Student Resources

• John Brown and Self-Deception Narrative
• Primary Source Activity Handout and Graphic Organizer
• Scaffolded Primary Source Activity Handout and Graphic Organizer

Teacher Resources

• Analysis Questions 
• Virtue in Action  
• Journal Activity
• Sources for Further Reading  
• Virtue Across the Curriculum  

• Self-deception: Acting on a belief that a false idea or situation is true. Being deluded or deceived by ideas that endanger the humanity of others and movements that are unjust. 
• Abolitionist: A person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, such as slavery.
• Equivocate: To use unclear language, especially to deceive or mislead someone.
• Consecrate: To make or declare something sacred.
• Deceive: To make someone believe something that is not true.
• Popular sovereignty: A political policy under which residents of a territory voted on whether slavery would be allowed or not.
• Inciting: Encourage or stir up (violent or unlawful behavior).
• Insurrection: A violent uprising against an authority or government.
• Oration: A formal speech.
• Sectionalism: Loyalty to one’s own region or section of the country, rather than to the country as a whole.

Procedures 

• The following lesson asks students to consider the vice of self-deception and how it can cause an individual to fail to act with integrity.  Students will engage with the story of John Brown, as they consider the essential question: Why is self-deception destructive to a healthy civil society? 
• The main activity in this lesson requires students to read and analyze a narrative that explores John Brown’s decisions that led him to self-deception. Students may work individually, in pairs, or small groups as best fits your classroom. The analysis questions provided can be used to help students comprehend and think critically about the content. As the teacher, you can decide which questions best fit your students’ needs and time restraints.   
• The lesson includes a variety of activities and suggestions for your classroom. Time estimates are included in the activities, so that you can decide what’s most appropriate for your teaching.  
• Additionally, the lesson includes primary source analysis to compare other historical figures and how they understood unjust laws and acted with integrity. 
  • The excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” contains terminology that is no longer used because the terms are recognized to be offensive or derogatory. These terms are retained in their original usage in order to present them accurately in their historical context for student learning.
• Lastly, the lesson includes sources used in this lesson for further reading and suggestions for cross-curricular connections. 

Engage

• Scaffolding Note: You may use this activity to prepare your students and introduce the vocabulary and ideas discussed in this lesson. 
• Pose the following question to students: 
  • Is it ever morally permissible to disobey the law? Explain your answer.   
  • Scaffolding Note: You may wish to have students write their response first, then share with a shoulder partner before leading a brief share-out with the class. 
• Time estimate: 5 minutes

 

Explore

• Transition to the John Brown and Self-Deception Narrative. Students will learn and analyze the story of John Brown to understand how he fell for self-deception while trying to end slavery.  
• Scaffolding Note: It may be helpful to instruct students to do a close reading of the text. Close reading asks students to read and reread a text purposefully to ensure students understand and make connections. For more detailed instructions on how to use close reading in your classroom, use these directions. Additional reading strategies are provided for other options that may meet your students’ needs. 
• Essential Vocabulary: 
  • Self-deception: Acting on a belief that a false idea or situation is true. Being deluded or deceived by ideas that endanger the humanity of others and movements that are unjust. 
  • Abolitionist: A person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, such as slavery.
  • Equivocate: To use unclear language, especially to deceive or mislead someone. 
  • Consecrate: To make or declare something sacred. 
  • Deceive: To make someone believe something that is not true 
  • Popular sovereignty: A political policy under which residents of a territory voted on whether slavery would be allowed or not.  
  • Inciting: Encourage or stir up (violent or unlawful behavior). 
  • Insurrection: A violent uprising against an authority or government. 
  • Oration: A formal speech.  
  • Sectionalism: Loyalty to one’s own region or section of the country, rather than to the country as a whole.
• Transition to the analysis questions. Have students work individually, with partners, or as a whole class to answer the questions. 
  • Scaffolding Note: If there are questions that are not necessary to your students’ learning or time restraints, then you can remove those questions.  
• Analysis Questions 
  • What ideals encouraged John Brown to dedicate his life to abolitionism?  
  • When John Brown dedicated his life to the destruction of slavery, what means did he use to achieve his goal? Were there other means at his disposal that were less violent? What other courses did abolitionists use to work for the end of slavery in the United States? 
  • What is the difference between acting according to uncompromising principles and acting according to the classical idea of prudence, or practical wisdom? Which course guided Brown, and did it benefit his cause?  
  • Why did John Brown move to Kansas? What actions against slavery did he take while he was there? Were his actions justified? Explain your answer.  
  • What was Brown’s plan to rid the country of slavery? Was it a realistic plan? Were there other alternatives that he could have pursued to help end slavery? Had he deluded himself into thinking that it was the right and only path? Explain your answers.  
  • Did the raid on Harper’s Ferry go according to plan? Were innocent people swept up in the violence and lost their lives? Did Brown consider the loss of life tragic or necessary to achieve his goals? Explain your answer.  
  • Did Brown express any remorse for killing people or breaking the law? Did his righteous vision cloud his judgment regarding the rightness or wrongness of his actions? Explain your answer.  
  • Did Brown consider the consequences of his raid for human lives? Did he consider the consequences if he had actually succeeded in raiding Harper’s Ferry and starting a race war in the South? Did he consider the consequences of fueling tensions between the North and South because of his violent plan? Explain your answers. 
  • Why was John Brown considered by some to be a hero and by some to be a villain? Why is his life and legacy still debated as a hero or villain? 

Estimated time: 50 minutes

• Transition to the Primary Source Activity Handout and Graphic Organizer.  
  • Students will read statements from John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr.  Then students will complete the following graphic organizer related to Brown, Lincoln and King’s views on just and unjust laws.
  • Scaffolding Note: A scaffolded version of the primary sources is also available with shorter excerpts and space for note-taking. Scaffolded Primary Source Activity Handout and Graphic Organizer

Estimated time: 45 minutes

Assess & Reflect

Virtue in Action  

• Have students respond to the following prompts in small groups or in a class discussion:  
  • What actions can you take in your own life to ensure that you think and act in accordance with your own integrity?  
    • How can you be mindful to avoid self-deception while remaining true to your values?  
    • Scaffolding note: Use the concentric circles discussion strategy for this discussion. This strategy involves students standing in two concentric circles facing one another and responding to a question in a paired discussion. When prompted by the teacher, one of the circles rotates so each student now faces a new partner. 

• Estimated time: 10 minutes

AND/OR

Self-Deception Journal Activity  

• President Abraham Lincoln was strongly dedicated to the principle of natural rights for all human beings. Although the abolitionists pressed for immediate action, Lincoln was also firmly dedicated to the constitutional rule of law and would not break it to do what was right. The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) demonstrated that Lincoln wanted the slaves to be free while acting under presidential authority in the Constitution.  
• Have students self-reflect on the prompt and answer the following question in their journals: 
  • Compare and contrast the goals and methods of John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. Did Brown or Lincoln demonstrate the virtue of prudence, or practical wisdom, in achieving his goal?  

• Estimated time: 10 minutes

Extend

Sources & Further Reading  

• Explore the following list for additional sources and further reading on the John Brown. 
  • Carlton, Evan. Patriotic Treason. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006.
  • Horowitz, Tony. Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War.  New York: Henry Holt, 2011.  
  • Oates, Stephen. To Purge This Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1984.  
  • Peterson, Merrill D. John Brown: The Legend Revisited. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2002.  
  • Reynolds, David. John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights. New York: Knopf, 2005.  

Virtue Across the Curriculum  

• Below are corresponding literature suggestions to help you teach about self-deception across the curriculum. Sample prompts are provided for the key corresponding works. For the other suggested works or others that are already part of your curriculum, create your own similar prompts.    
  • “A Man for All Seasons”, by Robert Bold 
    • Playwright Robert Bold dramatizes the struggle between King Henry VIII of England and his chancellor Thomas More. How does Thomas More preserve both his moral conscience and his dedication to the rule of law? What sacrifice does More and his family make for his obedience to conscience and law? How do More and his daughter, Margaret, demonstrate great courage? Note: The 1966 film version of this play is rated G.  
  • “Resistance to Civil Government”, also called “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” or “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau  
    • Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau wrote this essay as a response to the Mexican-American war and the abhorrence of slavery. According to Thoreau, what is the relationship between one’s personal integrity or conscience and the law?  
  • Selections from Gandhi (1982), Directed by Richard Attenborough    
    • Ben Kingsley’s Academy Award – winning portrayal of Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi covers over 50 years. Discuss how the following scenes demonstrate Gandhi’s commitment to nonviolence and its connection to personal integrity and political beliefs. 
      • Protesting the treatment of Indians in South Africa https://bit.ly/42E3hbA 
      • Explaining his tactics for fighting British rule in India https://bit.ly/43Q6YMn 
      • A nonviolent protest at a salt mine https://bit.ly/3P6KTVx
        

• OTHER WORKS 
  • Lincoln (2012), Directed by Stephven Spielberg  
  • Plato, Crito 
  • Mark Twain, Joan of Arc