Questions About John Brown

[L Verge]

I have read briefly about Charles Hamilton and the Marais des Cygnes Massacre of 1858, the last of the major outbreaks of violence after a series of border wars between Kansas and Missouri dating back to the early-1850s. I believe Hamilton retaliated after anti-slavery ruffians drove him from his home in Kansas.

He withdrew to Missouri and then returned after John Brown's escapades in Kansas in May of 1856. Hamilton rounded up 11 settlers and shot them, but I believe that at least five survived. Both Kansas and Missouri (especially the latter) suffered greatly from sporadic fighting among the three factions until war was declared in 1861, and even during the war as guerrilla warfare often became the preferred method of dealing with the enemy.

Frankly, I sometimes worry and wonder if the "insurrections" that we see against legal authorities today might be a prelude to increased violence such as what we study from a historical standpoint today. Who might be the John Brown or Charles Hamilton of the 21st century? I hope we can learn from the past...