1856: SC senator savagely beat a Massachusetts senator into unconsciousness.

[G_j]

just heard this mentioned in a discussion about SC politicians making 'history'.

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm


1851-1877
May 22, 1856
The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner
Caning of Sumner (NY Public Library)

On May 22, 1856, the "world's greatest deliberative body" became a combat zone. In one of the most dramatic and deeply ominous moments in the Senate's entire history, a member of the House of Representatives entered the Senate chamber and savagely beat a senator into unconsciousness.

The inspiration for this clash came three days earlier when Senator Charles Sumner, a Massachusetts antislavery Republican, addressed the Senate on the explosive issue of whether Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a slave state or a free state. In his "Crime Against Kansas" speech, Sumner identified two Democratic senators as the principal culprits in this crime—Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Andrew Butler of South Carolina. He characterized Douglas to his face as a "noise-some, squat, and nameless animal . . . not a proper model for an American senator." Andrew Butler, who was not present, received more elaborate treatment. Mocking the South Carolina senator's stance as a man of chivalry, the Massachusetts senator charged him with taking "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," added Sumner, "the harlot, Slavery."

Representative Preston Brooks was Butler's South Carolina kinsman. If he had believed Sumner to be a gentleman, he might have challenged him to a duel. Instead, he chose a light cane of the type used to discipline unruly dogs. Shortly after the Senate had adjourned for the day, Brooks entered the old chamber, where he found Sumner busily attaching his postal frank to copies of his "Crime Against Kansas" speech.

Moving quickly, Brooks slammed his metal-topped cane onto the unsuspecting Sumner's head. As Brooks struck again and again, Sumner rose and lurched blindly about the chamber, futilely attempting to protect himself. After a very long minute, it ended.
Bleeding profusely, Sumner was carried away. Brooks walked calmly out of the chamber without being detained by the stunned onlookers. Overnight, both men became heroes in their respective regions.

Surviving a House censure resolution, Brooks resigned, was immediately reelected, and soon thereafter died at age 37. Sumner recovered slowly and returned to the Senate, where he remained for another 18 years. The nation, suffering from the breakdown of reasoned discourse that this event symbolized, tumbled onward toward the catastrophe of civil war.

Reference Items:
Donald, David. Charles Sumner and the Rights of Man. New York, Knopf, 1970.

Potter, David M. The Impending Crisis: 1848-1861. New York: Harper & Row, 1976.

[saltpoint]

1. Jesus.

[Democracyinkind]

2. More remarkable is that Sumner held out another 20 years after the attack. Now that's persistence.

If I remember correctly, Preston Brooks held one of the House Seats that later became one of the first seats to be held by an african amerian congressman.

[maxrandb]

3. Some people get hung up on Sherman's march through Atlanta

but they forget the "special" treatment Sherman levied against South Carolina. Perhaps we should have never allowed people that would elect asshats like Joe Wilson back into the Union.

Must be something in the water down there. I mean, this was the state that started the seccession movement that led to the Civil War.

[G_j]

6. John Birch Society, KKK

both have a history in SC

[leveymg]

4. Here's another part of the legacy - Some kids at a SC military school started the Civil War

As part of a training exercise, a group of Citadel cadets were assigned to guard a fort on the coast near Charleston. When the brightest one among them spotted a US Navy ship entering the harbour, he ordered his idiot classmates to load and fire a ten-inch canon. They missed, and the famous Confederate bombardment of Ft. Sumter actually occurred a couple months later. But, it was a South Carolina brat in grey who fired the first shot of the bloodiest war in American history. Wiki - Citadel:

When South Carolina seceded from the Union in December 1860, Major Robert Anderson moved his garrison of U.S. troops to Fort Sumter and requested reinforcements from the federal government. On January 9, 1861, SC Academy cadets George Edward Haynsworth and Samuel Bonneau Pickens were present when their unit fired two large cannon from their Morris Island station at the U.S. steamer, the Star of the West, preventing it from reaching Fort Sumter with troops and supplies. This action is considered by Citadel supporters to be the "first shot fired" in the American Civil War. Most Civil War historians, however, consider the "first shot" to be a mortar fired on Fort Sumter from Fort Johnson on April 12, 1861.

Long traditions die hard down there.

[G_j]

5. facinating

history.


thanks