John Brown was a violent crusader, but he blazed a moral path that the cautious Lincoln followed to end slavery

By Adam Seagrave in The Conversation

One of the most underappreciated figures in the nation’s history, John Brown, was re-introduced to Americans by the Showtime series “The Good Lord Bird” based on the James McBride novel of the same name.

Too often dismissed as a failed zealot, Brown was an unconventional anti-slavery leader who blazed a trail that Abraham Lincoln would follow just a few years later.

Commentators then and now are more likely to see differences between Lincoln’s and Brown’s approaches to civic leadership. Lincoln was cautious and deliberate; Brown was a revolutionary on fire.

Though this contrast is instructive, there’s another way to look at both men. In the end, they were both moral crusaders who exercised uncompromising moral leadership. FOR MORE