The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner

Politicians have been making personal attacks against each other for years and they have sometimes resorted to violence. That is what happened on May 22, 1856, when Preston Brooks beat Charles Sumner into unconsciousness on the floor of the United States Senate. Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks symbolized the two sections of the country in the 1850s. Sumner was an anti-slavery Republican from Massachusetts; Brooks was a pro-slavery Democrat from South Carolina. In May of 1856 they were particularly divided on their views about slavery in Kansas. Sumner wanted Kansas to be a free state and decried the violence he saw there perpetrated by pro-slavery settlers. Brooks, on the other hand, wanted Kansas to enter the Union as a slave state. The issue was a source of much tension between supporters of slavery and abolitionists because Kansas had the power to tip the balance of power in Congress towards the North or the South. The conflict began when Sumner delivered a speech on the subject of slavery in Kansas entitled "Crime Against Kansas." In it he made the mistake of making personal attacks on Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Andrew Butler of South Carolina. Sumner called Douglas a "noise-some, squat, and nameless animal." He said even worse things about Andrew Butler who was not present when the speech was being read, comparing him to a Don Quixote who had embraced the harlot of slavery. He even mocked Butler for a physical deformity. When Preston Brooks heard what Sumner had said about Butler, a relative of Brooks, Brooks determined to challenge Sumner to a duel. After consulting with another member of the South Carolina's Congressional Delegation, Brooks decided that Sumner was not a gentlemen and therefore not worthy of being dueled. Instead, Brooks decided to beat Sumner with a cane like he would a slave or a dog. A few days later on May 22, 1856, Brooks entered the Senate, walked over to where Sumner was seated, and began beating him over the head with his cane. He was accompanied by a man armed with a pistol who prevented anyone from assisting Sumner. Brooks continued to beat Sumner with the metal top of the cane until Sumner was unconscious. It was three years before Sumner returned to the Senate. When he did he became one of the most radical of Republicans. Brooks survived a censor resolution and resigned his office but was quickly reelected by his constituents. His actions were demonized in the North and lauded in the South and he died at the young age of 37 a popular man in his home state.

Preston Brooks