He was a thorough going non-conformist.

他坚决不顺从
He probably never joined any formal anti-slavery organization,

虽然他经常参加反奴隶组织的会议
although he went to lots of their meetings.

但他可能从未参加正式的反奴隶组织
He never joined a political party.

他也未加入任何一个政党
We're not even sure if he ever voted.

我们甚至不知道他是否在大选中投过票
He was a practitioner of what would become known in these years--

他是《奴隶制高等法》的开拓者
certainly by the 1850s--

准确来说19世纪五十年代
of a kind of higher law doctrine about slavery,

《奴隶制高等法》才被人们认识
an allegiance to God's will and God's law above man's law.

它是忠于上帝的意愿并凌驾于一切律法
To John Brown, put simply,

简单讲约翰·布朗认为
slavery represented an unjustifiable state of war,

奴隶制代表着战争中不合理的形态
by one portion of the people against another;

是人与人之间对立