A Vicious Beating on the Senate Floor

HISTORY This Week

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🗓️ 19 May 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

May 22, 1856. Charles Sumner isn’t worried about making friends in the Senate. His rhetoric is inflammatory, almost intentionally. He’s an ardent abolitionist in a time when people are still enslaved throughout the South. In his most recent speech, Sumner attacked his colleagues directly, especially pro-slavery Senator Andrew Butler. Butler’s cousin, Preston Brooks, is also in Congress, and as a southern gentleman, he decides he has to do something to retaliate. What pushes Preston Brooks to assault Charles Sumner on the Senate floor? And how does this attack help drive Americans towards civil war? Special thanks to Steve Puleo, author of The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union. Two other books we used to put this episode together: Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War by David Donald, and The Caning of Charles Sumner by Williamjames Hull Hoffer. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History Channel, original podcast.
0:04.4	History this week. May 22, 1856.
0:10.6	I'm Sally Helm.
0:15.1	The cane weighs less than a pound.
0:18.6	It's made of a kind of natural, hard, plastic-y material called
0:21.9	gutta percha, and it has a heavy gold head. At the time, this kind of lightweight cane
0:30.2	might typically be used to discipline a dog. But South Carolina representative Preston Brooks
0:36.2	has been using it as a walking stick.
0:38.9	Also typical, nothing strange about it.
0:41.7	So when he thumps down the aisle of the quiet Senate chambers today, a warm Thursday afternoon, no one takes much notice.
0:50.5	Some lawmakers and visitors are milling about, and one senator is sitting at his desk, signing copies of a recent speech.
0:58.6	He's an abolitionist, represents the people of Massachusetts, Senator Charles Sumner.
1:06.0	Brooks stops at Sumner's desk.
1:09.5	Mr. Sumner, he says in a low voice, but the senator is engrossed in his work. Mr. Sumner, he says in a low voice,
1:12.1	but the senator is engrossed in his work.
1:14.5	Mr. Sumner, he says again.
1:16.8	This time Sumner looks up,
1:18.6	squinting as he tries to place the man.
1:21.5	I have read your speech twice over carefully,
1:24.6	Brooks says in a distinct southern accent.
1:27.4	It is a libel on South Carolina.
1:31.5	Upon hearing this, Sumner moves to stand.
	...

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