FREEA Plea for Captain John Brown Read to the citizens of Concord, Massachusetts on Sunday evening, October thirtieth, eighteen fifty-nine
by Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862
"A Plea for Captain John Brown" by Henry David Thoreau is an essay first delivered as a speech on October 30, 1859, two weeks after abolitionist John Brown's failed raid on Harpers Ferry. Speaking against widespread public condemnation, Thoreau defends Brown as a moral hero rather than a madman, comparing his impending execution to Christ's crucifixion. The essay challenges Americans who dismiss Brown's actions, arguing that his commitment to justice represents true sanity and courage in the face of state-sponsored injustice. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Automated conservative edition review 2026-10-20T07:39:59.121Z (historical-original-en-v2), Philippines scope. English historical author Thoreau, Henry David, died 1862; original-language author allowlist, matching sole EPUB/catalog creator, no credited contributors, no extra artwork, no flagged editorial/translation/copyright cues in isolated text. US public-domain source label and retained Gutenberg license; EPUB CRC passed. This is rule-based screening, not a worldwide rights opinion or a claim of manual review. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2567; Philippine term reference https://www.ipophil.gov.ph/copyright/. EPUB SHA256 d14ca4c4c0b75852469fc720c004a2ef9ad910a09c9e38e102a6262f52d1cf58; RDF SHA256 af2f0fd75092d8c1672302630ea9a18ac069a22e4c3b135533639cbb495ed2f8. Author identity/date reference checked 2026-09-28: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/205.
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