John Brown, US Slavery and Segregated Churches: A Christian Historian Offers Perspective
Brown, born in 1800 to Calvinist parents in Connecticut, believed in armed resistance to slavery. An ardent abolitionist, Brown is most known for leading less than two dozen men, including his sons, on a raid at Harpers Ferry in what is now West Virginia. Brown hoped to spark an uprising among slaves to bring an end to the institution, but failed miserably. Two days after the attack, Brown was defeated by Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee, and hanged on Dec. 2, 1859, after a swift trial headed by a judge and jury who were slaveholders. During his trial, the Christian abolitionist insisted that his actions were just and sanctioned by God.
In the interivew transcript below (edited for brevity), DeCaro discusses with CP aspects of the abolitionist movement and John Brown's place in it, Christian attitudes toward slavery, and some reasons behind segregated Christian churches....
