Original sentence: Brown first gained attention when he led a company of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis, in which he fought pro-slavery southerners, directed the Pottawatomie Massacre in 1856.He was tried for treason (to the state of Cirginia) and hung, but his behavior at the trial seemed heroic to millions of Americans.On the other hand, some scholars glorified Brown for his sincere and self-sacrificing devotion to the abolition of slavery.One recent scholar sees him as the inspiration for the Civil Rights Movement a century later, arguing "it is misleading to identify Brown with modern terrorists.Pro- and anti-Brown scholars have granted him significant credit for starting the American Civil War
Edited sentence: " - New York Times Book Review."A spellbinding study in revolution from the top down.1970) and the Rev.1975), upheld Brown as essentially moral, positive, and quite sane despite the controversy attached to his historical reputation.Although black anti-slavery leaders were well aware of him from the late 1840s, Brown first gained "mainstream" attention when he led a company of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis, in which he fought pro-slavery southerners, directed the Pottawatomie Massacre on the night of May 24, 1856, and freed 11 slaves from slaveholders in neighboring Missouri.Clarence Gee (d.Conventional scholarship has presumed that Brown set about to incite a "slave insurrection" or some other violent rebellion, but the extent to which Brown wanted to promote a violent agenda is a point still debated by scholars.Conventionally, pro- and anti-Brown scholars have granted him significant credit for starting the American Civil War and, more recently, the Civil Rights Movement a century later, arguing "it is misleading to identify Brown with modern terrorists.Few if any of these writers were biographers and some were motivated by pro-South sympathies, or bought into the notion that the Civil War was an avoidable, unfortunate event brought upon by northern (like Brown) and southern extremists.It is notable, however, that the leading John Brown documentary scholars, especially Boyd B.More recent researchers have argued that Brown sought to avoid the typical insurrection, although he was predictably charged with inciting a violent uprising by Southern slave owners and politicians.On the other hand, black scholars, following the testimony of 19th century abolitionists, tended to glorify Brown for his sincere and self-sacrificing devotion to the abolition of slavery.Stutler (d