Concerning the Title While Brown awaited his judicial destiny, Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) composed and presented "A Plea for Captain John Brown" to persuade the people that the rebel's acts were brave and justifiable. The lecture was published in the May 5, 1859, issue of The Atlantic Monthly. Thoreau began by praising Brown's character: "There are few heroes in history. John Brown was one of them. He lived at a time when the world needed men like him." Then Thoreau explained why John Brown should not be hanged: "His was a heroic life. It may not have been successful in ending slavery, but it ended up helping the cause of freedom for all men." After this introductory section, Thoreau presents three arguments against executing Brown: first, he was not culpable for his actions during the raid because it was God who commanded him to go; second, even if he was responsible, there were less violent ways to end slavery; and third, despite the fact that Brown's own intentions were good, his methods were too extreme. At the end of his plea, Thoreau calls on readers to support Brown by not buying or selling products made by slaves.