Being a citizen of the United States of America, and now living in the southern states, I find myself sort of magnetized to this country's history, namely the
Civil War
. My girls and I took another beloved trip to the library a week ago where we checked out
"John Brown" written by
Jeanette Covert Nolan. This book is quite dated, yet very nicely tells the story of Old
John Brown. Seems to be written to the pre-teen crowd, but I'm a bit older than the pre-teen crowd and I enjoyed reading through it. It's a smooth read - with that aged eloquent vocabulary.
An excerpt from
Jeanette Covert Nolan's "John Brown"
:
"I have, may it please the court, a few words to say... I deny everything but what I have all along admitted a design on my part to free slaves. That was all I intended. I never did intend to murder, or treason, or the destruction of property... Had I interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, it would have been all right. Every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment."
"I say I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered in behalf of His despised poor was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments -- I say, let it be done."
