Lexy3000Dec 4, 2022
Qasim Rashid, Esq.

On Dec 2, 1859, Abolitionist John Brown was the first American ever executed for treason. The second ever executed for treason was Aaron Dwight Stevens (March 15, 1831 – March 16, 1860).

Their crimes? Attempting to free the enslaved. The first Americans executed for treason was for the crime of freeing the enslaved.

Legality is not always a measure of justice & morality, but a measure of power. This was only two life spans ago.

May we learn from these atrocities & uphold justice forever.

Dec 3, 2022 at 9:22pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadJessica CravenDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid I thought treason had to involve a declared war with a foreign power? How did they get them both under treason laws?
Show threadQasim Rashid, Esq.Dec 3, 2022
@jesscraven101 Their raid on Harper’s Ferry to free the enslaved was viewed waging war against the United States.
Show threadJeff RotenbergerDec 3, 2022

@QasimRashid @jesscraven101 he raided a US arsenal in Harper's Ferry hoping to invite a slave revolt. Sixteen people were killed, 10 of John Brown's men.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/john-browns-raid.htm

John Brown's Raid (U.S. National Park Service)

Show threadJessica CravenDec 3, 2022
@Ngeekify @QasimRashid yes I did know the basic history. Just didn’t know the treason part.
Show threadJeff RotenbergerDec 3, 2022
@jesscraven101 @QasimRashid t
He was charged with treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, not the United States. Was also charged with murder and attempting to incite a slave revolt.
Show threadMunicipal AdhesivesDec 4, 2022
@Ngeekify @jesscraven101 @QasimRashid we would have charged him with stealing our hearts 🥺
Show threadAgoraDec 4, 2022
@Ngeekify @jesscraven101 @QasimRashid and Nelson Mandela were accused of terrorism and sentenced to life.
The FBI treated MLK like a terrorist. Oppressive governments will say and do anything to justify their actions.
Show threadJessica CravenDec 4, 2022
@Agora @Ngeekify @QasimRashid totally.
Show threadJessica CravenDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid got it. Just interesting in light of the fact that Trump, for example, supposedly *can’t* be charged for treason since no war has been declared.
Show threadMacCruiskeenDec 3, 2022
@jesscraven101 @QasimRashid treason doesn’t require a war, only an enemy. And John Brown was executed by the state of Virginia, not on federal charges.
Show threadJessica CravenDec 4, 2022
@maccruiskeen then why hasn’t T been charged for it? I’m genuinely trying to understand the legal niceties.
Show threadMacCruiskeenDec 4, 2022
@jesscraven101 they’d have to prove in court that he was working against US interests in order to advance Putin’s. It seems obvious from the outside, but as a legal case you need more than appearances, and there’s nineteen other more concrete investigations that are more likely to succeed.
Show threadJessica CravenDec 4, 2022
@maccruiskeen yeah I get it. Just hard to fathom John Brown getting nailed for it and Trump not. But 🤷🏼‍♀️
Show threadJuliaaaaaaaaaaaDec 4, 2022

@jesscraven101 @maccruiskeen

John Brown wasn't even a Virginia citizen, he was from Lawrence Kansas, how can someone not even a citizen of a state commit treason against that state. The whole trial and execution was an attempt to intimidate abolitionists and instead they turned John Brown into an enduring symbol of the abolitionist movement and of leftist resistance.

Show threadMacCruiskeenDec 4, 2022
@dataJewel @jesscraven101 that was actually part of his defense argument. And yeah, he was tried in VA court rather than federal court so that it would be less friendly to his argument.
Show threadBlippy the Wonder Slug (MOVED)Dec 3, 2022

@jesscraven101 @QasimRashid Harper's Ferry.

John Brown was also charged with 5 murders, and inciting a slave rebellion. On top of treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia.

It wasn't JUST the treason that they hanged him.

Show threadBlippy the Wonder Slug (MOVED)Dec 3, 2022
@jesscraven101 @QasimRashid
🤣 I see now that's already been answered, and I'll show myself out.
Show threadJessica CravenDec 3, 2022
@BlippyTheWonderSlug @QasimRashid I did know about HF…just didn’t know the charge they used was treason. Either way, Brown was an incredible human being. Certainly deserved the opposite.
Show threadGeorge CartyApr 13, 2023
@jesscraven101 @QasimRashid He was charged with treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia rather than the United States, so the US Constitution's definition of treason likely wasn't relevant.
Show threadBuckeyeVeeDec 3, 2022

@QasimRashid
I hope all those who think we weren't founded on racism read your post.
Yes. We have lofty ideals.
As long as those ideals don't interfere with white male privilege. All the meager strides made in the 1960s-70s, are being suppressed and may not see the light of day for another 100 years. How long has Russia been authoritarian?

Rhetorical question.

Show threadUscitizenandcoffeeloverDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid actually, John Brown slaughtered several people in addition to the above.
Show threadPatty KimuraDec 3, 2022
@jcolvinj @QasimRashid Curious about the verb "slaughtered" at Harper's Ferry. Brown's men killed four men, 10 of Brown's men were killed. Were you referring instead to Pottawatomie Creek in Bloody Kansas?
Show threadUscitizenandcoffeeloverDec 9, 2022
@pattykimura @QasimRashid yes. Did I say harpers ferry? My bad!
Show threadPatty KimuraDec 9, 2022
@jcolvinj @QasimRashid Ah, an expert on John Brown, in Bleeding Kansas. Yes, the Marais de Cygnes massacre by pro-enslaver Hamilton of Missouri and the Sacking of Lawrence, KS influenced the anti-enslaver John Brown in Free State Kansas, and Pottawatamie Creek.
Show threadBoiglenoightDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid quite the foundation we have 😅
Show threadNNY BirderDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid I’ve been to the grave of JohnBrown https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/29/details.aspx
Show threadBc Clarity Carlton-MartinDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid Pacifism DBA Abolitionism can still not be incorporated unto welfarist fuzzy-edged boundaries of justice. "You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in You." ~~~James Tunney
Show threadmalteDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid image description: portrait photographs of the aforementioned
Show thread🌻 Welcome Back 🌻Dec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid Benedict Arnold got off with only minor charges but wasn't his co-conspirator, Major John Andre, of the Revolutionary Army hung for treason? Definitely an act of war to give up Fort West Point
Show threadDavid RodgersDec 4, 2022
@Scotter Arnold could/would have been, but escaped to the British, in part because his wife totally played both Washington and Hamilton to buy him time. Maj. Andre was a British soldier, not American, so executed as a spy.
Show threadWe Can Be GyrosDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid
https://youtu.be/dplUe3r_lXA
Masters Of Reality "John Brown" live 1991 at Sound City with Ginger Baker

YouTube
Show threadWe Can Be GyrosDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid John Brown - live - Masters of Reality w/ Ginger Baker
Show threadyrrejDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid
Abraham Lincoln orchestrated the largest mass hanging in American history. Native Americans.
Show threadIra AllenDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid Bad history here. Both were convicted of treason for an armed attack on a U.S. government military installation. Many other people tried to free the enslaved and were not executed.
Show threadKristen HandrickenDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid
Show threadJorge Rosales-SalasDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid ✊🏻
Show threadClem ByardDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid
~ his soul goes marching on ~
#JohnBrown #JohnBrownsBody
Show thread7sad4estsDec 4, 2022
@CactusHaiku @QasimRashid great song
Show threadJoeyDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid l 'When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.' Thomas Jefferson
Show threadJulieBDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid And the Confederate racist scum who actually waged war against the US like Lee got schools named for them.
Show threadPeteDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid Sorry, I’d call John Brown a terrorist. Read up on his career and the number of innocent people he murdered.
Show threadMunicipal AdhesivesDec 4, 2022
@PeteF @QasimRashid Hey I just read up on it. He murdered 0 innocent people.
Show threadQuestDec 4, 2022

@QasimRashid
John Brown led a raid on a US arsenal. "He was charged by a grand jury with treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, murder, and inciting a slave insurrection. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_raid_on_Harpers_Ferry

It is an amazing story and Harpers Ferry is a neat place
with lots of history.

John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry - Wikipedia

Show threadQuestDec 4, 2022

@QasimRashid

Here is a good history of John Brown. It has a lot of stuff that is really interesting from meeting Harriet Tubmam to trying to kidnap a relative of George Washington.

https://www.history.com/topics/abolitionist-movement/john-brown

John Brown

John Brown was a militant abolitionist whose violent raid on the U.S. military armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, was a flashpoint in the pre-Civil War era.

HISTORY
Show threadQuestDec 4, 2022

@QasimRashid

Another fun fact is that George " Washington’s will provided for the immediate emancipation of one of his slaves, and additionally required his remaining 123 slaves to serve his wife and be freed no later than her death "

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_and_slavery

George Washington and slavery - Wikipedia

Show threadQuestDec 4, 2022

@QasimRashid

To put it in other terms, GW knew slavery was at odds against the principles of the country he was helping to found. But he also realized that the absence of slavery was at odds with his lifestyle and thus freed them after he and his wife departed. His Mount Vernon Virginia estate is a historical site and should be checked out if in the DC area.

Show threadIrving's ZooDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid John Brown tried to foment a violent revolt. People died and nothing was accomplished.
Sound familiar?
Show threadMazzaDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid Here, here and well said. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Show threadFuck Elon MuskDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid Please add #AltText to your images for our blind and VI friends.🙂 Or use the hashtag alt4me to have volunteers add it for you with #alt4you.
Show thread7sad4estsDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid “I have only a short time to live, only one death to die, and I will die fighting for this cause. There will be no peace in this land until slavery is done for.“– John Brown, Kansas Territory, 1856.
Show threadArnan de GansDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid but in that time it was illegal to free slaves so justice at that time was served...
Show threadMunicipal AdhesivesDec 4, 2022
@arnandegans @QasimRashid you conflate justice with legality, to the detriment of your sense of justice.
Show threadNick "Neiloch" Dec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid The amount of times I have had to remind people legality is not the same as morality is upsetting.
Show threadShadSterlingDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid you don’t commit atrocities by breaking laws, but by writing them
Show threadSocialistStanDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid Now that's the sort of treason I can get behind.
Show threadBelle de MillitanteDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid two lifespans? 260 years ago, pretty long lifespans.
Show threadBarneyRCN🇨🇦⚓️🎓Dec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid Ditto!
Show threadJohn A RookeDec 4, 2022

@QasimRashid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSSn3NddwFQ

John Brown's Body

YouTube
Show threadWTFDec 4, 2022
@QasimRashid Sometimes you have to hit a fly with a sledgehammer not to kill the fly but to show the other flies what will happen.