“A Plea for Captain John Brown”

 

Alexa Burstein

 

Materials of the past that exist in archives do not speak to historians unprompted; they must be questioned. Scanning a seemingly endless number of fragmented pieces of the past in a vast archive seems like a hopeless attempt at piecing the past together. The historians job is to take those fragments and apply different methods to learn about the origins of the object, the larger cultural significance behind it, a wider intellectual history of the time period and the relevance of that object to the world today. Henry David Thoreau’s “A Plea for Captain John Brown” is one of those fragments found in the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society archives.  The document seemed to jump out of its confining folder, but did not immediately speak. Through my research, this phantom of the archives will be contextualized within the antislavery movement of the nineteenth century and the history of John Brown. This nearly fourteen-page plea was found in a collection of articles and literature about John Brown at the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society. As to how it ended up in the archive, the Executive Director-Curator of the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society Samantha Meredith says she believes “it was just printed from the internet or brought in by a past board member.” Further research about the raid and the two men made the reason for its placement in CKBHS archive more clear.

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts on July 12th, 1817.[1] His  personal philosophy of transcendentalism strongly rejects all social customs and institutions and emphasizes the importance of individualism. Because Thoreau believed so deeply in this philosophy of self reliance and reason, he likely did not want to be labeled as apart of a group.  However, there was one group that he could not resist aligning himself with, and that was the abolitionists, yet unlike John Brown Thoreau does not instantly come to mind when one thinks of notable abolitionists. It was during the final decade of his life that Thoreau propelled himself into the public sphere to protest against slavery.[2] What really initiated this leap was the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 which required Northerners to directly participate in the institution of slavery.[3] Thoreau’s plea for John Brown was delivered five years after he first spoke out publicly against slavery in 1854. In this context, the speech clearly demonstrates a build up of intense rage against the south, the government, and the injustices of slavery that Thoreau had accumulated over those five turbulent years. In a national context, Thoreau’s plea was written and delivered during a fury-filled decade lead by passionate abolitionists and equally passionate confederates. The decade was approaching the zenith of north-south tension by the time John Brown held his convention in Chatham, and unquestionably reached and exceeded that zenith by the time of the raid on Harper’s Ferry.  The plea held up a mirror to every aspect of this tempestuous antebellum America. It scathingly criticizes the American people and the newspapers that harshly condemned and ridiculed the actions of John Brown. Thoreau questions the purpose of any American owning their a conscience if it is not used or listened to, and attacks the “monster of a government”[4] that “establishes injustices.”[5] He also praises and defends John Brown and his actions vehemently and argues defiantly against the decision to hang him.

The first copy of this speech was published by James Redpath, a mutual friend of John Brown and Henry David Thoreau, in his book “Echoes of Harper’s Ferry” in 1860, the year after the speech was delivered.[6]  This book contains moral and political papers dedicated to General Fabre Geffrard, the President of the Republic of the Haiti at the time.[7] In the dedication section of the book, Redpath sympathizes with Geffrard’s comments about the Union not being a free Republic, and acknowledges the horrific state of the South where “they deprive an entire race of every social, personal, and political right!”[8] and the hypocritical intolerance of the North that “politically disenfranchises and socially excommunicates your race.”[9] Redpath says that despite those facts, there are many Americans who believe in the true definitions of equality and freedom, namely John Brown.[10] He implores the Haitian President to read his collection about John Brown’s raid in hopes that it might change his mind about the country.[11]

It is evident by aforementioned book written about it, that John Brown’s raid generated a massive amount of attention. The raid on Harper’s Ferry, Virginia occurred on October 27, 1859, almost eighteen months after John Brown’s Chatham convention and not even a year before the first battle of the American Civil War.[12] Both of these connections are inescapable and very significant contextually. In terms of the Chatham connection; although the raid happened over a year after John Brown’s convention in Chatham, as historian Robin Winks writes “all of Canada West at once linked the two events. The Canadian press reported on the raid, capture, and ensuing trial, convention, and execution in detail…”[13] These reports and other ‘suspicious’ activity by Brown’s associates lead many Americans to believe that Canada was responsible for the wave of intolerance washing over the Union at the time.[14] Abolitionists were thus labelled as “vile, sensuous, animal, brutal, infidel, superstitious Democracy of Canada and the Yankees.”[15] This demonstrates the instant iconic status that John Brown held right off the bat in Canada West, and still does today. In terms of the Civil war connections, Winks writes that “more perceptive newspapers – such as the Toronto Globe – saw that the bells were down: if tension mounted further, civil war would follow.”[16] The prevalence of articles about an impending Civil War after John Brown’s raid emphasizes its cultural significance. Although the majority of Americans tried to dismiss the raid as ineffective, idiotic, and criminal, the topic of Civil War as a serious outcome of the decade was seemingly inescapable post Harper’s Ferry.

This evidence of John Brown’s instant rise to national fame (but not popularity) makes the concept of a famed nineteenth century writer like Henry David Thoreau pleading for his legacy seem much more plausible. And although Thoreau’s name is more widely known today than Brown’s and they are seldom if ever thought of together, at one point in the history of North America both men held celebrity status, had comparable views on slavery, and even shared mutual friends and met on numerous occasions. In fact, there are instances in Janet Kemper Beck’s book where she details actual interactions between the men as well as their other celebrity friends like Ralph Waldo Emerson.[17] Beck writes that in March of 1857 “…Emerson dropped in on Thoreau one afternoon [in Concord, Massachusetts] to find him deep in conversation with Brown.”[18] John Brown returned to Concord in May of 1859, a year after the Chatham convention, and by then “Emerson was a firm supporter”, he even ended up aiding the raid on Harper’s Ferry.[19] Evidence of their personal interactions makes Thoreau’s plea carry much more weight then it does as an antislavery object on its own because it humanizes the Thoreau and Brown.

Although Henry David Thoreau is regarded as one of the greatest American writers who ever lived, it is interesting to see how John Brown is remembered in comparison and to what degree. For the past nineteen consecutive years, the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society has held a John Brown festival which features guest speakers and John Brown impersonators.[20] In 2016, just under 100 tickets were sold to the festival, more than double the number of the turn out in 2014, which was about 30.[21] The fact that the festival is going on its 19th consecutive year, regardless of the turnout, demonstrates how deeply the people of Canada West today, just like the people of Canada West nearly one-hundred-and-sixty years ago, align themselves securely with the legacy of John Brown and remain adamant about remembering his actions and his Chatham connections.

Henry David Thoreau’s “A Plea for Captain John Brown” demonstrates the close connection Thoreau had to John Brown, both personally, politically, and philosophically. Thoreau’s plea for John Brown perfectly encapsulates the mood of the tumultuous decade of the 1850’s, one characterized by unrest, abolitionism, and insurrection. The fact that an object like this plea exists in the archive in Chatham demonstrates the effect the raid had on both Canadian and American literature, culture, and social history. It’s spot in the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society’s archive also demonstrates that any fragment of the past that is relevant to John Brown is relevant to Chatham. The legacy of John Brown’s Canada West connection was born the minute he arrived in Chatham for the convention, continued after the raid through newspapers and associates, and continues today through festival and archives.

 

 

 

WORKS CITED

 

Beck, Janet Kemper. Creating the John Brown legend: Emerson, Thoreau, Douglass, Child and Higginson in defense of the raid on Harpers Ferry. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2009.

 

Hyde, Lewis. “Henry Thoreau, John Brown, and the Problem of Prophetic Action.” Raritan 22, no. 2 (September 2002): 125-44.

 

Redpath, James. Echoes of Harper’s Ferry. Boston, MA: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860.

 

Schneider, Richard J. “Life and Legacy: Thoreau’s Life.” The Thoreau Society. 2015. https://www.thoreausociety.org/life-legacy.

 

Terfloth, Trevor. “Abolition History Discussed at John Brown Festival.” Chatham Daily News, May 8, 2016. http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2016/05/08/abolition-history-discussed-at-john-brown-festival.

 

Terfloth, Trevor. “Shadd’s Life Presented at John Brown Festival.” Chatham Daily News, May 4, 2014. http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2014/05/04/shadds-life-presented-at-john-brown-festival.

 

Winks, Robin W. The Blacks in Canada: A History. New Haven, CT: Yale U.P., 1972.

 

 

 

 

[1] Richard J. Schneider, “Life and Legacy: Thoreau’s Life,” The Thoreau Society, 2015, https://www.thoreausociety.org/life-legacy.

[2] Lewis Hyde, “Henry Thoreau, John Brown, and the Problem of Prophetic Action,” Raritan 22, no. 2 (September 2002):.

[3]  Ibid.

[4] James Redpath, “I – Lecture by Henry D. Thoreau,” in Echoes of Harper’s Ferry (Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860).

[5] Ibid.

[6] James Redpath, Echoes of Harper’s Ferry (Boston, MA: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860).

[7] James Redpath, “Dedication,” in Echoes of Harper’s Ferry (Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860).

[8] James Redpath, “Dedication,” in Echoes of Harper’s Ferry (Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860).

[9] James Redpath, “Dedication,” in Echoes of Harper’s Ferry (Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860).

[10] James Redpath, “Dedication,” in Echoes of Harper’s Ferry (Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860).

[11] James Redpath, “Dedication,” in Echoes of Harper’s Ferry (Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860).

[12] Winks, Robin W. The Blacks in Canada: A History. New Haven, CT: Yale U.P., 1972.

[13] Winks, Robin W. The Blacks in Canada: A History. New Haven, CT: Yale U.P., 1972.

[14] Winks, Robin W. The Blacks in Canada: A History. New Haven, CT: Yale U.P., 1972.

[15] Winks, Robin W. The Blacks in Canada: A History. New Haven, CT: Yale U.P., 1972.

[16] Winks, Robin W. The Blacks in Canada: A History. New Haven, CT: Yale U.P., 1972.

[17] Janet Kemper Beck. Creating the John Brown legend: Emerson, Thoreau, Douglass, Child and Higginson in defense of the raid on Harpers Ferry. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2009.

[18] Janet Kemper Beck. Creating the John Brown legend: Emerson, Thoreau, Douglass, Child and Higginson in defense of the raid on Harpers Ferry. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2009.

[19] Janet Kemper Beck. Creating the John Brown legend: Emerson, Thoreau, Douglass, Child and Higginson in defense of the raid on Harpers Ferry. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2009.

[20] Trevor Terfloth, “Abolition History Discussed at John Brown Festival,” Chatham Daily News, May 8, 2016, , http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2016/05/08/abolition-history-discussed-at-john-brown-festival.

[21] Trevor Terfloth, “Shadd’s Life Presented at John Brown Festival,” Chatham Daily News, May 4, 2014, , http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2014/05/04/shadds-life-presented-at-john-brown-festival.