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May 22nd 1856
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Even as Preston Brooks entered the Senate Chamber on May 22nd, 1856 few would predict the chain of events that he would set in motion, least of all him. A Southern Democrat representing South Carolina, he had heard of and read the speech made by Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner. It had publicly Andrew Butler, who was not only his state’s Senator, but also his cousin. Now he demanded retribution.
Whereas he might have demanded a duel, it was, after all his first instinct, he was talked out of it by his fellow Congressman Laurence Keitt. This was, after all, a man below his station. He had proven, in his speech and the language he used, that point. Dueling him would be beneath Brooks. No, if he were to get satisfaction it would be by treating him like the slaves the Northern Abolitionist loved so dearly, and caning him.
The events that would follow would become an iconic moment in American history and a turning point as Senator Sumner crumbled unconscious in a pool of his own blood on the floor of the Senate. Though he would recover from his injuries the nation would never be the same. In a sense Brooks would, through his actions, create a unity in the Republican Party that would create a national movement that would, in a few years’ time, deliver the White House to Abraham Lincoln as he set into motion events that would quickly sweep out of control. In a sense he would become the unwilling father of the party he so despised and a movement completely contrary to his nature and his ideology.
This is the story of the caning of Charles Sumner….
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