Question

You remember his words: "if i had interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or any of their friends, parents, wives or children, it would all have been right. but i believe that to have interfered as i have done, for the despised poor, was not wrong, but right." why did emerson most likely include the quotation from john brown in his speech?

Answer 1

I believe the answer is:  to support the righteous notion that John Brown was condemned because he chose to risk being vilified for defending impoverished, helpless people rather than protecting the wealthy and politically well-connected

Emerson implied that the powerful would and the wealthy would always make various attempts to discredit the figure that advocated for a condition that is not aligned with them. And people are easily influenced by those attempt since the powerful control the flow of information.

Answer 2

The most likely reason why Emerson included this quote in his speech is that Emerson wanted to highlight the hypocrisy of society, and its treatment of John Brown. He wants to motivate people to think about the injustice of their condemnation of John Brown. Emerson argues that Brown was so persecuted because he decided to defend the interests of the poor. He argues that if Brown had instead defended the interests of the rich, he would not have gotten in trouble, as it is usually the rich who make decisions on morality and righteousness.