One of the colleagues Sumner took it upon himself to call out was South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, who was not present due to being sick. Butler’s cousin, congressman Preston Brooks, decided to defend his family’s honor so he, very rationally, took his cane and beat Sumner as his desk. His desk was attached to the floor so Sumner couldn’t make a break for it until another Congressman stopped Brooks.
Though the North looked upon Brooks’s actions as prove of southerners inflexibility and commitment to Slave Power, the South looked to Brooks as a hero and even sent him replacement canes. Meanwhile, Sumner did not return to the Senate for three years until he recovered.
It's hard to think that this actually happened in Congress, because for me when I think of Congress I have this vision law abiding rational men. Of course, I feel like if this incident happen today there would have even been more of a scandal today than it was back then. This would be do the extensive use of the media by propagating actual live footage of the beating and making up lies about the incident.
ReplyDeleteI agree. However, I think that honor was a really big deal so I guess it would make sense that Mr. Brooks would "very rationally" take his cane and beat Sumner.
DeleteNice Post. It is always very interesting to look back at historic events on the context of modern times. For example, in the coming years the world will celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of World War One. This celebration will involve many remembrances and commemorations of those who fought in the War as well as those who died in the conflict. The observance of the beginning the the first World War will mark a hundred years, during which the world matured and entered a new stage of human achievement. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI think it's incredibly important to remember events like this. History is all about learning from our mistakes, and part of that is reminding ourselves of mistakes we made in the past and vowing not to repeat them. By remembering events like World War One, we are recognizing how far we as a society have come, congratulating ourselves on our progress, while still recognizing that the past is not irrelevant. This is why we study history, to remind ourselves of the past's relevance.
DeleteI think this is kind of funny because it fulfills the stereotypes that social media like reddit create for our government. It also shows that our government is not as civilized as we think it is. The government can devolve into violence if pushed to far to one side.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post. I always find things about "this day In history" to be interesting, and this is quite an interesting one, actually somewhat funny. This is something I did not know about, but to know that people that professional have moments like this is interesting. And that it was over the Kansas- Nebraska Act shows that this really is a part of history, and one that is amusing nevertheless.
ReplyDeleteIt's so cool to think that every day something important in history happened. I agree with Josh and Katheline that we think of our government as very orderly and everyone respects each other. However, we are all human and we do not think the same, so there are bound to be arguments that may result in violence, like this incident.
ReplyDeleteIn the present day, Americans try to think of their leaders and politicians as men who are above physical violence. However, many of these politicians are hiding indignation, frustration, and anger behind their impasse expressions. In other countries, such as Taiwan, legislators actually get into physical brawls over issues, which is, in a way, more refreshing to look at, since voters can see how passionate these politicians can be.
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