Patriotic+Treason+-+9th

= Discussion Questions = = **Week One** = = 1. How was John Brown's life as a child different from ours today? (Regarding discipline and experiences) =
 * He had many siblings, and many that died
 * How well he dealt with death (squirrel example)
 * How involved he is in his religion, it is harsher to him and more important
 * His fathers constant beatings as discipline
 * How Calvanism is harsher than a kid should deal with beating until kids get it right
 * Having a black slave friend who gets beat with shovels for no reason

2. How was the Reverend Hallock important to young John Brown? (Pg. 11)
 * Helps instill beliefs in Owen, who impacts John
 * John listens to his sermon and adopts the "Golden Rule"
 * Instilled abolitionist state of mind

3. How did Calvinism impact John Brown in his young and later life?
 * Owen was a big part of the religion in the area and led to John adopting the religion
 * Showed slavery is sacrilegious
 * Wanted to be a bigger part of the church, devoted himself to religion
 * Brought him closer to father
 * Made him oppose slave holders

4. How was Stearns involved in John Brown's plot? Did he know exactly what was going to happen?
 * He was the supplier of weaponry and good friend of Brown
 * He wasn't telling the truth to the court
 * "Shivers" instead of being shocked when he was told of what happened at the ferry
 * Already knew what was going to happen

-Ethan Smith
 * Vocabulary**
 * Week One**

1a. Slavery
 * 1. Liberty

2. Eulogists || Page 5, paragraph 2, line 2 Page 5 Paragraph 4 Line 3

Page 4 Paragraph 1 line 2 || 1./a The author mentions this word frequently in this paragraph, a first to emphasize how much we use it and which important quotes it is in, such as the Declaration of Independence, then he uses it to say we are hypocritical because of slavery. he says that slavery is "incompatible" with liberty and it is unbelievable that all thirteen colonies had slavery as legal, yet said they wanted to have liberty in America. 2. (incase you didn't understand the word) one who writes/gives speeches about someone, usually at a funeral or post-death. || //Patriotic Treason// opens with the interrogation of George Stearns. He is accused of being an accomplice to John Brown who was a notorious abolitionist at the time. The book then goes back in time to discuss the life of John Brown and his puritan ancestors, and sets up the setting of expanding slavery in the south. The author spends a lot of text explaining that, even though John was raised in a very religious and strict family, he idolized his father, Owen Brown. The father had been a strict abolitionist and raised John to be one as well. The book then delves into John Brown's anti-slavery march on Harpers Ferry. This was a raid of a federal armory which resulted in the capture - and ultimate execution - of John Brown. He narrowly escapes an assassination attempt after he was captured, but was finally hanged by the state of Virginia for conspiring with slaves to rebel. Stay tuned for an an epic episode of human history...
 * -GHEIT ||
 * Summary:**
 * Week One**

-Robbie Doan


 * Quote**

**Week One** "Stearns took a breath. "I should have disapproved of it if I had known of it,' he replied, 'but I have since changed my opinion. I believe John Brown to be the repreentative man of this century as Washington was of the last." (Carton, 15) We chose this quote because if Stearns is comparing John Brown to George Washington then John Brown really must be a man who was the turning point of American history. In my opinion if I were compared to George Washington I would feel honored. As I read this book I'm sure I will get to know how John Brown really did change our history and more about who he was and what he did.  -Alexa Winestock

= Week Two =

**Discussion Questions**
-Alexa Winestock

1. Carton writes, "He would have been different had his mother lived" (p 37). In what ways could it have been "different" if Ruth Brown lived? 2. Compare and Contrast John's life as a teenager to ours.
 * He would have had a better connection to women.
 * He would be more affectionate and have more compassion
 * John would need to impress his father less as well as having less of a connection to Owen.
 * "Instinctively, he concealed his turmoil beneath a bashful silence and an impassive expression that girls might have taken for gloominess..." (p. 37)--His behavior with woman without the influence of his mother.
 * It works for and against him because on page 37 it mentions Dianthe didn't have a father so they both didn't have a parent figure of the opposite sex but in the same sense it could have changed his personality somewhat.


 * Compare:** we're all white, started working at a young age and well-educated people

3. Why do you think John treated his workers just like his kids? What do you think was the ideal outcome he wanted? 4. What turning points in either the Brown's or the communities lives did you see in this chapter?
 * Contrast:** he never interacted with women until the age of 18, he didn't have a mother, lacked ability to talk to women and it hurt him that he didn't have his mother to teach him things like that.
 * Prevent them from stealing
 * Make them work harder and have more trust in each other
 * Learn a lesson (from being isolated from everyone like the man who stole did)
 * To be taught respect and discipline
 * Married Dianthe-loved, learned to be responsible, interacted, and matured.
 * Business did really well-he's very respected and took over tannery which is more responsibility.
 * Taking up his father's way of life and how he lived it when he was a father.

**Vocabulary**
-Ethan Smith


 * Word/ Phrase || Page # || Analysis/Definition ||
 * Emotional Turmoil || Pg 38 1st line || This is very important because of how the author uses it to describe John's feelings about his soon to be wife, how he is afraid to interact with Dianthe. ||
 * Chasm || Pg 38 1st paragraph, 2nd to last line || Definition: A gash or gap, missing link. Used in the case of his missing dead mother. ||
 * aesthetic || Pg 38 2nd paragraph, middle of page || Definition: A sense of beauty, a visual description, describing how his future wife looks. ||
 * Trailblazer, pioneer || Pg 42 last ine || This important because his father was described as a trailblazer or pioneer of the town and somewhat of the religion. ||

-Robbie Doan
 * Quote**

//"...none of John Brown's children ever grew alienated from their father, nor he from them, and not one abandoned the cause of abolition and racial equality that he championed."// --This quote is significant because it can be paralleled to the story of John Brown's own childhood, who was raised by his father to support the cause of abolition. Heavy emphasis was placed on John's upbringing in the beginning of the book. Also, chapter two described John Brown's family life and so this quote pretty much sums up the values on which he raised his children.

=Week Three =


 * Discussion Questions - Robbie Doan**

The loss of John's first wife brought much grief and sadness, but also made him realize the importance of strong family bonds as well as a god relationship with god. Although he temporarily became less active in the public abolitionist scene, he became more family oriented and began to preach more good morals to his children. He never lost his ambition to abolish slavery though.
 * 1. How do you think the loss of his wife effected John Brown and his persuit of equality?**

Brown felt that he was living in a pretty unsegregated village. Seeing the racism of the church infuriated him because he believed that churches should never be segregated and realized that the village was not as friendly to blacks as he had thought. Also, his life had recently taken a turn for the worse financially, so he may have been in a bad mood already.
 * 2. What drove Brown to stand up and interrupt the sermon after years of being "inactive"?**

Although Illinois was a free state, the citizens of an illinois town destroyed the printing press of a popular abolitionist at the time. This shows that even in free states, many people are not willing to go out of their way to endorse abolition. This may be because the townspeople did not want the negative attention of the abolitionist to be brought to their small town. Also, people may have feared riots or attacks on the town as a result of Lovejoy's writings.
 * 3. What does the Elijah Lovejoy incident in Illinois show about the popular opinion of free states in the USA?**

Walker - much like Malcom X - supported African-American vengeance on the white people who had harmed them. He would often write documents, which were spread underground throughout the US. Walker and Garrison both engaged in political efforts to abolish slavery. So far in this book, Brown hasn't published much about abolition, but his argument seems to be backed by good morals, educated ideas, and a strong persuasive ability. Also, he uses god to defend his argument and advocates peace between races (Garrison advocates peace as well).
 * 4. How do the tactics of abolition compare between Brown, Walker, and Garrison?**

**Vocabulary**

-Alexa Winestock
 * Word/ Phrase || Page # || Analysis/Definition ||
 * Voice || Pg 55 2nd line || The word voice seems to me very significant in this book because everyone is trying to have their voice and opinion heard, mostly slaves and abolitionists. ||
 * Disfranchised || Pg 59 line 1 || Definition: deprive (someone) of a right or privilege ||
 * Only || Pg 58 2nd paragraph || In context it is such an important word because it is saying that, "only about 3,500 blacks remained enslaved in the North." The word only here is such an underestimation of the number of slaves still enslaved. ||

**Summary**

 * Chapter 3**

This chapter opens on New Year’s Day with John’s son Frederick being sick and dying along with his pregnant wife Dianthe. Without getting into it to much, the story flashes back to William Lloyd Garrison on New Year’s Day past starting the first legitimate abolitionist newspaper. It is a big deal because not only does Brown avidly support this newspaper, but it is also the first of its kind beside the brochure that is told of in the chapter written by a freed slave Walker, who calls for vengeance and angers many white people. Because of that brochure, Garrisons //The Liberator// is already frowned upon because of the previous angry and vengeful written abolitionist works. Next the author goes into the ideas of the general population and the plan of colonization in Liberia where freed black slaves or already free blacks were promoted to go to as a place for them to live without the whites, and so the whites could live without them. The story comes back with Dianthe dying and reading a passage from the bible. Later, she goes into labor and has yet another still born, and later after that, she passes away. The major part of her death is the extremely harsh emotional reaction Brown has toward her death and how his kids finally see him show “hard emotions” as they put it.


 * Chapter 4**

Chapter four describes much of John’s life as moving around and getting settled. In the very beginning, he quickly marries a 17 year old named Mary, mostly out of necessity, a month before the anniversary of Dianthe’s death. From there he focuses mainly on his family and sells his tannery in Hudson, because of his need of money, and moves to Ohio. He receives a job offer from a wealthy man, Kent, but it is too good to be true. He and his family then move back to Hudson, then to Franklin. His family settles down on a farm and makes his money by working. He also starts buying massive amounts of land in hopes of selling the land to a construction company who is building a canal on that land to make a lot of money. After he settles down it describes his very large family with 5 children from Dianthe, and soon to be 5 children from Mary, with another child on the way. The chapter ends with John spending quality time with his family and starts to talk about slavery and how they all should “wage a war on it”. He makes them all swear to the cause and then for the first time in his life gets down on his knees and prays with his family instead of standing while praying.

-Ethan Smith

....-Gracie Heitman "Slavery is the great and foul stain upon the North American Union..."(John Quincy Adams 53) this quote is important because it is one of the title chapters and it sets up the overall theme of the book and in these chapters John Brown suffers greatly but this fact that slavery affected Brown so much that the suffering he was going through was worth it.
 * Quote**

=**Week Four ** = 1.The book says that people are evil and the day that people stop being evil is when slavery will end (pg. 94), do you believe this is true, or there were other reasons for the continuation of slavery?
 * Discussion Questions**
 * the people may not have been evil but more ignorant
 * there is still evil in the world and yet slavery has ended in America

2. Why did Frederick Douglass disagree with Garrisons "militancy"? 3. What were some of the main differences in how the slaves saw the Christianity and what the white europeans taught them? 4. What are your opinions on how the family served each other or how the mom and the kids served the men? if you do not think this is unusual, why do you think Douglass did? G-Heit
 * Garrison gives no reason for wanting to revolt and only revolts out of anger
 * Douglass has a reason for wanting to fight and he resents Garrison for his lack of purpose
 * the white men told them that christians turn the other cheek, love your enemy, and that the more you suffer on earth, the better your heavenly life will be.
 * the slaves saw christianity as a light because Jesus was a friend to the poor and the oppressed.
 * strange because John Brown was so against slavery yet he still makes his kids and wife serve him
 * Yet men in that time may have had their families do things like that for them
 * Douglass probably thought it was stange because it seems hypocritical and he probably questioned John Brown as a leader.


 * Vocabulary - Robbie Doan**

line 21 || At the beginning of chapter five, John Brown had a very tough time getting a loan from the bank to support his business. This was a great struggle for him, but at the same time, he would often loan his time and energy to fugitive slaves that he would willingly smuggle across the border into free states while on business trips. || line 2 || To regress is the act of backward moving. Brown experienced much regression early in this chapter because of the loss of many children and the loss of almost all of his money. Eventually, however, he was able to turn things around. ||
 * Word/ Phrase || Page # || Analysis/Definition ||
 * Loan || 90,
 * Regress || 110,
 * Philanthropist || 115, line 16 || A philanthropist is someone who makes an active effort to promote human wellfare by raising money or engaging in supportive acts. Brown, as well as Douglass and many other abolitionists in this book, can be considered philanthropists because they help humanity in the form of lobying for awareness and support nationally. ||

**Summary**

In the two chapters we read, John Brown was back to square one by being a tanner. Four more of his kids have suffered diseases and passed away. Brown became bankrupt and that's why he went back to being in the tanning business. Brown and a man named Simon Perkins started a business of selling wool when he moved to Akron, Ohio. Brown sometimes transported fugitive slaves when he crossed the Ohio River for business in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio. In 1846, Brown and Perkins opened an office in Springfield, Massachusetts for the selling of their wool. Brown easily gained the trust of the black community in Akron. This was the foreshadowing and the beginning of John Browns raid on Harper's-Ferry. The first person that John first revealed his plan to was Thomas Thomas, a man who worked for Perkins & Brown wool depot. Fredrick Douglass began to get involved in anti-slavery speeches and attend conventions for many abolitionists. He started to become a prominent figure. John and Douglass had a meeting and John also spoke of his plan to Douglass and Douglass thought it would not work. They talked about another option that they could attempt if they were going to risk their lives for freedom of slaves. John was more willing to give up his life fighting for slaves freedom than Douglass was. John Brown had also a released a memoir about a man named Sambo that many people read. John also moved to Timbucto on land that a man named Gerrit Smith owned, who was a wealthy man from his grandfather and father. He wanted to help build up the community of black families that were living there. John had moved his family once again to the Timbucto home. On his way he met a man named Thomas Jefferson who helped him on the rest of his journey and made it a smooth ride. John had also lost his 8th child, Ellen. The Fugitive Slave Law was passed the same time that John was in England trying to convince the Europeans his wool was of fine quality. He ended up being embarrased in front of many businessmen and failed to make America look like a strong and growing country. America had also gained California, a free state, and Missouri, a slave state. Meanwhile, the colony that John was trying to grow was actually diminishing, showing that he failed once again at something he tried to work out. John shutdown the office in Springfield for Perkins & Brown wool and started the United State League of Gileadites to fight for slaves freedom.

-Alexa Winestock

=**Significant Quote**=

For these two chapters I picked one quote from each chapter. I think they tie each other together one describing the other. On page 111 when John is talking to Frederick Douglass, he says, "You see, I am choosing to enter the valley of the shadow of death where you nobel, suffering negroes live all the time." Here John is saying how dedicated he is to abolishing slavery, willing to live with the slaves and die for them. The second quote on page 114 is more important explaining why it it ok for John to say these things so openly. "What made "Sambo's Mistakes" remarkable was not its content but the fact that black editors welcomed such criticism from a white man and gave it a public forum." This quote was even more important to me because of how openly John Brown talked to slaves and how I feel he was almost too open with them for them to accept him. Nevertheless, they did with open arms.

-Ethan Smith =** WEEK FIVE **= - Ethan Smith
 * Discussion Questions**

Why did John Brown react so differently to the most recent death of his newborn child than he did to all the other children who died in infancy?
 * He seemed not to care about this death.
 * He is almost apathetic, or maybe just used to it.
 * He gets angry that it happens. For example how he had the oxen trample the grave site.
 * He was upset but didn't show his emotions this time.
 * Didn't cry or go into depression like all of the other times.

What was the compromise of 1850?
 * It was referred to and know to most as the Missouri Compromise.
 * Anti-slavery politicians let Missouri be a slave state in exchange for Maine becoming a free state.

How did the Missourians occupying Kansas feel about northerners?
 * The pro slavery Missourians beat the northerners to kansas.
 * They hated them and wanted to kill them.
 * The book refers to when John Jr and Jason first came to the Kansas border, they were stopped by a local and asked where they were from. They told the man truthfully and was then told that they wouldn't last long.

How did Frederick Brown’s death impact John?
 * He was broken.
 * He couldn't protect his only son that needed protecting.
 * He said he wanted to be buried with Frederick in the same place.
 * It started the anger and fight in John, made him want to fight.

**Vocab**

 * Word/ Phrase || Page # || Analysis/Definition ||
 * bona fide || Pg 152 line 10 || Sincere, in good faith, with no fraud or deceit ||
 * Fetch || Pg. 196 Paragraph 2, Line 1 || He uses this word to describe how he was going to get the african americans, a good look into how they viewed their slaves. ||
 * Vociferous || Pg 199 Paragraph 2 Line 12 || marked by vehement insistent outcry. ||
 * ||  || --gracie heitman ||


 * Quote**

"We have no interest in revenge, Brown told him. What we do is for a principle." (Carton, 220) --This is the very end of chapter nine. It's significant because Fredrick Brown has recently died and some of the brothers want to seek revenge on the men who killed him. I think Brown shows strength when he says this quote because even though one of his eldest son's has just been murdered, he is keeping himself and his thoughts together. In the back of his mind we can infer that he probably wants revenge on these men but he is working for abolishing slavery and not for getting revenge on the men who murdered Fredrick.

-Alexa Winestock