In his quest to end slavery, John Brown advocated for a violent rebellion, while his abolitionist peers urged him to take a more peaceful approach. Despite these efforts, he refused to standby while the American government passed legislation that enslaved millions and men grew rich on the backs of slave labor. Frederick Douglass, the famed anti-slavery orator, admired Brown’s resolve but couldn’t get himself to support his violent answers to the question of slavery. A poor white man outcast by society, Brown’s struggle for equality left him seen as both a martyr and a madman who would stop at nothing to make America truly free.