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How Did John Brown's Raid On Harpers Ferry

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John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry John Brown was born on May 9, 1800 in Connecticut. Brown grew up in a very religious family with strong Calvinist views. While the rest of the American colonies were starting to question their religious beliefs, and going through the First and Second Great Awakening, Brown stayed true to the way he grew up, and continued to follow his Calvinist beliefs. These beliefs showed through by his behavior and attitude towards his abolitionist movement that culminated at Harper’s Ferry. John Brown grew up with Calvinist roots that were very similar to the seventeenth century puritan. These puritans believed that a man’s life was meant to serve God. John’s father Owen did everything in his power to teach his children to fear God. Owen also taught his children that slavery was a sin. When the time came for Brown to have his own family, he made sure to raise his children with “a rod in one hand and the Bible in the other.”(Earle, pg.5) This signifies that Brown brought up his children the same way he was raised: with discipline, and an extreme respect and fear for God. …show more content…

The First Great Awakening was influenced by the teachings of Johnathan Edwards and George Whitefield. (Pearson, pg. 121) During this time in history, the American colonists were starting to question the teachings of Calvinism. Calvinists believe that one God rules over all things and hand chooses all of the events and choices that occur in someone’s life. During the Great Awakening these Calvinist colonists were starting to wonder if predestination was real, or if they were in fact in charge of their own

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