may 22, 1856 - Sumner-Brooks Affair

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In 1856, abolitionist Senator Sumner, of Massachusetts, gave a stinging speech in the Senate insulting the South and a SC Senator in a crude and improper way. Representative Brooks felt it necessary to defend his family honor and beat Senator Sumner bloody and unconscious on the floor of the Senate with a cane. Brooks resigned his position but his constituents re-elected him and sent him hundreds more canes, to beat people with? That people on both sides were emotionally involved with the national issues is an understatement.

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