The abolitionists were not like the rugged people out West, and they were not like John Brown, either. They were people who made speeches and did politics.

When you study history in American schools, very rarely is the name John Brown mentioned. We know who Kanye West is or Twyla Tharp or Shania Twain.

John Brown was clearly flawed in real life. He did some terrible things, but he did some things none of us would have had the heart to do. His moral leanings were unquestionably admirable.

John Brown was tried for treason, murder, and inciting slaves to insurrection.

The attack of John Brown upon Harper's Ferry came upon Virginia like a clap of thunder out of a clear sky.

John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection.