Comparative Analysis of John Brown and Timothy McVeigh: Terrorism, Motivations, and Methods

Researchers and historians alike have not come up with a clear or complete terrorism definition. However, it is agreed that terrorists aim to instill fear in individuals whom they target. Since WW1, research provides that massive bombing, for instance, has been a common method incorporated in contemporary warfare. However, it is essential to note that the bombing of martial targets is not considered a terrorist act (Martini, 2017). This is because among terrorists, "terror" acts as the goal, making it distinct from other forms of violence and unlawful acts. This paper provides information on the differences between John Brown (abolitionist) and Timothy Veigh. In this case, unlike Brown, whose actions were aimed at rebelling against slavery, McVeigh's rebellion against the US government and citizens appears to have no purpose whatsoever. McVeigh, in this case, is brought out as taking life for no reason.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The public views on John Brown have taken drastic changes over the years from (1859) his execution. He was an abolitionist prominent for implementing erratic and violent acts. Even though he fought for abolishing slavery, he applied excessive force to achieve his goals; this included killing. At some point, he appears in various artworks represented as "an Old Testament patriarch and odd mixture of proto-martist."1800 (May 9th) marked his birth in Torrington, Connecticut. He was an American born and raised in a family deeply rooted in religion (Congregationalists) with a heritage of puritans (Martini, 2017). He moved throughout New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Ohio which made it difficult to provide for his family. Research further provides that even though he was a white American, Brown stayed with the African Americans and settled with them in 1849 in North Elba. This was land provided by Gerrit Smith, an antislavery philanthropist. Being against slavery, John Brown insisted on taking actions aimed at helping stop slavery against blacks. He attended local educational institutions in Ohio, where he spent most of his youth time. Even though his father worked in colleges, John received minimal formal education (Martini, 2017). He married Mary Ann in 1833. Brown joined his sons in Kansas in 1855 to support antislavery forces in advocating for justice; the conflict is also called the "bleeding Kansas." With wagons filled with ammunition and guns, Brown was selected to lead the antislavery guerrilla in Osawatomie. Similarly, following, "the Kansas-Nebraska Acts" which had implemented strategies regarding the newer Kansas land without eliminating slavery acts, was the main reason why Brown traveled to Kansas with his family with the aim of developing political statements with which to guarantee that Kansas would be free from slavery (Sloan, 2016).

John Brown is associated with two terrorist acts in his lifetime. In West Virginia, he raided "on Harpers Ferry"(1859), and in (Kansas)" the Pottawatomie raids" (1856), both of which involved killing and violence (Martini, 2017). During the Pottawatomie raids, for instance, Brown led his four sons, two men, and his son-in-law, and his raids were most of the time almost spontaneous and unplanned. He was driven by vengeance following the raids at Lawrence in which settlers in Kansas were threatened and killed by proslavery settlers. Brown entered their cottages, interrogated, and killed the men using knives and swords (Sloan, 2016). Even so, Brown and his group spared other southern settlers' lives, particularly teenage sons and wives of people they had assassinated, even the ones who had identified them. Brown and his group only killed men engaged in violent acts against the blacks or threatened them.

In his other raid in 1859, John Brown held the United States arsenal in Virginia (Harpers Ferry) with his 18 group members. In this case, he used arsenal arms among other manufactured "old-fashioned pikes" in starting the guerrilla warfare against slavery. His army consisted of whites' who aided in seizing the arsenal, and he trusted that soon, slaves would also join the antislavery groups to oppose "peculiar institutions." In his raids, John Brown arrested slave owners such as Lewis Washington. In 1858; John Brown held a meeting in Canada, Ontario, and Chatham for white and black supporters in which he provided his ideas regarding establishing the Virginia and Maryland mountains to act as channels for eluding slaves (Sloan, 2016). He was later selected to act as a chief commander, which further gave him the economic and moral aid of Gerrit Smith among other influential abolitionists in Boston, "secret six." in 1859, Brown, five African American abolitionists, and 16 whites developed their headquarters in Maryland. Brown took roughly 60 men to act as his captives, aiming at recruiting more escaped slaves to his group developing an "army of emancipation." during the raids on Harpers Ferry, the raiders shot a railway handler after refusing to conform with the raiders halt. Browns' group also assassinated various townsmen in firefights; the mayor died in the process. In some instances, John Brown also held a train after which he released it, letting passengers report his acts to officials in Washington DC (Sloan, 2016). This resulted in Brown's arrest following the command of Army Brevet.

Similarly, he trusted the use of violence to end slavery, and the main reason for the raids on Harpers Ferry was to give slaves weapons. However, John Brown's efforts were unsuccessful, resulting in the death of 10 of his men; others were wounded while Brown was arrested. He was later found guilty and convicted to death, after which he was hanged. At the time of his arrest, Brown had killed many raiders (Sloan, 2016). He was convicted of associating with other slaves in protesting, murder, and treason; in his defense, Brown stated that he believed his acts towards antislavery were according to "God's plans and commandments." Research provides that in the month between John Brown's convictions, he wrote letters perceiving himself as a "Christ-like martyr giving his life to free slaves."

Like Brown, Timothy McVeigh also perceived brutality as a method of getting things done. McVeigh was born in 1968, in New York (Pendleton). He was an American revolutionary responsible for carrying out "the Oklahoma City bombing"(1995, 19th April) (Gilbert, 2016). Until other attacks in 2001, the bombing was considered the deadliest in the United States and had resulted in 168 individuals killed, yet he had no direct hostility with them. McVeigh was born and raised in a blue-collar household in New York, and according to research, he showed interest in weapons (guns) earlier in his childhood (Ward, 2016). In 1986, he graduated and left secondary school, after which he joined a local business university for a short time. In the same year, research shows that Timothy read William Pierce's "The Turner Diaries" whose details correspond to Timothy’s' strategy in his bombing in Washington. In 1988, he joined the American army and even earned a trophy for courage during the Persian Gulf War (bronze star) (Ward, 2016). In 1991, he, however, left the army and moved back to New York, where he found it challenging to seek financially stable work. He joined Michael Fortier and Terry Nichols and traded guns all through America.

In 1993, Timothy went to Texas(Waco) to examine the FBI siege with regard to the "branch Davidian compound" and perceived the American government operations as unlawful, after which Timothy, Fortier, and Nichols associated with other "militia" groups(Midwest) (Gilbert, 2016). Throughout 1944, McVeigh started actively making plans aimed at terminating the "Alferd Murrah building" located in Oklahoma City (Gilbert, 2016). After which, Nichols and McVeigh purchased large amounts of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which upon combining with fuel oil, could offer the necessary bombs' explosive force (Ward, 2016). In 1995, McVeigh parked the vehicle with the bomb towards the entrance of the Murrah Building. Around 9.02 AM, the bomb exploded, damaging the buildings' front and killing approximately 168 individuals, while over 500 others were injured (Ward, 2016). Therefore unlike Brown, whose rebellion was aimed at fighting against slavery (evil institutions), McVeigh’s' fight against the American government and its citizens appears to have no purpose. McVeigh was later arrested, after which Nichols also confessed to the authorities (Gilbert, 2016). The jury took approximately three days to reach a unanimous guilty judgment, after which McVeigh was given a death sentence (1997). McVeigh was then ranked as the initial state prisoner to be exterminated in the preceding years (1963). Similarly, unlike Brown, who used arrows and old-fashioned arms, McVeigh implemented the use of modern weapons (bombs and guns).

References

Gilbert, P., & Hesterman, J. (2016). Terrorism: Timothy McVeigh. Retrieve from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patti_Gilbert-Bonner/publication/306056700_Terrorism_McVeigh_and_the_Oklahoma_City_Bombing/links/57ac9ce208ae42ba52b249e7.pdf

Martini, M. U. (2017). Abolitionism and the Logic of Martyrdom: Death as an Argument for John Brown, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Frederick Douglass. Retrieve from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/84703485.pdf

Paz, F. A. (2016). The Uprisings of Nat Turner and John Brown: Response and Treatment from the Abolitionist Movement and the Press. Inquiries Journal, 8(05). Retrieved from: http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1409/3/

Sloan, S. (2016). Placing Terrorism in an Academic and Personal Context: A Case Study of the Oklahoma City Bombing. Social Science Quarterly, 97(1), 65-74. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ssqu.12253

Trodd, Z. (2006). A Theatrical Manager: John Brown and the Radical Politics of the American Makeover Mythos. In The Great American Makeover (pp. 11-31). Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Retrieve from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780312376178_2

Ward, J., & Pilat, S. (2016). Terror, Trauma, Memory: Reflections on the Oklahoma City Bombing—An Introduction. Social Science Quarterly, 97(1), 1-8. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ssqu.12247