Sumner-Brooks Affair; Nathan Maddox Period 1

In May of 1856, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts gave a two day long speech called The Crime Against Kansas. In the speech, Sumner talked about the atrocities that took place in Kansas at the time and critiqued President Franklin Pierce. He also talked poorly of Senator Andrew P. Butler and Butler’s involvement with the Kansas Nebraska act. He commented about how slavery was viewed as a disgrace throughout the world and how Butler was a man with a poor conscience and a mistress. Although Butler was not present to hear the speech, his nephew, Congressman Preston Brooks who took offense from the speech. A couple of days later, Brooks attacked Sumner, who was at his desk on the senate floor, with a cane. Sumner was hit on and around the head so many times that Sumner was fading in and out of consciousness. Eventually, the cane that used Brooks used to beat Sumner was breaking and falling apart. Brooks was accompanied by Congressman Laurence Keitt of South Carolina and Congressman Henry Emundson of Virgin who helped guard Brooks of intervening senators. The attack was described as very vicious and violent and took Sumner out of senate for three years due to injuries. However, he was reelected by Michigan even when he was incapable of work. Due to the lack of medical experience in America, he received treatment from doctors in Europe. Even though Sumner returned to the Senate, the beating left Sumner ridden with illness that took him out of the office many times. The attack made Sumner a martyr for the North and widened the divide between the south and North. It also made Sumner an iconic leader for Northern radicals and gave them another reason for them to fight even harder. Even though Brooks resigned from office, he was unanimously reelected by South Carolina as senator soon after. In the south, “Bully Brook” was a hero, but was hated in the North. Brooks was an honored guest at important diners and received a large amount of canes from followers. In the south, Brooks was seen as a noble man for protecting his family and states’ rights. However, in the north, his actions were viewed as a barbaric assault on not only Sumner but the United States Government. Even though the attack was so barbaric and violent, the court decided that Brooks was not aiming to kill Sumner, but just punish him for his speech. Violence over slavery was common in the frontier of Kansas; but it was very rare on the senate floor or even among government officials. This event showed how large the rift was between the north and the south. It also showed how big the differences were on the ideas of slavery between the North and the South. Because the beating of Sumner was the result of just a speech, it shows how sensitive the subject of slavery was also. The same sensitivity led to the succession of the southern states and the beginning of the civil war.

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