Preston Brooks

Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 - January 27, 1857) was a Congressman from South Carolina. He died in office.

In 1856, Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made criticizing Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas ("Bleeding Kansas"). Sumner was unable to return to duty for more than three years while he recovered.

J.L. Magee's infamous political cartoon from the era:


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