Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America

Editorial Reviews. From Publishers Weekly. Carton has written an absorbing and inspiring, though not wholly innovative, biography of abolitionist firebrand John.
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I am reading this book for the second time. I hardly ever do such a thing as my life is crowded and busy. But I find that this book speaks truth and example better than all but a handful of other of the hundreds of books I have read. It is a magnificent account of a virtuous man. You should spend the time to read it so you can enjoy a lesson in what a full human being looks like.

This is a very wonderful book about one of my heroes John Brown.

Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America

It is written in a way that is easy to understand and it is so informative and interesting. The author has a way with words. It is beautifully written and he is very thorough. I highly recommend it to everyone. John Brown who gave his all in order to make his point that all men are created equal is a hero who many over look. I searched for literature that would be easy reading and at the same time do justice to this man and Evan Carton's book 'Patriotic Treason' did just that.

American's owe him a great debt for his committment to making all men free in the face of a government that condoned slavery. I loved this book and recommend it highly. It's a story of family life and of a man who was color blind to the bitter end. So well written that it reads almost like a novel.

One person found this helpful 2 people found this helpful.

Carton not only documents and recreates the acting principles of John Brown, he also puts him in context to his time and culture. To this day I think many are confused or uncertain about the reasons for the Civil War, after reading this book the reader gets a clearer understanding of the many conflicting views held by the people of that time. Carton begins the book by saying that historians have marginalized and labeled John Brown a madman.

Certainly John Brown's influence on events should not be portrayed as small, but as a man who acted under ideals that we hold today as true - All men, including Negroes, are created equal - but were at odds with what most people thought in his day, he might indeed be thought a crank outlier.

As we read about this conflict between the idealistic John Brown and a society that accepted or even embraced inequality because it was economically, socially or even morally supported we wonder where we would fall in these events. One person found this helpful. See all 18 reviews. Most recent customer reviews.

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He also fought hard and dirty in the battle for Kansas - determined to ensure that it would enter the country as a non-slavery state. The thing I found most touching was how deeply rooted Brown's abolitionist views were in his strong religious faith. He did not patronize the slaves as many abolitionists did. He truly saw them as equals and viewed their enslavement as a crime against all humanity. I think the world could use more people like that. One story in particular has stayed with me since I read it weeks ago.

As a young boy, one of Brown's sons was misbehaving frequently. Father and son sat down, had a discussion, and determined what an appropriate number of lashes would be for the boy's punishment. They cut a sapling and Brown administered the lashings - but only half. The other half, he insisted, were for himself. As the father, he said, some of the fault was his own for not raising a better child. And so, his son had to give him the rest of the lashes. The boy never misbehaved again.

Ultimately, I think that Brown was somewhat misguided, and his hands were certainly not clean. He was flawed, like anyone. He left a trail of debts throughout the country, and both killed people and lead people - including his own sons - into situations where they would be killed. The raid on Harper's Ferry was probably destined to fail no matter what. But Carton makes a good case that Brown probably knew this, and proceeded with the raid in the hopes that the subsequent commotion it stirred up would bring the abolition argument.

If this was indeed his intention, he was successful, because it wasn't much longer after that that the Civil War began. This book is surprisingly easy to read for such a heavy topic. Jun 08, Amy Holiday rated it really liked it. Nice history, even if a little boring. You only hear casual mentions of John Brown, even when you go to Harpers Ferry. But there was a lot more to it than that, of course.

Just like Brown's actions could be considered one of the events that set the Civil War in motion, there was a lot of other events that led him to that point.


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I found the details of his life and his passion to abolish slavery, as Nice history, even if a little boring. I found the details of his life and his passion to abolish slavery, as well as his many business interests and travels pretty fascinating. From Kansas to Ohio twice in a year was no small feat back in the day. It did get a little slow in parts, but of course picked up towards the end.

Interesting to learn he considered Frederick Douglass a friend, and that he had 18 children with two wives! First, I liked this book. It was a good book. It had new information and good presentation and occasional moments of insight. It discusses Brown's time in Kansas, which no other book seems to, and spares no effort to examine his motivations and get inside his head. I hate to say it, this book contains actual mistakes. For example, the first person killed in the raid was not Shepherd Heyward.

It was Heyward Shepherd. It may not sound important, but when you realize that his death is probably First, I liked this book. It may not sound important, but when you realize that his death is probably the single piece of bad fortune that doomed the raid it is actually a little bit more important.

Heyward Shepherd died as a sacrifice to the gods of Murphy, to prove that we live in a world where nothing perfect is allowed and nothing may occur without error. So why shouldn't Carton get his name backwards? No reason, except that it proves he didn't edit his own book closely. There are a lot of other odd oversights in this book; the way he has John Cook in many places at once comes to mind.

Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America - Evan Carton - Google Книги

On the other hand, this book takes the most logical and natural path, and it's a path that most other authors seemed to have missed. John Brown has been described as one of the most representative men of the 19th century. Heck, he was even born in His life weaved through all the major events of the early 19th century in America, from the terrible winter of to the Jackson years, the Panic of , the Mexican War, and finally the Dred Scott Decision and the Sumner Caning. It makes perfect sense to start on Brown's birthday and follow through until his death immediately before the Civil War.

Why don't more authors do that?


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Curiously, Brown had personal interactions with three presidents, and the one who first put a price on his head was the same one who had saved his lieutenant from execution. I guess the Presidents lived closer to the citizens back then. Carton gets closer to explaining what Brown accomplished than most, and he also does better at showing at least part of the strategic misstep that led Brown to his doom.

Why didn't the slaves rise to help him? Well, one reason was that they accidentally shot Heyward Shepherd. A mural of John Brown graces my blog, mostly because, well, he has a heck of a beard. But I've long viewed Brown as something of a psychopath--a glazed eye zealot who happened to mis-serve the right cause. I remember this from high school history, and a few ventures onto wikipedia.

This excellent, highly readable, and well-documented historical narrative of his life shifted my viewpoint. It humanizes Brown, giving real insights into his character through contemporary records and Brown's own writi A mural of John Brown graces my blog, mostly because, well, he has a heck of a beard. It humanizes Brown, giving real insights into his character through contemporary records and Brown's own writing.

It's fascinating, particularly in light of America's recent rediscovery of the problem of race, for a range of reasons. First and foremost, it highlights a peculiar truth about John Brown. The reason he acted as he did was quite simply that he did not see race as a valid category. It meant nothing to him. Had Brown viewed truth as relative or culturally mediated, he would never have put his life on the line for those who were different. It's a solid, carefully researched book, well worth reading. While there is no possible way to gloss over his brutally violent history in Kansas, John Brown is one of those polarizing characters that has been largely vindicated by history.

This book is an amazingly detailed and intimate retelling of his life. It provided insight into the political and moral arguments over slavery and African-Americans in the s, much beyond what is usually presented in historical texts which tend to either be oversimplified or focus on the economic aspects.

The raid While there is no possible way to gloss over his brutally violent history in Kansas, John Brown is one of those polarizing characters that has been largely vindicated by history. The raid on Harper's Ferry is actually a relatively minor portion of the book, which tends more to focus on the life and ideas of John Brown, including his relationship with Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.

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There is also an immense focus on the Brown's interpretation and implementation of Christianity, which was a key part of his ideology and shared by almost no one at the time. Feb 01, Ahf rated it really liked it. This is a hard read and a hard subject - but I learned a lot about abolition not as lived by Washington insiders, but as lived by a white man driven to right the injustice of slavery.

His religious life is very offputting years later, but he was thoughtful and intentional in trying to right what he saw as the wost wrong a society could have - putting production above right treaetment of other people. In the book it mentions that he was the only white man in America who treated blacks as equa This is a hard read and a hard subject - but I learned a lot about abolition not as lived by Washington insiders, but as lived by a white man driven to right the injustice of slavery.

In the book it mentions that he was the only white man in America who treated blacks as equal and was treated the same by them. He was truely friends with Frederic Douglas, which is not true of any other emancipation figures. A lightning rod of a personality whose actions changed America more than any non-elected person in our history. Sep 07, B. This is an exceptional look at the life of John Brown. Carton's book is well-researched, paying special attention to the Brown family's correspondence, giving a slightly different, more personal feel to the subject. The narrative is like the best thrillers.

I kept turning pages, wanting to know more--even though I knew how the story ended. Aug 27, Iona rated it it was amazing. Evan Carton provides an intricate and exploratory biographical sketch of an abolitionist, who played a key role in the anti-slavery movement. Patriotic Treason weaves through the life of John Brown and compels the reader to fully examine his humanity through his life story that marked his course of action to assist in the abolishment of a crime inflicted upon the African race. Carton's narrative style provides an intimate view into John Brown's lens of patriotism.

This is an excellent biography of John Brown that does an excellent job of helping the reader to understand the man not as a lunatic, religious fanatic, or fool but as the complicated and in many ways exemplary individual that he was. In reading this book, I felt that I learned a great deal about Brown and the times in which he lived and yet the book has also prompted me to learn still more about Brown from other sources.

Feb 14, Corey rated it it was amazing. A biography of the historical John Brown. The author does a fantastic job of getting to the soul of the famous abolitionist radical; showing that he was no more terrorist than many of this country's founding fathers, while, not glossing over his crimes and eccentricities. John Brown is most definitely my favorite historical figure.

Dec 20, Nate rated it it was amazing. An awesome biography of a man who humbly marched through life's failures until he quietly became the match that lit the powder keg of the Civil War. John Brown was no mad man, but an American driven by the essence of patriotism and a man with a moral and wholly mortal destiny. Apr 20, Ryan rated it really liked it. Really enjoyed this one. I'd say it's a 4. Carton did a wonderful job providing a fair and objective look at John Brown. In school, I learned that he was a crazy killer.

Jul 03, Alana rated it it was amazing. This is probably one of the best biographies I've ever read, and I've read a lot of biographies. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, it truly does its subject justice. May 20, Steve Smits rated it really liked it. What are we to make of John Brown and his impact on the tensions between North and South that led to secession and war? The conceptions of him held by historians are far from alike. Was his belief that the raid would spark a general uprising of slaves completely delusional?

In light of the growing rancor between the North and the South was Brown and his action jus What are we to make of John Brown and his impact on the tensions between North and South that led to secession and war? In light of the growing rancor between the North and the South was Brown and his action just a bizarre footnote to the major events of the time? Or, was he a calculating strategist who knew that no matter how the raid turned out its consequences would bring the continuation of slavery to the boiling point?

Did his plan, whether he intended it or not, actually hasten the South to the brink of dissolving the union? The acrimonious sectional issues confronting the free and slave states were manifold and complex. But it would be equally wrong to consider him a half-crazed fanatic whose wild schemes, which were largely viewed with disdain both North and South, had inconsequential impact on pushing the sides further apart.

Brown believed that the only proper solution to slavery was its complete abolition and the immediate freeing of those held in it. Brown knew all the leading lights of the abolitionist movement. Most of them shared with Brown that abolition was morally imperative for the nation and that dissolving the union if this did not occur was warranted , but Brown held the view that action — even violent action — was the justifiable, and only possibly effective, path to take. Brown had little sympathy for the notion that moral reprobation could ever bring about the end of slavery. Brown was respected by abolitionist leaders, if somewhat uneasy about his advocacy of extreme action.

One characteristic of Brown not always shared his contemporaries opposed to slavery was his genuine belief in the equality of the races; many who wished slavery to end were quite racist in their social attitudes toward blacks e. Abraham Lincoln, for one. He established and supported an inter-racial community in the Adirondack Mountains where blacks and whites cooperated in farming ventures. He was active in the Underground Railroad, aiding many runaway slaves on the route to Canada.

He organized free blacks into a defense league to protect escaped slaves from the bounty hunters that came into being after the Fugitive Slave Act of It was in the Kansas Territory where Brown gained national notoriety. Kansas was a hotbed of Free State and pro-slavery contention among its settlers.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of stipulated, in repeal of the provisions of the Missouri compromise of , that the settlers of federal territories could decide through popular vote whether a newly-admitted state would be slave or free. Brown followed several of his sons who had moved to Kansas and soon became a leader in counter attacks against the ruffians and pro-slavery settlers. He gained wide attention after a midnight raid where he and his sons slaughtered several of their pro-slavery neighbors. Incredibly, despite being a wanted man for his acts in Kansas he continued to move about the country without being apprehended, often making public appearances, giving lectures and meeting with abolitionist leaders.

There are several important aspects of his Kansas experience that inform thinking about his later actions. He was largely successful in his use of violence to thwart proponents of slavery; in other words, he found that this tactic worked. He gained public attention that helped raise funds for subsequent endeavors against slavery. While in Kansas and Missouri he freed a number of slaves through force and spirited them to freedom in the North. All this reinforced his sense that violent action could successfully end slavery, that the slave holders would capitulate when confronted with more than words.

Brown concluded that slaves were willing, even eager, to rise up against their masters. For this to happen he determined to take the fight to the heart of slavery — the slave states, not territorial peripheries like Kansas. While he was able to raise a moderate amount of money to support a campaign he was vague about what and where he was largely unsuccessful in recruiting a significant number of adherents.

A recruiting foray into free black communities in Canada produced no results. He attempted to recruit Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman into active participation, but both demurred. The seizure of the armory was over within hours, its failure hastened by significant tactical mistakes and stimulating no uprising of slaves in the region.

How do all of these events suggest interpretation of the ultimate impact of Brown on the North-South rift? In my view his insurrection created reverberations that inflamed the simmering hostility of the South and advanced the budding notion that disunion was an attractive solution. The South had been moving ever stronger to the idea that there were powerful elements in the North determined to interfere with or eliminate slavery, despite its Constitutional protections.

The political bickering over the expansion of slavery into the territories suggested to Southerners that the North was intent on strangling slavery in its existing states. The uprising of Nat Turner when dozens of whites were slaughtered lingered long in Southern memory. The successful slave rebellion in Haiti evoked fear that the same could happen in the United States. In the inquiry that followed the failed raid documents revealed that Brown had written a constitution that would establish a new and free country within the South as an autonomous entity.

He clearly was linked to abolitionists whose avowed aim was to deprive Southerners of their lawful property. Brown used the period of his incarceration and trial to make public impassioned statements of the immorality of slavery and its demise being achievable only through violence. The notoriety of the event certainly reinforced Southern notions that the impingement of the North on their institutions was malevolent and inevitable, that political reconciliation was unlikely. I think it is fair to conclude John Brown gave the ball already rolling down the slope toward disunion a shove that increased its speed.

Oct 27, Mlhoganjr rated it it was amazing. John Brown is too complex a figure in American history to ever be deified in a way that, for example, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, or Abraham Lincoln were. All used violence as a means to free a people. In a nation that claims to cherish its freedom and yet at the same time adheres to rules and regulation John Brown is too complex a figure in American history to ever be deified in a way that, for example, George Washington, Ulysses S.

In a nation that claims to cherish its freedom and yet at the same time adheres to rules and regulations as tightly as any on earth, this is just too much to bear for history textbook authors and Civil War documentary commentators. It's one thing to shed blood in the most vicious ways to free an enslaved people or begin a new nation when you have a badge or a medal on your chest. It's quite another to do so with mere faith in God and moral conviction.

In addition, it's way too much for people to believe even in this day and age that a white man would go to war nearly by himself to free black people in the United States solely because it was the right thing to do. To paraphrase Malcolm X, speaking about Brown, "You'd have to be nuts! When he examines and explains the man, Brown and his allies do not seem like madmen or religious zealots. Harper's Ferry may be the climax of a long journey, but Patriotic Treason traces the evolution of principles and action Brown went through far earlier than that. Carton leaves the reader realizing that Brown is a man to be admired and there are few people similarly situated that would have the courage to do what he did.

Imagine for example, that you knew a group of people being enslaved around you as of this writing in May , the nation was unfortunate enough to learn just that, when three young women were discovered to have been held in chains in a Cleveland, Ohio basement for nearly a decade. Wouldn't it be only rational to use force and violence to free those people? In fact, wouldn't it be your duty to do so? As Carton tells it, this sense of duty was a primary force in the whole Brown family's opposition to slavery. For Brown, it was only that the timing was off. The actions of a single man to free slaves in was considered outrageous treason.

Two years later, the actions of an entire army to free slaves was considered a cornerstone in the story we proudly tell about ourselves, a nation where all men are equal. Hopefully in time American historians will view John Brown as one of our greatest heroes.

Jun 01, Steve rated it it was amazing. One of the most enlightening and important books on slavery, racism and emancipation in American History that I have ever read. The author fills in many gaps in what is known about John Brown and the story is a bit of a novelization of this unheralded and militant abolitionist.

Still, the comparison of his contemporaries — Lincoln and Thoreau and John Brown — pose the challenge of violence or non-violence as a course to alleviate, finally, America's racist history. This book gives an insight of the life of an abolitionist by the name of John Brown during the time of pre- civil war. According to Carton, John Brown was a man categorized by his action.

Until now Brown has been under a mask of judgment based on his radical views of socia Patriotic Treason; John Brown and the soul of America pg April 1, Evan Carton Patriotic Treason; John Brown and the Soul of America is a book about is one of the most underrated and miss understood figures in history. Until now Brown has been under a mask of judgment based on his radical views of social justice which to Carton does not convey the true man that Brown really was.

Carton Analyzes the life of Brown a radical Abolitionist through primary documents such as letters, newspaper articles, and stories that were passed down to generations in families of Abolitionists as well as African Americans. Carton gives an explanation of the justifications that Brown used to engage in actions such as Harpers Ferry and the blood bath at Pottawatomie creek. In this book Carton addresses many themes two of which are Patriotic vs. Carton believed Brown as an ill-fated patriot that fell under unpleasant circumstances. Despite Browns extreme actions Carton thought Brown was a real American who embodied the truth meaning of the constitution.

Carton like Brown believed slavery was a blinding issue that covered the eyes of the American people for a long time. John Brown through quotes and letters used in the book seems like a reasonable man; different from what most know Brown as. Today a number of historians might find it tough to classify the actions of john Brown. Many cannot justify weather Browns action were terrorism backed up delusional religious ideas or if brown was just strong believer in justice and equality.

Another theme Carton addresses in this book is who John brown was as an individual. Carton goes in to the child hood of brown to explain the how the flame of radical views Brown had were ignited. He goes in details explaining why Brown was Passionate about Blacks and highlights Browns Personal associations with Blacks which will answer why Brown wanted Equality for them. Another way carton Addresses this theme is through looking in to the vulnerable side of Brown as father to 20 children and a husband to two wives. As examined in this book; Aside from not being there all the time Brown loved his children and Wives, and Believed himself to be god fearing man.

After reading this book I have completely changed my mind about historical nonfiction books.