This chapter discusses the heroism of John Brown and the political maturity of the larger abolitionist movement in responding to the language regarding slavery used by white labor and by members of the women's movement both of which reflected such influences. The heroism Du Bois captured came from Brown's participating in a specifically African American abolitionism. As Du Bois showed, Brown's commitment to struggling alongside Black freedom fighters did not partake of a sentimentalism that would make him “blind to their imperfections.” Brown's life and death have long been of tremendous...

This chapter discusses the heroism of John Brown and the political maturity of the larger abolitionist movement in responding to the language regarding slavery used by white labor and by members of the women's movement both of which reflected such influences. The heroism Du Bois captured came from Brown's participating in a specifically African American abolitionism. As Du Bois showed, Brown's commitment to struggling alongside Black freedom fighters did not partake of a sentimentalism that would make him “blind to their imperfections.” Brown's life and death have long been of tremendous importance in informing and inspiring the actions of so-called traitors to the white race. The chapter states that the slave system executed dozens of whites for real and alleged acts of solidarity with slave rebels during the year after Brown's death.