Questioning John Brown’s Sanity: A Historical Thread Considered

John Brown Today

Many people in the United States, especially (but not exclusively) white people, tend to think of John Brown as someone who was "crazy." In this episode, Lou surveys what he calls a historical "thread" regarding the alleged insanity of Brown. Beginning with affidavits filed in Virginia in 1859 in an attempt by friends and relatives in Ohio to spare Brown's life, as well as Republican insanity rhetoric designed to dissociate Brown from their party, it is clear there is otherwise no historical evidence for the insanity notion. In the twentieth century, however, academics promoted Brown's alleged insanity, and the notion was disseminated in popular culture. In the late twentieth century, although scholars began to back away from this unwarranted notion, it was replaced by notions of Brown being manic. Lou traces this thread through three publications by Robert McGlone, Kenneth Carroll, and Tony Horwitz. He also suggests secular inclinations among scholars make them inclined to attribute mental instability to Brown's fundamentalist religious beliefs.
Guest music: "Climbing" by Reed Mathis
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1. Prologue (00:00:00)

2. Intro Theme, "John Brown Today" (00:03:16)

3. Asahel Lewis and the "Insanity" Affidavits (00:03:39)

4. "Crazy” from the 19th to the 20th Century (00:15:15)

5. McGlone’s Thesis: Of Memory and Mental Illness (00:19:18)

6. Psychohistory Fabricated by Kenneth Carroll (00:28:06)

7. Horwitz on Brown: Sympathy, Cynicism, and Mental Illness (00:38:44)

8. Conclusion & "Climbing" by Reed Mathis (00:46:09)