How Did Douglass Set The Stage For Horrendous Behavior

In the years prior to the Civil War, northerners and southerners experienced violence and madness in their everyday lives. The Civil War resulted from social, political, moral, and religious differences between the north and the south. As the country continued to expand West, Congress consistently revisited the question of slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 proposed by Senator Douglas set the stage for violent territorial disputes over slavery. In 1856, Preston Brooks’, a member of the House of Representative, viciously attacked Charles Sumner, a Massachusetts Senator, for his speech “The Crime Against Kansas,” in which he directly attacked Southern beliefs and actions as savage and inferior to Northern behavior. In this speech, Sumner

Moreover, this incident demonstrates the inability for the country to unify as one nation with one mission because government officials had different views for America. Proponents and opponents of slavery consistently battled with each other to claim ownership of the Kansas territory and power within Congress. This incident sparks the question what exactly did Sumner say about Butler to elicit this horrendous behavior? Moreover, why did Brooks attack Sumner, instead of Butler? Also, would Brooks have attacked Sumner if he had denounced someone else? Even though Senator Douglas wrote the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Sumner held Butler personally responsible for this bill because he supported the passage of it; therefore, Sumner attacked Butler. Butler did not defend himself because he was too old and so, Brooks attacked Sumner on behalf of his cousin and his family. Brooks prided himself on his defense of pro-slavery beliefs. He believed that his actions empowered other pro-slavery Congressmen to protect their power and territory. However, even if Sumner had personally attacked someone else, Brooks would have attacked him because he felt that an attack on one southern was an attack on all southerners; the south viewed themselves as a family, held together by strong political, religious, and social values. Brooks witnessed Americans violently attack each other in Kansas and believed that this type of behavior was acceptable. He viewed physical violence as the only effective method to deal with his