Politics is Too Rough Today?
It is a common complaint, especially in election years, that politics has become too divided. Today even slight criticisms are thought to be devastating. In the past politics was a lot less dainty. When Senator Sumner made a speech attacking “the harlot Slavery” Senator Preston Brooks, representing the pro-slavery South Carolina, took offense. Two days later, on the floor of the senate chamber,** Brooks approached Sumner and began to thrash him with a heavy walking stick. When other senators attempted to stop the beating, an accomplice of Brooks held them off with a pistol. Sumner was beaten unconscious,** the injuries he suffered affecting him for the rest of his life. It was three years before Sumner was able to return to his duties. Brooks was re-elected and hailed as a hero in the pro-slavery south.
Because Brooks had broken his cane in the attack he was inundated with gifts of replacement walking sticks by admirers.
