American Experience; John Brown's Holy War; Interview with historian Paul Finkelman, 5 of 5

turn to part of the creation of the myth and the legend comes about in the nature of the trial itself brown is not well he still wounded he's carried in on a stretcher the first day of the trial his lawyer from ohio is not yet arrived he asked the judge for a delay the judge says no so immediately would brown has done is managed to get the virginians to act like the oppressors he says they are it's unfair trial from the beginning they tried for treason he says i can't commit treason against virginia not a citizen the region this is it actually ironically of the legal argument the case should've been thrown out and treason trial for murder trial for mayhem but not treason against virginia virginians trying anyway as they try and start the trial without a lawyer brown is lying down times he doesn't appear to be awake alone one suspects he's fully awake throughout everything he says he's

again playing his role perfectly and the virginia court in virginia governor plead to rule as oppressors perfectly it's hard to imagine a playwright writing a better scripts for the creation of john brown and the governor and the judge in virginia jail it is is it and put a really a low brown was able to put the state of virginia on trial the trial is not about whether john browne did something is whether virginia gives fair trials and whether virginia invites people for things they can't be indicted for or whether slavery is right or wrong he obviously can't beat slavery in the trial but what he's able to do it with his allies in the north were able to do is to make virginia appeared to be the bad guy because of the way the prosecutor john

brown it's a vindictive prosecution against a wooden good old man lying on a stretcher without his lawyer at the beginning of the trial virginia plays its role perfectly well for the abolitionists well i think you're welcome manages to put virginia on trial instead of virginia putting brown on trial brownies wounded lying on a stretcher his lawyer isn't there the first day the judge won't allay the court so the trial proceeds sometimes brown looks like he's asleep he's not alert he makes a speech in which he says he's been unable to fall the trial because of his wounds that may not be so he may have been far more alert that he's admitting too but the point is it's john brown puts virginia on trial for running an unfair trial charging him with treason against virginia

which he could not have committed making virginia look like the oppressor the abolitionists could not have scripted a better than the way the judge and the governor of virginia play the roles making them appeared to be the heavies and john brown becomes the victim christ the abolitionists couldn't have scripted better than the way the governor and the judge in the court play the trial out the result is that john brown becomes the victim of virginia injustice and virginia becomes the evil oppressor of the martyr to slavery thanks for that truck