Charles Sumner
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Charles Sumner was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a lead
Portrait c. 1865
Sumner's birthplace at 58 Irving Street, Beacon Hill, Boston
Lithograph of Preston Brooks' 1856 attack on Sumner
1860 steel-engraved portrait of Sumner
Preston Brooks
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Preston Smith Brooks was an American slaveholder, politician, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving as a member of the Democratic Party from 1853 until his resig
Charles Sumner
…In the Senate, he devoted his efforts to opposing the "Slave Power," which in 1856 culminated in a vicious beating, almost to death, by Representative Preston Brooks on the Senate floor. Sumner's severe injuries and extended absence from the Senate made him a symbol of the anti-slavery cause. Though he did not return…
Brooks in 1856
Laurence M. Keitt