way. Like, you're supposed to do it. Like, for you not to showboat Right. Anyway, two. Two good evangelicals. Find me a third. She says to the Internet. So we got John Brown, and we've got Amberlynn. Fight me. Meanwhile, John Brown is approached by white people, and they're like, hey, there's Native Americans in this area in which they are Native, too, and we just don't want them here. Can you help us? And he's like. And I may be paraphrasing here, but he says, eat glass. No. Yeah, but I see basically a bunch of white families come up to him, and they're like, get rid of this, you know, Indian problem. And John, what he actually says is, I would sooner take my gun and help you drive you out of the country. Which is fair. Fair. Or, as I paraphrased, eat glass. Honestly, sometimes I just want to tell people on the Internet to eat glass, but I know my count will be, like, shut down the moment I do. So, anyway, things are not going as well for him in this town anymore. That he is, like, the pillar of. And so in 1835. Did I say 1930s earlier? No. We did not skip forward an entire century, did I? I might have 1835, John Brown moves back to Franklin Mills, Ohio, to start a tanning business with a local businessman, Zenas Kent. So at the same time, his father, Owen, is basically. He's basically having issues at the Western Reserve College campus because you've got. The students are part of one group, and the faculty is part of another. And basically, like, one side, they're very much just like, emancipation, like, immediate emancipation. And the other side are like, black people. We should, like, colonize. Colonize first and then gentle. Gentle. Yeah, yeah. It's like. It's like they're free, but they're not equal. That's the whole thing about colonizing. It's like, they're free, but they're still not the same as us, which is what Lincoln wanted, for the record. But, like, the thing about Abraham Lincoln that everyone forgets or is informed about, misinformed about is that whatever the majority voted for is what was going to happen. Like, if. If. If people hadn't, you know, wanted the emancipation of black people, the Emancipation Proclamation wouldn't have happened. He would have done whatever the majority wanted. Like, this wasn't his personal endeavor. Like, this was not for him anyway, anyway. Owen Brown, he's just, like, so done with the situation, and he wants equality for everybody. And so he ends up leaving Western Reserve, blah, blah, blah, and joining the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, which was incredibly, incredibly super progressive because it was an anti slavery institute that accepted black people and women and possibly because I didn't look it up, possibly black women. Who knew? Could you imagine? Like, everybody's free, everybody's welcome. And so the Oberlin College, it became so, so successful in aiding enslaved people that it was known to never lose a fugitive slave to federal authorities. So on top of this, John Brown's dad, he set up a dissident pro abolition church called Free Church and he helped the Western Reserve anti slavery society. Like his dad is continuously going, he's also remarried. Like I think he married a widow at this point because like wife number one died, wife number two died, he married wife number three and this one sticks I think. And things are continuing to heat up in the US after the four day slave rebellion, Nat Turner's four day slave rebellion. Like Southerners are terrified there's going to be another uprising. And it just creates this like fear and panic and it results in Elijah Lovejoy, who is an anti slavery editor in Illinois, he was murdered in 1837 and Lincoln calls it the most important single event that has ever happened in the new world. Sorry, Abraham Lincoln was known to have a high pitched voice and that's the best you're getting off me tonight. So, yeah, Elijah Lovejoy's murder, the anti slavery editor where he was fatally shot by a pro slavery mobile, like led to many more pro slavery mobs just sort of rising up like across the US like they're taking all that fear and rage and they're just aiming it directly at northern abolitionists. Like they're so fueled by just anger and fear and they're just attacking, you know, people who are trying to do something good. And so this is where anti slavery politics come into it because like Lincoln, he didn't see like violence as the answer to this. Like it had to be solved, you know, politically. Because if everyone's aggressive and just mobs, if you're just rabble, rabble mobs all the time, like shit's not going to get done and you, you're not going to be able to govern anything because you know there won't be anything to govern because everything will just be ash, rubble and ash. So back in Hudson there is a Lovejoy memorial meeting and John and Owen Brown go together and so people, you know, they're all condemning this, they're saying like, you know, the pro slavery mobs, they can't do this. This is just a terrible act of human nature. And John ends up standing up like raising his right hand and declared like loudly proclaimed Here before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery. And his dad, oh, and he stands beside him and he's just crying like he's feeling big feelings, like obviously, because this is just a big deal, it is a huge deal. And this crowd, they, they don't see pacifism as the means to go on. Because here's the thing, it would be great to solve the world's problems and solve wars with non violent action and pacifism, but like when you're trying to deal with an oppressive force, like what is your option to violence? Magic. Is it magic? Because unfortunately, unfortunately as well. It's always the people at the bottom of the ladder that are going to get hurt the most by any movement and it fucking sucks. It, it's terrible, it's atrocious and it doesn't matter because people are going to get hurt. It doesn't matter. But like it doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter what route you take, there's going to be suffering. The only choice is to try and reduce that. And you do that via community. Community is the only non violent action because you have to support each other and care for each other and consider each other like you need bonds and friendship and support. And I'm getting very angry about this and I need to calm down because I have neighbours but like being there for each other. There's this whole thing about how the left tells itself apart for, you know, oh, you're not good enough for doing this, this is performative, blah, blah, blah, blah. When like we should be standing together to like fight the fucking enemy. Like that's the thing. And it's community, it's helping each other, it's providing support. That is what's gonna, it's gonna help through, help get through like sidebar. I remember, I remember watching a piece about the war in Ukraine and there was like a conscription and like men of a certain age were to sign up for military service and people were flying home for it. They were flying home to protect their country. And you had like 80 year old men who were not allowed to like sign up, they weren't allowed to fight because you're like, you're 80, you know, and they're just sitting there like making Molotov cocktails. Like they're preparing because they're like, I'm gonna do fckin something now. I'm not saying everyone needs to go out and make Molotov cocktails, but you, you need to be the Molotov cocktail in this situation. Like you need to do something. Like we have to support each other and we have to help each other, regardless of our continent, right? Regardless of our religious affiliations, you know, regardless if we have them or don't have them or, you know, whether you follow nihilism or absurdism or I was gonna be like sadomasochism, like that's not right. That's a different conversation for a different day. But yeah, the whole point is that you support people because we're supposed to be making things better because otherwise what's the fcking point? Like what's the point? If you want things to be shitty, that's a you problem and you need therapy. But like we're supposed to make things better for everybody because why not, you know? Anyway, back to this. John Brown goes to his family and he asks them, he urges them actually to wage war against slavery and break the jaws of the wicked and pluck the spoil out of their teeth. Which he has a way with words like whatever that preach in college did way back when, he was good at words. So at the same time he's like, he's trying to have this like really powerful moment and like things are going for him in one way, in another way, business wise, not, not at the top of the pops, to be honest. He's got like, he's trying to, you know, fight for abolition, he's trying to fight against slavery. And so for five years between like what, 1837 and 1842, he's. He's setting up like cattle businesses, bull businesses, a farm called Westlands, a real estate scheme, he's got credit and state bonds and things are not going well because the panic of 1837, it basically triggers a major depression across the entire US and John loses nearly all of his money and nearly all of his properties. And across the country, due to mass speculation, 600 banks fail. They just implode. And so you've got labour reformers and they are yelling and screaming about class division and slaves to wages, right? Wage slaves I believe is the term they use. And this just triggers something in John, it makes him even more pissed off. So you've got this capitalist system which is just crushing people down. You've got all these banks that have just closed, he's in debt. And what he's thinking about is not only this, but the fact that enslaved people are just cogs in this system and that their existence was merely for personal wealth, to boost the personal wealth of others. And like he is mad, but he still optimistic. I'm gonna go with optimistic. And so his creditors, they file suits against him and he's like, gonna herd some cattle. So he takes them from Hudson to Connecticut and sells them to Wadsworth and Wales. And so he takes that money, goes to Boston. And so he gets there, he meets three guys he used to know. And he's, he's been wearing the same clothes on this, what, long trek between Hudson and Connecticut. And he's like, hey, can I get a loan? And they're like, we'll think about it. His mind, that means yes. Now anyone who's ever had someone say they'll consider something, usually that means no. Says me, who tells people I'll think about it all the time. And usually I'm like, yeah, yeah. I've had to stop saying yes to things, though, because not out of anything, but like, I have become aware that people make plans with no intention of, of following through on plans. Whereas when I make a plan, I'm following through on the plan. Like, that's, that's just who I am as a person. If we make plans, I assume that's going ahead, which, which has caused me much upset in many, many years. So he's so confident with these loans that he buys $130 worth of sheep and he takes them back to Ohio. And yeah, yeah. Couple months go by and no money comes in. And he owes $20,000, which I think in today's money is over half a million. So it's over $550,000. And so he takes like another herd of cattle to Connecticut, sells them, goes back to Boston, and he's like, hey, where's my loan to, like, these business dudes? And they're like, john, we're not giving you a loan. And so he borrows money from Wadsworth and Wells without telling them he's borrowing money, which I think is known as theft, but he takes it. He takes five and a half thousand dollars and he takes it to pay off his debt, or at least some of his debt. And it, it's not long before Waddling Wells realize that five and a half thousand dollars is missing. And so they threaten to have John arrested. And John's. He just lies. He's like, yeah, he's got money coming from Boston. And they're like, okay, because they believe him because it's John Brown, the pillar of the community. And so, yeah, he's, he's not, not doing well financially, shall we say. And so he meets George Kellogg, who's an agent at a wool company in Connecticut. And he'd heard all about John. Like, he's a surveyor and a herder and a wool expert. And he says he'll give John an advance of $2,800. And so he gives him 2,800 advance on wool so that John was to bring it from Ohio. So John's getting the money first, and then John's going to go to Ohio, and then he's going to bring Will. So instead of doing that, John gives the money to Wadsworth and Wells, and then he goes back to Ohio. And then George Kellogg finds out, sends a really, really incensed letter about it. And John is like, hey, I. I did it. This is what happened. Sorry. And then later, like, a few weeks later, George Kellogg writes that, you know, the money issues are probably cause of the Depression and, like, the, you know, the struggle. Everyone's happening. And he's concerned about John's character. Like, you're struggling, pal. You need a hand. Like. Like, he's robbing Peter to play Paul here. Like, that's. That's what's happening. And so John ends up paying back George Kellogg, like, for the rest of his life. Like, he's paying, like, little bits back to him. And like. Like, when John's 40 years old, his father, he. Owen, he tries to convince him to move to Virginia because, like, the land is cheap. You know, you could do well there. But Virginia. Virginia was a slave state, and the western border of. Was full of poor white families who rarely owned slaves. And Owen knew that, like, some land had been given to Oberlin College and it had been surveyed. And it was a good opportunity for John to convince them to go there and do surveying. And so he gets a dollar per day and a thousand acres of land, you know, once he's all done. And so John goes there, he does the surveying, and in one month, the job is done and he turns down the land. Instead, he goes to start a cattle business with hem and Oviat. And, like, a few months later, like, John changes his mind, and he writes to the Oberlin College asking if he can have his land. And they're like, no, that ship has sailed, friends. And so he sends an angry letter. And, like, so they start negotiations, and John gets a $29 settlement in the end. And so he's in. Well, he's drowning in debt, effectively. Like, he started selling, like, farm equipment and stuff from his house, and all he had left was, like, some land and part ownership of the Westlands farm. Then because of the, you know, insurmountable debt. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that he had to sell off the western property to pay off a loan to Alice Chamberlain. And yeah, John legally had to agree to it, even though it was like, way underpriced, right? And he's angry because, you know, the price is so low. And the land, it is good land. It's good working land and it's his like, dream place. And so Amos Chamberlain comes, takes over a land, and John issues a trespass warrant against him because he's got this friend who's like a police person. He's a constable, right? And he's like, I shoot him a warrant. And he's like, okay. So Chamberlain has to leave and John writes to him and like, he's like, please let me keep my farm. And shockingly enough, this does not work. And so John then arms his three oldest sons, so John Jr, Jason and Owen, who were 19, 17 and 15, respectively. And so he had them in this log hut at the edge of the farm and told them to shoot if they saw anyone, which is basically a retaliation for him being screwed over by the courts. And this dude who took advantage of the situation, bought the land for cheap and just was being a bit of a dick about it. But, yeah, such is life. And so Chamberlain, he ends up like, having a posse sent there to get, you know, things sorted. But as soon as they see the boys with their guns, they're like, um, no, no. A couple days later though, John and two of his sons were arrested and taken to Akron jail. Now the other Akron jail. Akron jail. Somebody would tell me how I've mispronounced it. And so one of them ends up like, fleeing into the forest. And like, they don't end up staying in jail very long because the sheriff doesn't feel like it's right to, to, you know, imprison someone for defending their own property. They're like, no. Seems wrong. And so they're like, be free. And so Chamberlain is pissed. He goes back into the Westlands, right? The farm, he tears down their log hut. And so this like, long legal battle like, ensues. So John, he'd like promised the property to like, this dude he owed money to. And so there was like this three way legal battle. And so eventually the court just gives it to Chamberlain. And John, he's got nothing. And he is broke. Like, broke broke. Like no money broke. And by 1842, like, he's so poor that, like, this is, this is a thing the former postmaster could not afford. Postage stamps so he files for bankruptcy and he's got nothing. And this is the list of the last of his possessions. Four wooden pails, six bedsteads, a cracked pot, six old feather beds, three bags, four milk pans, one tin can, two broken earth pots, one pitchfork, four axes, one crowbar, one shovel, one glass bottle and.
- [72:12]
James Richardson
Sorry.
- [72:13]
Kristen Bell
Two spinning wheels and 11 Bibles. That's a lot of Babels.
- [72:21]
John Brown
Say hello to Mia.
- [72:22]
Kristen Bell
Hey there.
- [72:23]
John Brown
Mia runs a pet grooming service in Chicago. But getting new clients was rough until.
- [72:27]
Kristen Bell
I started using acast. I recorded my ad, targeted pet owners in the area and let ACAST do the rest. Now people all over the city know about my grooming services.
- [72:36]
John Brown
Mia's business is looking sharp. What's your secret for happy pets and happy clients?
- [72:40]
Kristen Bell
A few fresh cut, a friendly vibe and a well placed podcast ad.
- [72:44]
John Brown
Get the word out about your business through Acast. Visit go acast.com advertise to get started.
- [72:56]
Kristen Bell
And so now they're down to five beds. So there's his wife, his 12 children, five beds. And yeah, the following year, John was able to rent this wee cabin in Richfield. And they, you know, they were optimistic. They thought things were starting to go well again, but this is the past and shit happens. Oh, that was a poor, poor timed statement. So four of the children end up dying from dysentery. Like the Oregon Trail, man. Like, it's. They die from dysentery. And John said that he had the desire to die. Like, he loses four kids a few months after moving into this, this place. The following year, he meets Colonel Simon Perkins, who's a sheep farmer, and he's like, oh, John, let me give you a break. And so he gets him a job where he's basically like, looking after the sheep, making sure the wool is all sorted and sent to where it needs to go. And he ends up with this in a house for John to rent for $30 a year. And so he spends a couple years herding 1500 sheep. And, like, he's really, really good at this. Like, he knows the sheep so well he can, like, name them. Like, he knows the difference between all of these, like, hundreds upon hundreds of sheep. And because of this, John starts to recover from his, like, previous severe financial issues. And throughout of this, he's still a part of the Underground Railroad, helping where he can. And three years later, in 1847, after getting this job, Frederick Douglass, like, decides to go and visit him. And, like, they're just so excited to have him there. And so, like, the two of them end up chatting for hours and hours. And like at one point, John has this massive map of the US across the table and it's got like the Appalachian mountain range in it. And he's like, these are really handy. You've got natural fort hiding places, you know, guerrilla warfare. Like, he's basically describing guerrilla warfare and he tells him of this, like, plan to invade like the Southern states with like men, split into different groups and you know, raid plantations and do all this. And Freddie Frederick Douglass, he's like, seems a bit much. Don't know if that'll like, work. Is there any way to do it peacefully? And John Brown's like, no, no, simply no. And so like, it's just a way of like going down. Kind of like the game lemming, you can add, not lemmings, but yeah, you go in, you attack, you like pull people out of the plantations, make them join your army, and then you just slowly build up an army, come back down and just until you completely rule the wrist, you know, because like the goal was not just to like weaken these plantations or bring them to the ground or whatever, but to weaken the institution of slavery, right? And to have these anti slavery attacks. And it was just what would have to be done, right? Because they needed to make a point, they needed to make a stand and they needed to like remove the power that the people who were enslaving other people had. And like John Brown had been planning this for two decades. Like he had been going over this plan for such a long period of time. And it was based on a combination of like Nat Tunnel's Rebellion and also like Native American, like attack formations. Like, it was a combination of these, like two factors that he had studied and considered and thought through for again, two decades. This is throughout him being, you know, in debt and struggling and everything in between. And it was like really, it was impressive. It was an impressive plan, really. But violence wasn't all John was into, right. He ended up helping establish this multicultural community in New York up in North Elba. And it was supposed to be like a self sustaining farming town, which was for these people to like survive, you know, and hopefully thrive. However, the white people who lived adjacent didn't like this idea. And so they were overcharging, you know, fugitives, formerly enslaved people, all people of color, right? They're just like, no, they're not having this. And so they're just like charging this huge amount of money for this stuff. And so the people there, the black people there were starving and struggling. And so John was Transporting flour and pork and bringing it over to this community and distributing it equally amongst all of these black families. And then the following year, June, the following year, he moves to North Elba with his family. He. He surveyed the lands. It's just a useful scout, right? So he surveys the lands and he helps, like, farming. He helps set up, like, better access to resources. And he becomes, like, friends with the people who live there. And this is his community, and it's like his favorite place he's ever lived. And he wants to be buried there. And so he's happy there for a year because in 1850, the Fugitive Slave act is passed by Congress. And what this did was give federal authorities the power to reclaim fugitive slaves in the North. And so John was cross. He was angry. Some might even go as far as to call him Levitt. And so his will warehouse, he decides to convert it into a station for the Underground railroad. And in 1851, just one year after this, he arms 45 black men. This is a combination of free black men and the formerly enslaved, the fugitives, if you will. And so they establish the League of Gileadus. I think it's Gileadus. And he gives them, he gives them arms. He arms them, he gives them guns effectively. And he tells them to attack any southerners, slave catchers, or federal marshals. And so he's just got. He's just caught a posse here, right? And. And this is the first militarized abolitionist group specifically created by a white man in American history, right? And so, and, and John, he's equal opportunity. So he invites everybody to be like, part of this league. So you've got every black person, male, female, young, old, like, everybody. And it's like, listen, you know, if stuff happens, you know, we all need to be on board. You have to be prepared to fight. And like, and like, he's. He's very, very progressive because he's like, yeah, like, women are people too. And so he, like, he goes to like, feminist lectures and sht. Like, it's even noted upon because, like, the boys do, like, girls jobs as well as girls doing boys jobs, which is something my papa instilled on me. Like, he made us all do it. So, like, I can just about not very well, but I can, I can chop logs for the fire. I can, I can basically start a fire anywhere. It's a skill that my, my papa. Papa trained, like, all his kids could do it. So like, my brothers had to learn how to sew. They don't do it very well. I do it Better. I would be a great 1950s housewife if. If they gave me the drugs, darling. But also, like, I can sew, I can embroider, I can darn. I know those are three different types of sewing, but, like, I can just about. Like, I can do enough, you know, I can weave. I can weave. Like, I can cook when I want to. But, like, my brothers can do very manly things. But also, like, we were all taught to do, like, all the jobs because you have to be able to do everything. Like, my boys. My boys, my boys. No, my brothers both learned how to cook because my mum was like, you're gonna have to. But, yeah, anything that was severely heavy, I wouldn't do because I'm the baby. Anyway. Everybody does everything. And so, like, it's noted upon, like, in this house specifically that the boys are, like, washing dishes and shit. And they're like, what is this? The girls are in the garden digging and the boys are washing dishes because, like, everybody did every job because it's like, you know, y' all live here. And so he. He was very much like equal. Equal rights. However, he was distrustful of other white people. So he was a labor reformer, but he believed that, you know, companies were trying to, like, cheat farmers out of their share of profits. And by companies. Rich white people. Rich white people, like, you know, the working class besties, no worries. But, you know, the corporations, the big business. Na na na na na na na. Not feeling that at all. And so, yeah, John resented. I'm gonna call them exploitative. The exploitative businessman. And he was just not really keen on capitalism. And, like, this is why he probably wasn't a great businessman, because he refused to play the games of it. Like, he wasn't, you know, supply and demand. Like, he wasn't messing about just because, oh, you know, there's less of this, I'm gonna charge more. And so with regards to his business, like, he's, like, part of the Perkins Will business. They end up separating in 1854. So later that year, there's a black man in Boston, Anthony Buns. And he was being held by authorities because a Virginia farmer filed a request to reclaim him as a slave. Now John hears about this. Like, he's in New York at the time, and he's like, what is this? Fuck this for game of soldiers. And so he stands up in his chair and he says, anthony Burns must be released or I will die in the tempt. The man is intense. Okay, this is. This is blonde espresso intense. You know, I can't Remember names of coffee. You're just gonna have to suffer through it. And so, yeah, he declared he was going to Boston. And his friend is like, don't do this. Like you're, you're trying to deal with a lawsuit right now because, you know, you're in debt again. And so, so, so he didn't quite get to do that. The man is intense and dramatic and. And he didn't quite. Yeah. So anyway, that same year, the Kansas Nebraska act was passed. And this meant that the newly settled territories had the power to decide whether they were free states or slave states. And this just made John angrier. And so Frederick Douglass ends up publishing a letter written by John and legislators in which he calls legislators, sorry fiends in human shape who pass abominably wicked and unjust laws. And so John just gets angrier. And now he wants to attack Harper's Ferry in like, what is now West Virginia. And so Harper's Ferry, the reason he chooses it is because it housed a federal arsenal that produced a large number of weapons for the US Military. You know, the thing he hates. Do you remember from the beginning of this episode when he said he fucking hates the military? Here he is. And so this attack was supposed to be symbolic of his opposition to a national government that condoned and supported slavery. And so it was really important like, like years later when the Civil War happens, that Confederacy and the Union, they just like fight over it 13 times. But Harper's Ferry, that was a plan he wasn't really gonna be able to do just yet because it involved men, money, and just a lot of planning. And so instead he decided to head to Kansas, which was, I mean, I mean, the gravitational pull of, you know, slavery related conflict. Can I just do. Yeah. Sucks him in. See, Kansas had voted to be a slave state. However, there was evidence, and when I say evidence, I mean a fuck ton of evidence suggesting that there was voter fraud going on in order to force a pro slave result. And yeah, that dragged John Brown into the fray. But that is gonna have to wait for next time. And so I'm gonna bid you farewell for now and we'll catch up on the next episode sooner than you think. Adios. Au revoir. Au revoir, my friends. Bye bye.
- [88:18]
John Brown
Beth, you're in charge of ordering the tacos for the meeting today.
- [88:21]
Kristen Bell
Yeah, I'm not gonna order the tacos. Uh, what? I'm going to Easy cater the tacos with Easycater. You can order from a huge variety of restaurants, track expenses and save time. Nice. Oh, by the way. You're emailing the meeting notes, right?
- [88:36]
John Brown
No, I'm going to easy mail them. Where's my music?
- [88:41]
Kristen Bell
Sorry, Ben, there's no easycater for that.
- [88:43]
John Brown
Ezcator the Easy Way to Order Food for Work order now@ezcator.com.
- [88:50]
Kristen Bell
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