December 2 is International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.  It’s also marks the 150th anniversary of the execution of one of history’s most complex characters: John Brown, who was — to say the least — an extreme abolitionist.

Brown is most remembered for his abortive attempt to take control of the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in 1857.  His hope was to launch a civil war that would forcefully abolish slavery in the United States.  His mission failed, and in one of history’s ironic twists, Brown’s insurrection was put down by none other than Robert E. Lee, then serving with distinction in the U.S. Army.  Brown was wounded, arrested, tried and convicted of treason, and hanged in Virginia in 1859.  A little less than two years later, America became embroiled in a cataclysmic civil war that lasted four years and took the lives of more than 600,000 combatants, and one President.

Brown has since become a controversial figure, revered by many as a moral prophet who was willing to sacrifice even his life to rid the nation of slavery.  Others — with equal amounts of fervor — express great loathing for Brown as a madman and murderer who took the law into his own hands and used brutal violence as his call to action.  Biographies of Brown, of which there are many, reflect a wide range of opinion about the man, his life, and his ultimate impact on history.

On the anniversary of his hanging, an historian of Brown, David Reynolds, is now suggesting that the Obama Administration grant him posthumous clemency for his Harper’s Ferry insurrection.  What do you think? Should the President absolve a man who murdered five pro-slavery settlers in Kansas, and led an attack on the federal government?  Is John Brown a martyr to the cause of abolition and moral certitude?

Hard to say, but 150 years later, John Brown’s memory continues to confound and beguile.