Zealot & Emancipator

John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom Guest: H.W. Brands, Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin and author of "The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom" John Brown and Abraham Lincoln stood on the same side of the fight against slavery, but Brown and Lincoln’s respective approaches to the fight could not have been more different. By his own admission, Brown was willing to tear up the Constitution if it extended the practice of slavery. He was backed by "armchair abolitionists" who were unwilling to participate in his violent protests but quietly supported him. Lincoln initially thought that violence would cause Southerners to dig in their heels and ultimately be counterproductive.  The Plot to Prevent Lincoln’s Presidency Guest: Josh Mensch, co-author of "The Lincoln Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill America’s 16th President—and Why It Failed" Long before John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford’s theater, another group tried to assassinate Lincoln and prevent him from ever taking office in the first place. They planned to strike on the train ride to Lincoln’s first inauguration.