William Hosley: Obama Fails To Note John Brown's Battleground

William Hosley of Enfield is a consultant and public speaker whose ""John Brown: The Connecticut Roots of an American Legend" debuted at Hartford's Old State House in 2009.

President Barack Obama picked an interesting place, Osawatomie, Kan., to unveil the message of his 2012 campaign. It was a stellar reminder of the oratorical skills that enabled him to leapfrog from one term in the Senate to the presidency. It's too bad he didn't also acknowledge the meaning and importance of the place where he chose to speak.

Being passionate about history and the American idea, I was astonished that the president, his staff and the mainstream media (even in Kansas City, which ran a story headlined, "Osawatomie 'amped up and happy' for Obama's visit today") overlooked why Theodore Roosevelt, or anyone else, travels to visit Osawatomie, as my wife and I did a couple years ago....

Osawatomie is assuredly one of those 100 small places because that's where Connecticut's John Brown (from Torrington) waged the Battle of Osawatamie (Aug. 30, 1856). There, Brown and 30 compatriots held off 250 pro-slavery men with heavy gunfire (and some of those nifty Hartford-made fast guns) for 45 minutes, launching the border wars known as Bleeding Kansas. It made "Captain Brown" famous. For Kansans, Osawatomie is as sacred as Bunker Hill. It was a milestone that most historians agree made the Civil War inevitable....