John Brown: Radiant Foe of Injustice

By J.J. Parker

John Brown: Sinner or saint? Freedom fighter or terrorist?

He personified performance, acting when no one else sharing his antislavery views did. He embodied old-fashioned (even for that era) values of steadfastness, fervent religiousness, empathy for the less fortunate, and aversion to material wealth.

Brown dedicated his life to abolitionismin deed as well as wordsince 1837, when in church he raised his hand and before the congregation swore his devotion, an oath he never broke.

Significantly, many African Americans considered Brown the only white man worthy of their admiration, right up to the 1960s. The following play may explain why.

Browns actions sparked the Civil War, some scholars say. He and his followers fought border ruffians in Kansas, guided escaped slaves toward Canada, and at Harpers Ferry, lit the Southern powder keg that, after Abraham Lincolns election, led to the secession of several states.

John Brown: fanatic? murderer? liberator? Or just a plain, determined man?

He calmly accepted his fatedeath by hanginghoping his execution would impel lassitudinous Northerners into action.

And it did, epitomized by John Browns body.

Read how it happened.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514488478

J.J. Parker

N/A

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by J.J. Parker.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5144-8848-5

                eBook             978-1-5144-8847-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 04/29/2016

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

741115

Quotes

(Those) who would be free themselves must strike the blow.

-Lord Byron

Give me liberty, or give me death!

-Patrick Henry

John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave; he’s gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord, but his soul is marching on!

-Traditional

Sources

Horwitz, Tony. Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2011. Print.

John Brown (abolitionist). Wikipedia. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.

Quarles, Benjamin. Allies for Freedom: Blacks and John Brown. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974. Print.

Reynolds, David S. John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Print.

Tackach, James. The Trial of John Brown: Radical Abolitionist. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books, 1998. Print.

Setting

Ohio; New York State; Kansas; Virginia.

Time

1813-1859.

INTRODUCTION

John Brown seems a pseudonym. Yet it wasn’t. This brave, backboned man thrived in 19th Century America. He also fought slave owners in 1850s Kansas, in a lawless brawl preceding the so-called Civil War. True, Brown — fanatical about antislavery — and his minions murdured pro-slavery men, in Kansas and at Harper’s Ferry. Still, Brown craved justice and freedom more than anything else.

Freedom — what is it? A thesaurus might list liberty, or self-government — but what do those words mean? None but a former slave may know.

John Brown appointed himself to his task to liberate as many slaves as he could. He was white and free, yet when he — as a 12-year-old — witnessed the beating of a colored boy his own age, his psyche was imprinted with hatred for the institution of slavery.

Slavery, unfortunately, dates from prehistory. And history of the B.C. times indicates that all civilizations accepted it. Often, conquerors like Alexander of Macedonia would sell women and children into slavery — after killing all the men and teen boys of a resisting town. Why and how the subordination of fellow humans into bondage occurred is beyond understanding now, yet this abomination was rife and accepted in antiquity.

Until the 19th Century: then, people called abolitionists flourished like dandelions in spring, at least in the Northern U.S.A. England had abolished the slave trade earlier, but it continued unimpeded in America’s South. Whites and blacks, too many to list, spoke out more frequently from the 1830s onward. An escaped slave who changed his name to Frederick Douglass was exceptionally eloquent as a speaker and writer, and Louisa May Alcott’s novel Uncle Tom showed that a hunk of slices of former trees could speak louder than any orator, for her opus teared countless eyes and softened many Northern hearts that had previously been impervious to sympathy.

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. announced that he had a dream; a century before, John Brown had had a vision. Like any true martyr, Brown resolved to carry his glimpse to fruition, or to his decease.

And death it proved to be, from a suffocating rope tied by hostile Southerners, the apostles of subservience in America. And the noose ripped his flesh as it broke his neck, while asphixiating him — and it appeared that emancipation too was snuffed out.

But when foolish firebrands attacked Fort Sumpter two years later, they played the card that President Lincoln hoped — these Southerners smoothed the path to war, while claiming that Lincoln had started the conflagration…

Some African-Americans have written that they respect John Brown more than any other white man in American history. So how can any historian call his Harper’s Ferry rebellion a failure?

Read on… and judge for yourselves.

-J.J.P.

Beat Sheet for John Brown

Prelude: The ghost of John Brown (JB) speaks in soliloquy to audience, introducing himself, explaining why in life he sought to free slaves and fight their oppressors.

Act I, Sc. 1: The Brown farm in Ohio: JB, 13, explains to his father why he’s a day late after selling cattle in Michigan. JB tells a sad tale of befriending a slave boy who then was cruelly whipped by his savage master.

Act I, Sc. 2: JB, 15, notices an escaped slave family warily approach the Brown farm.

Owen Brown puts them up for the night in his cabin, despite young John Brown wanting to help them escape immediately. JB learns the value of restraint.

Act I, Sc. 3: In 1832, at John Brown’s cabin, his wife Dianthe dies in childbirth. Her baby — a son — dies also. JB is anguished. At the funeral on his property, JB strives to comprehend why God would cause heartache to good people, and to understand the implications of tragedy.

Act I, Sc. 4: JB and his father attend a church meeting in 1837, after abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy has been murdered by pro-slavery lunatics. JB stands and dedicates his remaining life to freeing slaves.

Act I, Sc. 5: At a church service, JB declares his devotion to the liberation of slaves, whom he considers human, despite the racism of the preacher, who considers them animals.

Act I, Sc. 6: Inside his house, in 1839, JB is angered by the lack of progress in freeing slaves. He wishes he had money to fund a slave rebellion, but his wife tells him his family needs money even more.

Act I, Sc. 7: Around a campfire, JB solidifies support from sons Jason and Owen in his vendetta against involuntary servitude.

Act II, Sc. 1: Frederick Douglass, young escaped slave who’s been gaining recognition by speaking about the evils of bondage, visits JB’s home in Springfield, Mass. Douglass pleads with JB to help free slaves, for JB, unlike most other white abolitionists, is willing to act instead of just talk. JB says he will conduct slaves along a passageway to freedom, but on his terms.

Act II, Sc. 2: In 1848, at JB’s new farm in North Elba, NY, he discusses with Gerrit Smith — the man who sold JB the property — the propriety of assisting free slaves, which Smith doesn’t agree with.

Act II, Sc. 3: JB escorts an escaped slave, Jehovah, northward. Before reaching Canada, the pair encounter a surly racist, Lowery. But JB intimidates him away.

Act II, Sc. 4: In a North Elba general store, innocent JB is caught eating (but not paying for) a pickle. Subsequently, the owner and a mailman question JB’s motives, if a freebooter like JB really wants to free slaves for nothing.

Act II, Sc. 5: Late Nov. 1850, Brown farm in North Elba: During cold weather, Mrs. Brown tells JB he won’t be able to provide enough food from farming, and should get a job in town. Solus, he says freeing slaves is still his priority, even above finding provisions for his family.

Act II, Sc. 6: Spring 1851: Owen and John Brown debate whether to leave North Elba to move back to Ohio, or to stay. Owen persuades his dad that the Brown vegetables and animals will thrive, so the family should remain.

Act II, Sc. 7: Sept. ’51: JB tries to bargain goods at a general store, because he has only pennies. Store owner Silas mocks the penny-pinching Brown. Before JB buys anything, a free black man enters. Silas and JB learn he’s distraught because an escaped slave was captured in NYC after no whites tried to resist the slave catchers.

Act II, Sc. 8: In church, JB informally debates a rigid puritan, and three white men arrive during the meeting to join abolitionist forces with freed blacks.

Act III, Sc. 1: JB learns in a letter from his son Owen that pro-slave Missouri ruffians plan to attack peaceful Kansas settlers who won’t allow slavery in their territory. JB vows to raise money to buy arms, and travel to fight the outlaws.

Act III, Sc. 2: JB and sons John Jr. and Fred set out for Kansas. Along the way, some volunteers join them. Later, along Pottawatomie Creek in Kansas, JB gains more followers, and greets Oliver Brown, who’d left North Elba a few days after JB. Next, JB drills his volunteer company of Pottawatomie Rifles on firing muskets, while Oliver and JB’s son-in-law Henry Thompson volunteer to join the rifles.

Act III, Sc. 3: Former Missouri Sen. David Atchison — pro-slavery — whips up a crowd of Mo. ruffians poised to raid and wreck free-state settlement Lawrence, K.T.

Act. III, Sc. 4: Missouri border ruffians destroy Lawrence. They burn or demolish many buildings, and slay innocent people. When JB learns of the wanton destruction, he sends his Pott. Rifles to the stricken community, arriving too late. JB resolves retribution.

Act III, Sc. 5: Around a campfire, JB learns of some of the chief border scoundrels, the Sherman brothers. He shocks two recruits by saying he plans to hack them to death in revenge.

Act III, Sc. 6: A rider brings word to Kansas of the caning of Charles Sumner, an abolitionist U.S. senator. JB is stunned that the man — a Southern senator — injuring Sumner wasn’t prosecuted despite many witnessing the event. He vows to retaliate by killing some border ruffians.

Act III, Sc. 7: By a campfire, JB and his sons plan the murder/revenge spree that is to soon follow.

Act III, Sc. 8: JB and sons murder three Doyles for their pro-slavery sentiments.

Act III, Sc. 9: After the Doyle murders, the Browns abduct and slay another pro-slavery man, Wilkinson.

Act III, Sc. 10: After Wilkinson, the Browns capture, abduct, and kill Sherman, another pro-slavery man.

Act IV, Sc. 1: The next morning, Jason Brown, JB’s peace-loving son, confronts his father about the wanton murders he ordered the night before. Torn emotionally, Jason criticizes his father. JB in turn chastises a whining Fred for being sad after willingly killing the night before, while Jason was brave enough to disobey his father.

Act IV, Sc. 2: The Battle of Black Jack: JB and his Pott. Rifles are ambushed near Black Jack, Mo., as the Brownies themselves try to sneak attack Missouri slave owners. Jason and John Jr. are captured but exchanged after JB instructs Jeremiah and others to assault the ruffians from behind. Afterwards, each side’s leader philosphizes.

Act IV, Sc. 3: In a Kansas ravine, JB and his minions discuss their future. JB says he wants to incite a slave rebellion. Oliver Brown misses home cooking, and believes that JB will never be able to free slaves because of too many opposing white Southerners.

Act IV, Sc. 4: As the Brownies, avoiding a posse, ride wagons to Nebraska, they encounter militia cavalry from Kansas. The troopers recognize JB and cheer him, yet he is humble and not enamored with his growing fame.

Act IV, Sc. 5: At a border ruffian camp near Lawrence, an officer and two men explain why they’re trying to prevent Kansas from becoming a free state. They express belief that JB is crazy.

Act IV, Sc. 6: JB is interviewed in Lawrence by a friendly reporter, William Phillips, about JB’s motives and plans. JB is moved to anger as he rails against slavery and injustice.

Act IV, Sc. 7: JB and Brownies rob a pro-slave Kansas farmer named John E. Brown of his cattle, weapons, and supplies; JB will use these in his fight against slavery.

Act IV, Sc. 8: Missouri militia, 300 cavalrymen under Gen. Reid, plan to surprise JB’s force and capture him, then level free settlements Osawatomie, Topeka, and Lawrence. After a messenger warns JB, he boldly plans to attack the much larger force and send it back to Missouri. The raiders ride toward Osawatomie, but are ambushed by JB’s men. A battle ensues. The raiders endure lots of casualties, but counterattack, scattering JB’s men. Then the raiders loot and burn Osawatomie. Observing, an anguished JB declares that he will carry the war to Africa, meaning he will invade the South. Outside the town, an unarmed Fred Brown is slain by a raider.

Act V, Sc. 1: Jason Brown tells JB that Fred Brown died after being shot while unarmed by a Missouri raider. The two Browns express sorrow, and JB vows revenge against slave owners and pro-slavery men.

Act V, Sc. 2: JB and Owen Brown ride into Lawrence. JB is cheered, but he tells onlookers that he’s no hero, and much more needs to be done in the struggle against bushwhackers. Townies agree, and plan a defense against an impending raid. When it occurs, the Lawrence militia bravely fight off 200 Missourians, who flee like bullies once they’re stood up to. Later, the town mayor thanks JB for inspiring the militia, and JB predicts a civil war while giving military advice.

Act V, Sc. 3: The Browns move east, away from Kansas, to North Elba, N.Y. JB tells Jason that he’s giving up farming: his wife and offspring will handle the mundane chores at the North Elba farm while JB recruits volunteers and raises money for his true calling: starting a slave rebellion.

Act V, Sc. 4: JB speaks at a gathering of well-to-do abolitionists in Massachusetts, at a meeting arranged by Franklin Sanborn, a wealthy young Harvard graduate. JB stirs the crowd when he speaks, and gains contributions.

Act V, Sc. 5: JB meets Frederick Douglass at D.’s home; they discuss the impact of the recent Dred Scott U.S. Supreme Court decision. JB tries to persuade D. to speak with him in Massachusetts. But D. says he has engagements of his own, and JB suggests that D. also try to raise money to fight slavery.

Act V, Sc. 6: JB speaks to a Concord, Mass., meeting of abolitionists. He charms them, and admits he seeks money and supplies to start a slave insurrection within two years.

Act V, Sc. 7: JB secretly meets Hugh Forbes, an English soldier of fortune, and tries to persuade Forbes to teach JB’s recruits the art of guerilla warfare. Forbes is dubious about JB’s goal of slave insurrection. They decide to postpone further plans until 1858.

Act V, Sc. 8: JB speaks to 10 recruits in Kansas. Some question his proposed method of freeing slaves. But JB asks that they all commit to abolitionism, no matter how long it takes, and prepare to die, if necessary.

Act V, Sc. 9: In freezing weather in Iowa, Brownies hit the trail east to Ohio. A broken wheel stops their progress, though JB resolves to press on.

Act VI, Sc. 1: In Washington D.C., Hugh Forbes spots JB (who’s there to get donations from politicians). Forbes confronts JB about not paying him for training JB’s recruits. Forbes threatens to expose JB’s plot to liberate slaves if Forbes is not paid.

Act VI, Sc. 2: JB speaks before the Massachusetts legislature, in favor of a bill to provide $100,000 to free-state Kansans. He speaks emotionally about the torture of one of his sons and the death of the other by border ruffians. He inspires the legislature to pass the bill.

Act VI, Sc. 3: JB, at Fred. Douglass’ home, is finishing writing his constitution (to be obeyed after his proposed slavery rebellion succeeds), a new constitution of the United States. D. questions the document’s usefulness, but JB says it will provide a rallying point and goals for abolitionists.

Act VI, Sc. 4: JB, in Springfield, Mass., meets with Aaron Stevens and John Kagi, two of his lieutenants. JB says Harpers Ferry will be the target of the first slave insurrection. Doubts arise, but JB overcomes them. JB assuages the others by calling for unity.

Act VI, Sc. 5: In Chatham, Ont., JB and a friend, Jermain Loguen, encounter Harriet Tubman, primary conductor on the Underground Railroad. She is feisty, but reasonable.

Act VI, Sc. 6: At the convention to find volunteers for a slave-freeing enterprise to be run by JB, he faces opposition from former slaves.

Act VI, Sc. 7: Forbes and Kagi debate JB’s sincerity. Martin Delany, a black from Chatham, enters the discussion.

Act VI, Sc. 8: The convention in Chatham continues. JB’s constitution is read and approved. JB has his constitution bound, and tells Delany that it will guide the United States government after his slavery rebellion concludes.

Act VI, Sc. 9: Kagi tells JB in Chatham that Forbes, frustrated from not being paid, has quit Brown’s group, and gone to D.C. to tell officials of the impending Harper’s Ferry raid. JB, angered, postpones the raid. As a smokescreen, he decides to return his band to Kansas, and resume operations there.

Act VII, Sc. 1: JB and his men liberate five slaves from the Hicklan farm in Missouri. Hicklan is angered but can’t stop them. The Brownies also take slaves and goods from the Larue farm. At the Cruise farm, Stevens is forced to kill the owner, as his men steal a slave and goods. JB admits to Tidd that one reason he freed slaves was to convince authorities in D.C. that JB was not about to raid Harper’s Ferry. Yet JB and his men must lead 11 slaves a thousand miles to Canada, or they’ll be recaptured.

Act VII, Sc. 2: In Lawrence, JB meets William Phillips, an abolitionist, in a hotel room. They discuss the feasability of a slave uprising orchestrated by JB.

Act VII, Sc. 3: After trudging through Iowa snow, the Browns stop in Iowa City. JB confronts a fool who’s talking trash about Brown. JB offers a duel to the fool, who declines and runs away.

Act VII, Sc. 4: Detective Allan Pinkerton, in Chicago, arranges for a boxcar on a train to Detroit (enroute to Canada) to be reserved by JB and his crew. Despite freezing conditions, the Browns and the escaped slaves carry on.

Act VII, Sc. 5: The Browns and escaped slaves slog through snow outside Detroit, heading toward the dock on the lake that will transport the slaves to Canada.

Act VIII, Sc. 1: In Cleveland, JB earns more than $200 selling horses he stole from slave owners in Kansas.

Act VIII, Sc. 2: JB speaks to an abolitionist crowd in Concord, Mass. After a heckler is ejected, JB privately discusses freeing slaves with Bronson Alcott and his daughter, Louisa May.

Act VIII, Sc. 3: Kagi and JB, in a room in the East, discuss the merits of freeing slaves.

Act VIII, Sc. 4: JB meets abolitionist James Russell at his house in New England, seeking money for his raid. JB claims a civil war is approaching that will costs countless lives.

Act VIII, Sc. 5: At North Elba, Salmon and Jason Brown confront their father about participating in the Harper’s Ferry raid. JB dismisses Jason and Salmon after they object to the raid. But Owen admits he’ll go along.

Act VIII, Sc. 6: In a boarding house room, JB and Kagi discuss how to free slaves.

Act VIII, Sc. 7: At a Cleveland meeting, after a dull talk by JB, a messenger sends word that President Buchanan has offered a bounty on JB. JB laughingly offers a bounty on the president, for one-tenth that of Brown’s.

Act VIII, Sc. 8: At a mansion in Springfield, JB raises funds for weapons from six wealthy abolitionists.

Act VIII, Sc. 9: JB visits Frederick Douglass at D.’s home, seeking the black abolitionist’s active support for the Harper’s Ferry raid. D. indicates moral support, but doesn’t say he’ll participate in the raid.

Act IX, Sc. 1: In Concord, Mass., JB, while speaking, is harassed by a redneck Southerner. Cops remove the heckler. Then, JB philosophizes with H.D. Thoreau and R.W. Emerson.

Act IX, Sc. 2: JB convines a Connecticut forge master to make pikes for him for his raid.

Act IX, Sc. 3: JB rides home to North Elba. He explains to his wife and daughters why he must go on his mission to free slaves. He asks Salmon Brown to accompany him on his raid, but partly because of Salmon’s wife’s pleas, Salmon declines. JB and his wife and children bid each other a sad farewell, and JB leaves, never to return to his home alive.

Act X, Sc. 1: At the Kennedy farmhouse — rented by JB’s band in Maryland near Harper’s Ferry — he and his men debate the chance of success of the raid on the arsenal.

Act X, Sc. 2: At a quarry in Pa., JB tries to persuade Frederick Douglass to join him on the HF raid. Douglass decides against going, saying it’s too dangerous.

Act X. Sc. 3: Dangerfield Newby, a freed black man, encounters JB at the Kennedy Farm. Newby wants to join JB’s band, to help free his wife and children from slavery.

Act X, Sc. 4: Inside the Kennedy farm house, escaped slaves Green, Newby, and Anderson discuss their plight. JB introduces two recruits, Leary and Copeland, and tells all that the HF raid will occur in a few days, on a Sunday, the Lord’s day.

Act X, Sc. 5: On the day before the HF raid, a new recruit gifts JB’s band with $600. JB takes it as a sign that God is on their side.

Act X, Sc. 6: Inside Kennedy Farm, JB holds a prayer service for he and his men prior to the night assault on Harper’s Ferry. After several men speak, JB orders the assault to begin.

Act XI, Sc. 1: The Browns attack HF. They overcome guards, and capture the federal arsenal, the armory, and a rifle factory.

Act XI, Sc. 2: A detachment of Brownies led by Stevens captures Col. Washington and his male slaves outside of HF.

Act XI, Sc. 3: JB and his men free the Allstadt slaves, and take hostage Allstadt and his son. JB arms the escaping slaves, one of whom reveals that his master has never mistreated him, surprising JB. Later, Dangerfield Newby shoots and kills two townsmen who approach him guarding a bridge into town. The firing awakens the rest of the residents.

Act XI, Sc. 4: Another man, Higgins, a relief guard, is also shot by one of the Brownies. Townspeople vow vengeance against those whom they consider to be robbers and murderers. A barkeep is taken prisoner by two Brownies, and when a train arrives, a baggage handler is also shot by a JB man. JB is disappointed that slaves from the area don’t join his assault. He resolves to stay in town until the next morning, though Watson Brown argues for immediate withdrawal. Meanwhile, the train conductor and a HF doctor spread the word of the raid, and a local militia is called to attack the raiders.

Act XI, Sc. 5: The Jefferson Guards militia seize a bridge leading into town, and kill Dangerfield Newby. Hogs eat his corpse while inebriated town rednecks celebrate. Col. Washington, a hostage, tells JB he’s trapped and can’t escape, but JB says he and his men can fight their way out. He orders rifles taken before the raiders leave HF. Meanwhile, the militia commander reveals he’s been ordered to block the Browns’ exit from town, and to await federal troops, who will capture the invaders. JB puts his freed slaves to work, but one of them runs away and surrenders to the militia. As JB notices both roads out of town are blocked by troops, he realizes the chance of escape for he and his men is small.

Act XI, Sc. 6: Osborne Anderson and Al Hazlett plot to escape HF that night. They do, across a river, and go to the Kennedy farm house to alert the Brownies there of the HF raid’s failure.

Act XI, Sc. 7: JB proposes a truce: releasing hostages for passage out of HF. The militia’s colonel rejects it. Then, JB does not comfort his dying sons, Watson and Oliver, in the engine house. Instead, ever mindful of his mission, he keeps watch on the town while they bleed to death.

Act XI, Sc. 8: HF Mayor Fontaine Beckham is killed by a Brownie, Ed Coppoc. The mayor is popular, and onlookers are horrified and incensed. In retribution, captured Brownie William Thompson is used as target practice by some townsmen and riddled with bullets.

Act XI, Sc. 9: Col. Robert E. Lee and his 90 Marines arrive at HF. They demand JB’s surrender. When he refuses, they storm the engine house and capture JB, freeing the hostages and retaking the slaves. Lee reveals that he’s been ordered to transport the raiders to Charles Town, Va., for trial.

Act XI, Sc. 10: In HF, a Southern reporter interviews an unrepentent Watson Brown as he lies dying. JB, wounded, is carried to lie next to a bleeding Aaron Stevens. Instead of expressing regret, they are satisfied that they did their best to free HF-area slaves.

Act XI, Sc. 11: Still in HF, a congressman queries JB about the HF raid. Va. Gov. Wise, angry at JB for the raid and deaths, tells JB that he has arranged a speedy trial for JB — and therefore a looming execution.

Act XI, Sc. 12: A pained JB exchanges gibes with a Southern guard over why slavery exists, and why Southern men don’t work their own plantations.

Act XI, Sc. 13: Col. Lee interrogates JB in a Charles Town jail cell. JB parries the questions, and a frustrated Lee exits.

Act XII, Sc. 1: Two white Southerners debate the propriety of the South seceding. JB tries to comfort a dying Aaron Stevens.

Act XII, Sc. 2: In his Charles Town jail cell, JB is interviewed by newspaper reporters, as his trial and cause have become famous in America.

Act XII, Sc. 3: In jail, JB is questioned by a hostile newspaper reporter. Other reporters join in. In a preliminary hearing, JB is questioned as to his motives by a hostile Gov. Wise. After fainting, JB revives and tells all that God plans retribution for those who keep slaves.

Act XII, Sc. 4: Two men in Ohio read a newspaper and discuss the nationally famous JB trial. In Virginia, the judge and lawyers for JB’s trial are assigned.

Act XII, Sc. 5: JB’s trial starts in Charles Town. After windy opening statements, JB rises to show he has knowledge of trial procedure, and prefers to be his own counsel, which the judge denies.

Act XII, Sc. 6: JB is convicted and sentenced to hang. But he impresses onlookers when, after his sentence is given, he mesmerizes them and reporters and even the lawyers and judge with an impassioned speech.

Act XII, Sc. 7: JB’s attorney says he can appeal and get a stay of execution. JB doesn’t want one: he wants to die and become a martyr to further the cause of abolitionism.

Act XII, Sc. 8: A big-city reporter and a preacher vex JB. But he reveals that he’s gifting the jailor, Avis, in his will because Avis is the only Southerner who’s treated him decently.

Act XII, Sc. 9: JB debates a Southern clergyman in the jail. JB kids around with Avis, though death awaits.

Act XII, Sc. 10: