Actually I think that was a beating with a cane, by a great South
Carolinian, who nearly caused the death of the recipient, that crisis
only being averted when other scalawags pulled him away from the
activity (and one, gasp, pulled a pistol!). The rhetoric of today is
tame compared to what was regularly issued at the time. The recipient
clearly deserved the beating!
--FT
Oh yeah... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks
*Preston Smith Brooks* (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an
American politician and Member of the US House of Representative
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives>
from South Carolina <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina>,
serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from
August 1856 until his death.
Brooks was a fervent advocate of slavery
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States> and states'
rights. He is primarily remembered for his May 22, 1856 violent assault
upon abolitionist
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism_in_the_United_States>
Senator <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate> Charles
Sumner <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sumner> (Free Soil
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Soil>-Massachusetts), with a cane on
the floor of the United States Senate
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate>. This was in
retaliation for an anti-slavery speech by Sumner in which Sumner
verbally attacked Brooks' second cousin,^[1]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-1> ^[2]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-2> Senator
Andrew Butler <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Butler>. Brooks'
action was applauded by many Southerners and abhorred in the North.^[3]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-3> An attempt to
oust him from the House of Representatives failed, and he received only
token punishment in his criminal trial. He resigned his seat in July
1856 to give his constituents the opportunity to ratify his conduct in a
special election, which they did by electing him in August to fill the
vacancy created by his resignation. He was reelected to a full term in
November 1856 but died five weeks before the term began in March
1857.^[4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-4>
Sumner was seriously injured and unable to take his seat in the Senate
for three years, though eventually he recovered and resumed his Senate
career.^[5] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-5>
Brooks' act and the polarizing national reaction to it are frequently
cited as a major factor in the rising tensions leading up to the
American Civil War
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War>.^[6]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-6>
Sumner assault
Main article: Caning of Charles Sumner
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Charles_Sumner>
On May 20, 1856, Senator Sumner made a speech denouncing "The Crime
Against Kansas", and the Southern leaders whom he regarded as complicit,
including Senator Butler.^[13]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-13> Sumner
compared Butler with Don Quixote
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote> for embracing a prostitute
(slavery) as his mistress, saying Butler "believes himself a chivalrous
knight".
Of course 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.^[14]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-14>
Senator Stephen Douglas <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Douglas>
of Illinois <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois>, who was also a
subject of criticism during the speech, suggested to a colleague while
Sumner was orating that "this damn fool [Sumner] is going to get himself
shot by some other damn fool."^[15]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-15>
Sumner's language was intentionally inflammatory; Southerners often
claimed that abolition would lead to intermarriage and miscegenation,
arguing that abolitionists opposed slavery because they wanted to have
sex with and marry black women.^[16]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-16>
Abolitionists reversed the argument by accusing southerners of loving
slavery so they could have slave mistresses at their disposal. As Hoffer
(2010) says, "It is also important to note the sexual imagery that
recurred throughout the oration, which was neither accidental nor
without precedent. Abolitionists routinely accused slaveholders of
maintaining slavery so that they could engage in forcible sexual
relations with their slaves."^[17]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-17>
Laurence M. Keitt
Brooks thought of challenging Sumner to a duel. He consulted with
Representative Laurence M. Keitt
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_M._Keitt> (also a South Carolina
Democrat) on dueling etiquette. Keitt said that dueling was for
gentlemen of equal social standing. In his view, Sumner was no
gentleman; no better than a drunkard, due to his supposedly coarse and
insulting language toward Butler.^[18]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-18> ^[19]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-19> Brooks then
decided to "punish" Sumner with a public beating.
On May 22, two days after Sumner's speech, Brooks entered the Senate
chamber in company with Keitt. Also with him was Representative Henry A.
Edmundson <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_A._Edmundson>
(Democrat-Virginia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia>), a personal
friend with his own history of legislative violence. (Edmundson had been
arrested by the House Sergeant at Arms
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Sergeant_at_Arms> after attempting
to attack Representative Lewis D. Campbell
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_D._Campbell> of Ohio
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio> during a tense debate on the House
floor in May 1854).^[20]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-20>
J.L. Magee's famous political cartoon of the attack on Sumner
Brooks confronted Sumner, who was seated at his desk, writing letters.
He said, "Mr. Sumner, I have read your speech twice over carefully. It
is a libel on South Carolina, and Mr. Butler, who is a relative of
mine." As Sumner began to stand up, Brooks hit Sumner over the head
several times with his cane, made of thick gutta-percha
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutta-percha> with a gold head. Sumner
was trapped under the heavy desk (which was bolted to the floor), but
Brooks continued to strike Sumner until Sumner wrenched the desk from
the floor in an attempt to escape.^[21]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-21> By this
time, Sumner was blinded by his own blood. He staggered up the aisle and
collapsed unconscious.^[22]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-22> Senator John
J. Crittenden <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J._Crittenden>,
Representative Ambrose Murray
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Murray>, and others attempted to
restrain Brooks before he killed Sumner, but were blocked by Keitt, who
brandished a pistol and shouted at the onlookers to leave Brooks and
Sumner alone.^[23]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-23> ^[24]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-24> ^[25]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-25> Brooks
continued beating Sumner until the cane broke, then quietly left the
chamber with Keitt and Edmundson.^[26]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-26> Brooks
required medical attention before leaving the Capitol, because he had
hit himself above his right eye with one of his backswings.^[27]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-27>
Sumner suffered head trauma that would cause him chronic pain and
symptoms consistent with what would now be called traumatic brain injury
and post-traumatic stress disorder, and spent three years convalescing
before returning to his Senate seat. He suffered chronic pain and
debilitation for the rest of his life.^[28]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Brooks#cite_note-28>
^
On 8/11/16 1:37 AM, G Mann via Mercedes wrote:
And,, in the good old days, there used to be sword fights on the floor of
Congress..
Much more entertaining... to bad they did not have CSPAN back then..
On Wed, Aug 10, 2016 at 9:41 PM, Scott Ritchey via Mercedes <
mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
Politics is so tame these days. After all, Thomas Jefferson had his own VP
arrested and tried for treason (hoping he'd be hanged). None of this
subtle, cloak-and-dagger behind the scenes stuff.
_______________________________________
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--
--FT
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