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Story · A CLOSER LOOK

Brown and Lincoln: blood, judgment, and a question

1859–1865

Archival photograph of the crowd and platform at Lincoln’s second inauguration at the U.S. Capitol

ABOUT THIS STORY

Brown wrote before the war that the country’s crimes would be purged only with blood. In March 1865, Lincoln contemplated a war continuing until the wealth of unrequited toil was lost and the blood drawn by slavery repaid.

These passages are placed together because of the question they raise for me about Lincoln’s trajectory and Brown’s prescience. Sherman’s experience supplies another way into how differently the coming war’s magnitude was understood.

My take

Is there a conscious or unconscious acknowledgment of parts of what John Brown said? The connection is in Brown’s words and the thematic crux of the Second Inaugural. Lincoln grew, and Brown was more prescient than his contemporaries. That is a valid thing to wonder about.

1859–1865 ·

How it unfolded.

John Brown — The Meteor of the War →Abraham Lincoln →William Tecumseh Sherman →

  1. Brown and Lincoln: blood, judgment, and a question

    Brown’s final warning and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, read beside one another.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Original texts.

Brown’s final warning Full text

John Brown · December 2, 1859

I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.
The price of unrequited toil Selected passage

Abraham Lincoln · March 4, 1865

Fondly do we hope ~ fervently do we pray ~ that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'

A CLOSER LOOK

The story behind it.

Brown’s final warning and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, read beside one another.

1859: a warning

Brown’s final note looks forward to a reckoning through blood.

1865: a reckoning

Lincoln considers whether the terrible war might be the price required for slavery’s wrongs. The original passages are presented together below.

START HERE

Brown (opens in a new tab)

Source for Brown and Lincoln: blood, judgment, and a question: Brown.

Sources for this closer lookBrown (opens in a new tab)Second Inaugural (opens in a new tab)Sherman (opens in a new tab)

FOLLOW THE CONNECTIONS

There’s a thread here.

HOPPER THREAD · 4 CONNECTIONS

Brown, the war, and the price of slavery

Brown’s warning, Sherman’s experience, and Lincoln’s later words form a question I want to explore.

Archival black-and-white portrait of John Brown, clean shaven, wearing a dark coat and high white collar.Black-and-white head-and-shoulders portrait of Abraham Lincoln in suit and bow tie, from the NPS history page.Engraved portrait of William Tecumseh Sherman in military uniform, with his signature beneath, from his memoir.Archival photograph of the crowd and platform at Lincoln’s second inauguration at the U.S. CapitolArchival photograph of the crowd and platform at Lincoln’s second inauguration at the U.S. Capitol

Explore the original.

Follow the original source to explore the work in its own context.

Brown (opens in a new tab)Second Inaugural (opens in a new tab)

Footnotes

1. About the connection

The connection is Eric’s interpretive question, grounded in the two texts. No direct historical acknowledgment by Lincoln is identified in the sources gathered for this page.

Brown (opens in a new tab)Second Inaugural (opens in a new tab)
Sources & credits

Introductions are grounded in the sources below. Collection notes and reading prompts provide an editorial starting point; personal opinions are identified in the collection’s content.

Archival photograph of the crowd and platform at Lincoln’s second inauguration at the U.S. Capitol

Library of Congress · Lincoln’s second inauguration, March 4, 1865

Open the source (opens in a new tab)