As a biographer of Brown put it, "If, as Alfred Kazin suggests, without John Brown there would have been no Civil War, we would add that without the Concord Transcendentalists, John Brown would have had little cultural impact."
După cum s-a exprimat un biograf contemporan al lui Brown : „Dacă, așa cum Alfred Kazin sugerează, fără John Brown nu ar fi existat Războiul Civil, noi am adăuga că fără transcendentaliștii de la Concord, John Brown ar fi avut un impact cultural scăzut.”