A Plea for Captain John Brown

Ethos is a rhetorical device that attempts to establish the validity of an opinion by bolstering the character or authority of its holder. Thoreau’s plea for John Brown utilizes the strategy of ethos to persuade his audience of Brown’s credibility, “correct[ing] the tone and the statements of the newspapers respecting his character and actions” (1). The essay charts Brown’s moral lineage, showing him to be a trustworthy and peaceful man resolved to fight only “a war for liberty” (2) because of “his magnanimity” (31). The essay recursively promotes the heroism of Brown’s men, the discernment with which Brown chose them, and the discipline with which they acted. Thoreau also argues for a religious view of Brown as embodying the Christian ideal with “a spark of divinity in him” (62). This appeal to his moral character escalates further as Thoreau calls Brown an “angel of light” (68), arguing that Brown’s views of his actions should trump those of the government that convicted him and the newspapers that denounced him.