The Barbarism

United States Senator Charles Sumner delivered a speech on June 4^th 1860 entitled “The Barbarism of Slavery”.

United States Senator Charles Sumner had been missing from the Senate Chambers for four years, after having been beaten almost to death by South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks.  The speech titled “The Barbarism of Slavery” delivered on June 4^th 1860 was the last speech made in Congress before the Civil War, and until emancipation was discussed.  It was covered in its entirety in the leading newspapers, as well as being issued in several pamphlets.

If you wish to read the speech it can be found at The barbarism of slavery: speech of Hon. Charles Sumner

An Act Of Civil Rights

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was signed into law on March 1^st 1875 by President Ulysses S Grant.

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a federal law proposed by Republican Representative Benjamin Franklin Butler and Senator Charles Sumner.  The last biracial United State Congress of the 19^th century, passed the law in February 1875, and President Ulysses S Grant signed it into law March 1^st 1875.  The Act promised that everyone, irrespective of color, past condition of bondage, or race was entitled to equal treatment in “public accommodations”.  “Public accommodations” included services on juries, public transportation, restaurants and theaters.

The law was hardly ever enforced.  The Supreme Court declared in the 1883 Civil Rights Cases that the 1875 Act was unconstitutional.  It stated that the 14^th Amendment prohibited discrimination by states, but did not give power to the government to stop private individuals from discriminating.

If you’re interested in reading the original law as passed this web site, Civil Rights Act of 1875  is a good place to start.

The Harlot Slavery

United States Senator Charles Sumner gave his “Crime Against Kansas” speech May 19th 1856 on the floor of the United States House.

United States Senator Charles Sumner, an antislavery Massachusetts Republican rose from his seat to address the Senate on May 19th 1856 as to whether or not Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a free or slave state. Sumner’s speech a “Crime Against Kansas” identified two fellow senators, Andrew Butler of South Carolina and Stephen A Douglas of Illinois as the main culprits of the crime. Sumner called Douglas a "noise-some, squat, and nameless animal . . . not a proper model for an American senator." Andrew Butler was charged by Sumner as having "a mistress . . . who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight—I mean, the harlot, Slavery."

Andrew Butler’s relation, United States Congressmen Preston Smith Brooks entered the Senate after adjournment where he found Sumner at his desk. Brooks took his metal topped cane and repeatedly beat Sumner with it. When the beating ended Sumner was carried out of the chamber bleeding heavily, and Brooks walked away calmly. Both would become heroes of their causes.

The Man Had A Temper

A Democratic Congressman from South Carolina, Preston Smith Brooks died January 27th 1857.

Preston Smith Brooks was born August 5th 1819 in Roseland, Edgefield, South Carolina. He was the son of Whitfield and Mary Parsons [Carroll] Brooks. He attended South Carolina College [now known as the University of South Carolina]. He may or may not have graduated in 1839, if he didn’t it was do to some issues of threatening with a firearm. Brooks became a lawyer in 1845, and served with the Palmetto Regiment during the Mexican American War.

He had a duel with Louis T Wigfall and was shot in the hip which caused him need to use a cane. Brooks became a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1844. In 1853 he was elected to the United States Congress. It was while serving in Congress that Brooks beat United States Senator Charles Sumner an anti-slavery advocate, in the United States Senate chambers with his walking cane. The beating was caused by a speech given by Sumner a few day before in which Sumner had spoke against a member of Brooks’ family. Brooks is quoted as saying "Mr. Sumner, I have read your speech twice over carefully. It is a libel on South Carolina, and Mr. Butler, who is a relative of mine." Sumner started to stand up and Brooks him in the head with his cane, which had a gold head. Sumner couldn’t get away as he was trapped by his desk which was bolted to the floor. Brooks continued to beat Sumner until his cane broke and Sumner was unconscious.

Brooks survived a vote to remove him from his House seat, but he resigned anyway. His constituent returned him the Congress thinking him a hero. Brooks stayed in the office until he died January 27th 1857 in Washington DC from the croup. He is buried in Willow Brook cemetery in Edgefield, South Carolina.

A Beating In The Senate

Tension in Congress over the expansion of slavery lead to the beating of northern Senator Charles Sumner by southern Congressman Preston Brooks on May 22nd 1856.

On May 19th Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner began a two day speech on the “Crime Against Kansas” in which he named three of his colleagues. One of these three was the elderly South Carolina Senator Andrew P Butler, who was sick and not present at the time. Sumner compared the South Carolina Senator to Don Quixote saying he was blinded by “the harlot slavery“. Butler’s cousin, Representative Preston Brooks felt it was up to him to defend the honor of his relation.

On May 22nd 1856 Brooks entered the Senate chamber and using a gold tipped cane attacked Sumner at his desk. The desk was bolted to the floor and Sumner found his legs stuck under the desk and he could not escape the beating. The other congressmen  came to Sumner aid but were unable to help him get away. Brooks became an over night hero in the South where many people sent him canes. It became one more incident of the growing hostility between the North and South over the issue of slavery. It would be three years before Sumner recovered enough to return to the Senate.