SUMNER PHYSICALLY ATTACKED BY CONGRESSMAN ON SENATE FLOOR
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) United States senators are accustomed to being verbally attacked by political opponents both on and off the Senate floor, but on May 22, 1856, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner was physically attacked by Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina while sitting at his Senate desk.
A few days before, Senator Sumner had given a speech verbally attacking both slavery and Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina. On May 22nd, during a break between sessions, Sumner was busy writing when Brooks, Butler's cousin, burst into the chamber carrying a wooden cane.
Brooks, with only a few bystanders looking on, beat Sumner over the head and shoulders. Sumner attempted to get up from his desk but could not do so because it was bolted to the floor.
Sumner's injuries were so severe that he would not return to the Senate for three years. There was no pity, however, for the northern Senator in the South where Brooks became an instant hero and received a replacement wooden cane in the mail with the inscription "Hit Him Again!"
President John F. Kennedy quoted from Mississippi Senator Lucius Lamar's tribute to Sumner in his book "Profiles in Courage"...
"(Charles Sumner) believed that all distrust between the North and South had passed away. Would that...spirit...speak from the grave to both parties to this deplorable discord in tones which should reach...every heart throughout this broad territory: 'My countrymen! know one another, and you will love one another.'"
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) United States senators are accustomed to being verbally attacked by political opponents both on and off the Senate floor, but on May 22, 1856, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner was physically attacked by Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina while sitting at his Senate desk.
A few days before, Senator Sumner had given a speech verbally attacking both slavery and Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina. On May 22nd, during a break between sessions, Sumner was busy writing when Brooks, Butler's cousin, burst into the chamber carrying a wooden cane.
Brooks, with only a few bystanders looking on, beat Sumner over the head and shoulders. Sumner attempted to get up from his desk but could not do so because it was bolted to the floor.
Sumner's injuries were so severe that he would not return to the Senate for three years. There was no pity, however, for the northern Senator in the South where Brooks became an instant hero and received a replacement wooden cane in the mail with the inscription "Hit Him Again!"
President John F. Kennedy quoted from Mississippi Senator Lucius Lamar's tribute to Sumner in his book "Profiles in Courage"...
"(Charles Sumner) believed that all distrust between the North and South had passed away. Would that...spirit...speak from the grave to both parties to this deplorable discord in tones which should reach...every heart throughout this broad territory: 'My countrymen! know one another, and you will love one another.'"
