A (Literal) Political Beating

It is commonly agreed upon that the current political discourse is "too divisive."  Nothing puts the lie to this description quite like the caning of a U.S. Senator on the floor of the Senate. 

In 1856, the political passions that would lead to the Civil War were already running high.  Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts gave a speech describing Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina in the following terms:

"He has chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and 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 the Harlot - Slavery!"

Days later, Sumner was approached on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Preston Brooks, a Congressman from South Carolina and a cousin of Senator Butler. 

"I have read your speech over twice, carefully,"  Brooks said.  "It is a libel on South Carolina, and Senator Butler, who is a relative of mine."  Brooks then raised his walking stick into the air and brought it down forcefully on the head of the seated Senator Sumner. 

Sumner fell from his chair and was trapped between his chair and an immovable desk, as Brooks repeatedly beat him about the head with the cane.  As Sumner finally broke free, the cane broke in half.  Not satisfied, Brooks continued to club the bleeding Senator with the splintered butt of his cane. 

As Sumner lay half conscious, Brooks calmly walked down the aisle, stating, "I did not intend to kill him, but I did intend to whip him." 

Charles Sumner spent several years visiting the best doctors in the world for medical treatment and, for many years, walked and spoke as if he had suffered a stroke. 

Preston Brooks achieved a unwanted level of notoriety in the South.  But he had been raised in a society where a man may have to render physical account for any words he had spoken and Preston Brooks had no doubt that Sumner would not accept the challenge of a duel.  With the only acceptable option to Brooks being a cane or a horsewhip, he chose to honor his culture and caned his way into the history books.

So the next time someone complains that politics is too "mean spirited" or "divisive", ask them if they are familiar with the unfortunate tale of the Caning of Senator Charles Sumner.

The Caning of Charles Sumner: Honor, Idealism, and the Origins of the Civil War (Witness to History)