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"All Southern Society Is Assailed by the Foulest Charges": Charles Sumner's "The Crime against
Kansas" and the Escalation of Republican Anti-Slavery Rhetoric

Author(s): Michael D. Pierson
Source: The New England Quarterly, Vol. 68, No. 4 (Dec., 1995), pp. 531-557
Published by: New England Quarterly, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/365874
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"AllSouthernSocietyIs Assailed
bytheFoulestCharges":CharlesSumner's
"The CrimeagainstKansas"and theEscalation
ofRepublicanAnti-slaveryRhetoric
MICHAEL
D. PIERSON
JN May 1856, SouthCarolinaRepresentative PrestonBrooks

physicallyassaultedMassachusetts SenatorCharles Sumner
in retaliationforSumner's"The CrimeagainstKansas."Argu-
ing forthe admissionof Kansas to the Union as a freestate,
Sumner'slengthySenate addressrehearsedRepublicanparty
interpretationsofthehistory ofKansassinceitsorganization as
a territory in 1854. Brooks'saggressiveresponseconvinced
manyNortherners oftheviolenceinherentin Southernsociety
and bolsteredthe ranksof the Republicanparty.'Despite the
notoriety oftheevent,however,Sumner'sspeechhas received
littledetailedattentionfromscholars.Nor has it been consid-
eredin thelightofSumner'sprecariouspoliticalpositionin the
springof1856.
The currentview of "The Crime against Kansas" and
Brooks'sreactionto it concentrates on the personalities
of the
twoprotagonists. Sumner'sspeech has been noted chieflyfor
the personalinsultshe hurledagainsthis Senate foes.James
McPhersonwritesthat"Sumnersingledout membersofthe F
StreetMess [pro-slavery forspecificattack,includ-
legislators]
ing South Carolina'sAndrew P. Butler."The address,he con-
cludes, exhibited "more passion than good taste." William
I wouldliketo thankSarahElbertand JohnM. Belohlavekfortheirencouragement
and insightful
commentson earlierdraftsand Laura Barefieldforher assistancewith
tracingseveralofSumner'sclassicalreferences.
'WilliamE. Gienapp,"The CrimeagainstSumner:The CaningofCharlesSumner
and the Rise of the RepublicanParty,"Civil War History25 (September1979):
218-45.
531
532 THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
GienappobservesthatSumner"severelycriticizedthe admin-
istration, the South,and the proslaverymen in Kansas" but
adds that"the Republicanleader also made scathingpersonal
attackson several importantDemocrats."2Personal insults,
thus identified,readilyserve as an explanationfor Preston
Brooks'ssubsequentattack,whichwas in essencea defenseof
familyhonor.WilliamBarneyrendersthe scene dramatically:
"In Brooks'view,Sumnerwas a contemptuous dog who had
villified[sic]hiskinsmanand hisstate.Unworthy bytheSouth-
erncode ofbeingchallengedto a duel-only gentlemenfought
duels-Sumner had to be thrashedlikethedog he was,Brooks
reasoned."3By reducingSumner'sspeech to a catalogueof in-
sults,historians have thusdiminishedthe orationand the vio-
lence itinspiredto thelevelofpersonalrancorbetweenerratic
individuals.
CharlesSumner'sskillsas a politicianare underestimated by
thosewho see emotionas his primaryguide. Hans Trefousse
findsSumner'sspeech "filledwithvituperation" and his politi-
cal wisdomquestionable:"The addresswas notSumner'sbest.
The personalreferenceswere so offensive, and the bad taste
withwhichtheywere utteredwas so evident,thatthe senator
would probablyhave caused considerableharmto the radical
cause had nothisopponentsmadehima martyr." A biographer
of SenatorHenryWilsoncalls the performance "a bad speech
in bad tastewhichtakenalone, could onlyharmhis cause."
More recentlyHarlanJoelGradinhas gone so faras to pathol-
ogize the incident.Sumner,Gradindeclares,"likelysuffered
froma narcissistic disturbance."Not surprisingly,
personality
thislimitedhis capabilitiesas a senator;Sumnerwas "a poor
2JamesM. McPherson,The BattleCryofFreedom:The Civil War Era (New York:

OxfordUniversity Press,1988),p. 149;WilliamE. Gienapp,TheOriginsoftheRepub-
licanParty,1852-1856(New York:OxfordUniversity Press,1987),p. 299.
3WilliamL. Barney,Battleground for the Union:The Era ofthe Civil War and Re-
construction, 1848-1877 (EnglewoodCliffs,N.J.:PrenticeHall, 1990), p. 80. Others
denythatCharlesSumner'sspeech was offensive or sexualin nature.David Donald
finds"nothing obsceneaboutanyofhisallusions,or anything lasciviousabouthis quo-
tations.It is hardto believethat[SenatorStephen]Douglas,a roughWesterner, was
shockedbya wordlike'harlot."'David Donald,CharlesSumnerand theCoiningofthe
CivilWar (New York:AlfredA. Knopf,1961),p. 287.
SUMNER'S ANTI-SLAVERYRHETORIC 533
politiciancompletely obliviousto thewayhiswordsand actions
affected otherpeople."4
On the contrary, evidenceis strongthatSumner'spolitical
acumenwas considerable.In 1851 he was electedto a fullterm
in the UnitedStatesSenate despitethe factthathis Free-Soil
supporters were onlya minority partyin the state.His victory
was one of onlya handfulenjoyedby the Free-Soilers.In the
springof 1856, Sumnerwas up againstanotherdifficult cam-
paign.Now he was particularly anxious,forhe understoodthe
vitalimportance ofhisownre-election to thefightagainstslav-
ery. His subsequent actions show him doggedlyseeking,and
eventually a
finding,path to electoralvictory.
The pathCharlesSumnerdecided upon was to escalatethe
level of anti-slaveryrhetoricin Massachusetts by attacking the
of
morality slavery itself.
He did so subtly and systematically.
Breakingnew ideologicalgroundforthe Republicanpartyand
the UnitedStatesCongressas a whole,Sumnercriticizedslav-
eryas, at itscore,sexuallypredatory. To be sure,abolitionists
had long protestedagainstthe slave master'ssexual control
overhis property; consensualsex,theypreached,was a neces-
saryfoundation for a good family lifeand a moralsociety.5 The
Republicanparty,however, remained in
reluctant 1856 explic-
itlyto attackslaveryas an immoralinstitution. Radicals like
Sumner also faced rules governingSenate decorumwhich
maintainedconventionsof politediscourseand excludeddis-
cussionof sensitivetopicssuch as sex. Thus Sumnerhad to
submergeaccusationsaboutthesexualdegradation inherentin
Americanslaveryin the speech'ssubtext.Raised onlythrough
4HansL. Trefousse,TheRadicalRepublicans:Lincoln'sVanguardforRacialJustice
(Baton Rouge: LouisianaState UniversityPress,1968), p. 97; ErnestMcKay,Henry
Wilson,PracticalRebel: A Portraitof a Politician(Port Washington,N.Y.: Kennikat
Press,1971),p. 109; HarlanJoelGradin,"LosingControl:The CaningofCharlesSum-
ner and the Breakdownof AntebellumPoliticalCulture"(Ph.D. diss., University of
NorthCarolina,Chapel Hill,1991),pp. 55, 56.
5RonaldG. Walters,The Antislavery Appeal: AmericanAbolitionism after1830
(Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUniversity Press,1978), pp. 70-110; Lewis Perry,Child-
hood,Marriageand Reform:HenryClarkeWright,1797-1870(Chicago:University of
Chicago Press, 1980); and my"'Free Hearts and Free Homes': Representations of
Familyin the AmericanAntislavery Movement"(Ph.D. diss., SUNY-Binghamton,
1993).
literaryallusionsand references,
the sexualchargeat theheart
of the "CrimeagainstKansas" did not violateSenate restric-
tionsbutwould certainly have been understoodby Massachu-
settsvotersfamiliarwithtraditional chargesand by
abolitionist
congressmentrainedin the classics.Only by returning again
and againto thenotionthattheslaveholder's "crime"was rape
could Sumnerintensify rhetoricand, thereby,de-
anti-slavery
flecttheKnow-Nothing threat.
Sumnerand Massachusetts
Politics,1851-56
Senator Charles Sumner's road to "The Crime against
Kansas"startedin theballotboxesofMassachusetts in Novem-
ber 1854.In thatelection,a secretivepoliticalorganization, the
Know-Nothings, won the governor'sseat, 376 of 379 staterep-
resentative contests,and all ofthestatesenateand federalrep-
resentativeraces under the banner of the Americanparty.6
This drasticrealignmentof power in Massachusettswould
stronglyinfluenceCharles Sumner'spoliticalcircumstances
and behavior.Elected to the Senate in 1851 by a fragilecoali-
tion of Free-Soilersand Democrats,Sumnerspent the first
halfof his termunderthe rhetorical restraintsimposedbyhis
minority position in the Senate as well as the minoritystatusof
hisownparty.BeforeNovember1854,Sumnerused moderate
anti-slavery languageto rallyvoterspacifiedby the Compro-
mise of 1850,whileat the same timehe carefully avoidedan-
tagonizing his coalitionpartners, the state Democratic party.
Sumner'smajor speeches duringthisperiod,"Freedom Na-
tional,SlaverySectional"(1852) and "The LandmarksofFree-
dom"(1854), reflecthiscaution,forin them,he addressedonly
legaland politicalsubjects,suchas the FugitiveSlave Law and
the repealof the MissouriCompromise.Strainsof moralcon-
demnationwere rareand references to slavefamilylifescarce
and brief.In "FreedomNational,"Sumnerinsistedthatslavery
"substitutes concubinageformarriage,-whichabrogatesthe
6Donald,Sumnerand the War,p. 268; Gienapp,OriginsoftheRepublicanParty,

p. 136;JohnR. Mulkern,TheKnow-Nothing Partyin Massachusetts:
TheRiseand Fall
ofa People'sMovement(Boston:Northeastern Press,1990),p. 76.
University
relationof parent and child"-and he agreed with Harriet
Beecher Stowe that the safe moral harboraffordedby the
Northernhomewas deniedto fugitive slaves.' But here Sum-
ner stopped. His use of the ideologyof familyas a moral
weapon againstslaveryremainedsimilarlyundevelopedtwo
yearslaterin "The Landmarkof Freedom,"when he briefly
noted thatin thatSoutherninstitution "forthe husbandand
wifethereis no marriage;forthe motherthereis no assurance
thather infantchild will not be ravishedfromher breast."
Even so, Sumnerpointedout,"itis confessedthatthe master
suffersno lessthantheslave."8
The gradualdemise of the Whig partyafter1852 and the
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act earlyin 1854 arousedvi-
sions of majoritypartystatusamong anti-slavery politicians.
Throughout the North, coalitions
anti-slavery battled thedying
Whigs and the emergingKnow-Nothings for the privilegeof
serving as the chief
region's opponent ofthe Democratic party.
In November1854,however,theRepublicanswerethoroughly
defeatedin Massachusetts; even theirgubernatorial candidate,
Henry Wilson, defected to the Know-Nothings shortlybefore
the election.Prospectsforcoalitionlooked bleak in the Bay
State. The Pierce administration had brokenthe Democra-
tic-Free-Soilalliance in the state, and formerConscience
Whigs like Richard Henry Dana, Jr.,and Charles Francis
AdamsbarredRepublicannegotiations withthebigotedKnow-
Nothings. The remnant of the Whig partystood aloof and
apart. Republicansnow faced the Know-Nothings in direct
competitionforthe allegianceof a block of voterswho were
both anti-Catholicand anti-slavery. The 1854 election had
shownthatmostvotersobjectingto slaverywere drivenmore
fundamentally by theirfearsof immigrants and Catholics.In
7TheWorksof CharlesSumner,15 vols. (Boston:Lee and Shepard,1870), 3:106,

144. David Donald warnsthat"Sumner'sWorksrepresentwhat the senatorin the
1870's wishedhe had said, ratherthanwhathe actuallysaid" (Sumnerand the War,
p. xi). While thesechangesconsistlargelyof punctuationand wordchoice,Donald's
concernis well taken.I have used thesevolumesonlyforthosespeechesthatare not
myimmediatefocus.More accuratecontemporary editionshave been used forlater
speeches.
8Sumner, Works,p. 291.
orderto recouptheirlossesto theAmericanparty,Republicans
had to provethatslavery was a moresignificant threatto Amer-
icans'values,rights,and libertiesthanwas Catholicism.9
Anti-slavery politiciansresponded to the Know-Nothing
landslideof 1854 in two ways. Some, like Charles Francis
Adams,called forotherstojoin themin denouncingthesecret
orderand itscovertendorsement of itsown candidates.Writ-
ing in his in
diary earlyJanuary1855, Adamsexpressedcon-
temptforthe new legislature's "absurditiesin abundance"and
declaredKnow-Nothing rulea "Saturnaliaofpolitics."'Speak-
ingin New YorkCitylaterthatmonth,he accused theAmeri-
can partyofprotecting slaveryfromattack.As one ofhislisten-
ersparaphrasedhim,"theobjectsaimedat bytheoriginators of
'theKnowNothingparty,'were no doubtintendedat first, to
shieldslavery;changetheissue;andforma newpartyswornto
keep mumon the subjectof slavery!What else could slave-
holdersdo?"" Adams'spath,however,offeredfewrewardsat
thepolls.Adamshimselfnotedin Aprilthatanti-slavery defec-
tionsto theKnow-Somethings werefurther depletingRepubli-
can ranks."The effect," Adamsrecorded,"willbe to dividea
fallinghouse."'12
'NorthernKnow-Nothings clearlyexpressedconcernsabout the expansionof slav-

ery.See TylerAnbinder, Nativismand Slavery:The Northern KnowNothingsand the
Politicsofthe1850s (New York:OxfordUniversity Press,1992),pp. 43-51, and Gien-
app, OriginsoftheRepublicanParty,pp. 133-38. Sumnerwas keptinformedon the
extentto whichFree-Soiland Americanpartymemberships overlapped.As earlyas 5
May 1854, E. Winslowwarnedthatthe Americanswere "rapidlyembracingall other
partieseven the freesoil party."A. L. Russell,Republicanleaderin Plymouth, wrote
afterthe electionthattherewere "manygood men & truewho are in the 'orders'&
whowillneverbow downto Slavery"(13 March1855). Sumnerhimselfwas optimistic
aboutanti-slavery's
chancesin 1855; he wroteto JuliusRockwellon 26 Novemberthat
"morethanthreequartersofthepeople of Massachusetts agreewithus in
substantially
sentiment, & I cannotbut thinkthattheywillyetget togetherin a solid,compact&
healthyorganization."Clearly,Sumnerknewwhereto findfutureRepublicanvoters.
See The Papers of Charles Sumner,ed. BeverlyWilson Palmer,microfilm edition
(Alexandria,Va.: Chadwyck-Healey, 1988), reel 11, p. 38; A. Russellto Sumner,13
March 1855,reel 12, p. 167; Sumnerto JuliusRockwell,26 November1855,reel 71,
pp. 482-83.
o?CharlesFrancisAdams,Diary,4 and 3 January 1855,AdamsFamilyPapers,Mass-
achusettsHistoricalSociety,Boston(microfilm), reel73.
"AsnerPhelpsto Adams,23 March1855,AdamsPapers,reel543.
12Adams,Diary,14 April1855,reel 73. A splinter groupof theKnow-Nothings, the
Know-Somethings, endorseda platform withmoreanti-slavery planks.
Givenhis historicalreputation as an ideologueratherthana
politician,Sumner might be expected to have followed
Adams'sprincipledlead. Sumner,however,tooka moreprag-
maticcourse.The Senatorapproachedtheproblemofwinning
backvoterstornbetweenanti-slavery and anti-immigrant anxi-
etiesby refusing to characterizethemas bigoted.Instead,em-
the
phasizing Fugitive Slave Law and BleedingKansas,Sum-
ner escalated his anti-slavery rhetoricas he swept through
Massachusetts, upstateNew York,and intoNew YorkCityon
an extensivespeakingtour.'3"Thereis no weaponin theceles-
tialarmory ofTruth,"Sumnerwarned,"thereis no sweetinflu-
ence fromthe skies; there is no generousword that ever
dropped fromhuman lips, which may not be employed"
againstslavery.14Sumnertook his own wordsto heart.With
anti-Catholicwritersproducinga steadyflowof lurid tales
about the sexualthreatCatholicsposed, Sumnersteppedfor-
wardto indictthe sexualexploitation rampanton slaveplanta-
tions.Of concernwas not onlythe destruction of the family
withinslaverybutalso rapein theslavestates.
Sumnerhammeredawayat histheme,despitehisdisclaimer
that"I do notdwell,Sir ... on thesale offathersand mothers,
husbandsand wives,brothersand sisters,littlechildren-even
infants-atthe auction-block; on thisthe practicalprostration
of all rights,all ties,and even all hope; on the deadlyinjuryto
morals,substituting concubinageformarriage,and changing
the whole land of Slaveryinto a by-wordof shame onlyfitly
picturedbythelanguageof Dante whenhe called his own de-
gradedcountrya House of Ill Fame." Clearly,Sumnercontin-
ued, the substitution of "concubinageformarriage"disproved
Southernclaims that God had ordainedslavery.The word
'3Donald,Sumnerand the War, pp. 268-69. For an outlineof Sumner'sspeaking

tour,see EdwardL. Pierce,Memoirand Lettersof CharlesSumner,4 vols. (London:
Sampson,Low, Marston,Searle,and Rivington, 1878),3:415.
'4NewYorkTribune,16 May 1855. It could be arguedthatSumner'sradicalismin
New YorkCitywas aimedat theanti-slavery conventionsmeetingin thecitythatweek.
Sumnerknewthathis audiencewouldbe muchmoreextensive, however,because he
was overseeingpublicationofhisspeechin the Tribune.It also appearsto be thesame
one he had deliveredacrossMassachusetts;
see BostonDaily Advertiser, 17 May 1855.
Quotationsfromthespeechin thenexttwoparagraphsare takenfromthe Tribuneac-
count.
"concubinage"allowedforambiguity, and fora momentSum-
ner stoppedthere.Those in his audiencefamiliar withradical
attackson slavery'ssexualviolencewouldcatchhis
abolitionist
meaning;otherswould simplythinkhe referred to the lack of
legalmarriage ties between slaves.
Sumnercontinued.In rejectingcompensation forslavehold-
ers in theeventofabolition, he posed a rhetorical
question.
Whatsumshallbe countedoutas theproperpricefortheabandon-
mentofthatpretension ... whichleaveswoman, whether inthearms
ofmaster orslave,always a concubine? Whatbribeshallbe proffered
forrestoration
ofGod-given paternalrights?
Thus was the ambiguity removed.Sumnerproclaimedthat"a
wrong so transcendent, so loathsome,so direful,mustbe en-
counteredwhereverit can be reached,and the battlemustbe
continuedwithouttruceor compromise, untilthe fieldis com-
pletelywon." Sumner's new protestrested in parton thethreat
slaverypresented to the moral life of enslaved blackwomen.
Rising to the challenge of the most successful of the state
Know-Nothing Sumner
parties, deployed a new weapon from
the"celestialarmory ofTruth."
Despite Sumner'sefforts, the Know-Nothings maintained
theirdominanceof Massachusetts politicsand re-elected Gov-
ernorHenryGardnerin November1855. Sumner'sposition
was nowgrave;because UnitedStatessenatorswerechosenby
theirstatelegislatures,Sumner'sre-electionhopes restedon
the Republicancandidatesin nextNovember'selection.He
spent the wintereyeingthe November1856 contest.A De-
cember 1855 attackon his loyaltyto the Constitution in the
Boston Courier he considered"the beginningof the cam-
paign."15That monthGeorge BakerwarnedSumnerthatthe
Republicanpartywas weak nationally. A wide distribution of
Sumner'sspeeches,Bakerthought, "is ourlasthope for1856."
Hearingthecall,Sumnerpressedthepublishing houseofTick-
norand Fields to completeworkon a volumeofhis speeches.
'5Sumnerto SamuelG. Howe,28 December 1855,SumnerPapers,reel63, p. 672.
In earlyJanuary he askedHenryWadsworthLongfellow to use
his influencewiththe Bostonpublishers."Mydesireis notpe-
cuniaryprofits,so much as the diffusion of the sentiments I
have vindicated& the strengthening of my own position,"
Sumnerinsisted."Anythingin thisbehalfwillbe moreto me
thanmoney."In response,Longfellowassuredhis friendthat
"theone pointkeptconstantly in viewhas been thewide distri-
butionofthebook;notbyhundredsbutbythousands."16
Sumnerwas carefully layingthegroundwork fora re-election
contestin thestatelegislature in thespringof 1857;in Decem-
ber 1855, however,he learned that GovernorGardnerwas
considering holdingthe senatorialelectionbeforethe Novem-
ber 1856 legislativeelections.Of course,Gardnerwas eagerto
use the presentKnow-Nothing-controlled legislatureto oust
Sumnerand fillthe seat withan individualacceptableto the
Americanparty."7 By latewinter,the rumorwas public,itsim-
plications bandied about in the state's newspapers.On 1
March, the paperoftheMassachusetts
official Know-Nothings,
theBostonBee, printeda clearwarning:
"THE NEXTSTRUGGLE."--John A. Andrew,Esq.,inpresiding at
theBanksbanquet, Thursday is
evening, reported to havesaidthat
thegreatstrugglein Massachusetts nextfallwasfor"there-election
ofCharlesSumner" andthe"endorsement ofHenry Wilson."
WonderifHenryWilsonfeels"endorsed" the
by "struggle" oflast
fall.Perhaps"thenextgreatstruggle" wont[sic]be deferred to suit
thetasteoftheeloquent chairman. Howthen?
"'GeorgeBakerto Sumner,8 December 1855,reel 12,p. 585; SumnertoTicknor&

Fields,25 December 1855,reel 72, p. 8; Sumnerto Longfellow, 9 January 1856,reel
71, p. 655; Longfellowto Sumner,4 April1856,reel72, pp. 152-53,all in SumnerPa-
pers.
'7Donald,Sumnerand theWar,pp. 275-77. TylerAnbindernotesthatSumnerhad
heardofthiscampaignand suggestsitspossiblerolein provoking "The Crimeagainst
Kansas":"Sumner'suncharacteristically vehementspeech mayhave been inspiredby
fearsthathe wouldlose his seatwhenhe came up forre-electionthatwinter.Rumors
had recently circulatedthatKnow-Nothings plannedto replaceSumnerwithGardner,
and Sumnermayhavemadethespeech ... in orderto winsupportfora secondterm."
Anbinder'sinterpretation of the speech,however,emphasizesthat"Sumnerhad in-
sulted manyprominentSoutherners"and that Brookswas "convincedhis family's
honorhad been sullied"(Nativismand Slavery,p. 210), an emphasisdifferentfrommy
OWn.
By theseventeenth, theBee reprinted a letterfrom"Q" to the
Boston Courierpointingout thatsenators,accordingto the
couldbe legallyelected"two,threeor four
state'sconstitution,
years before a vacancy."Indeed, "Q" continued,the idea of
movingup the election would afforddistinctadvantages,
namely,disconnecting "the Senatorialelectionfromthe heat
and passion generatedin the Presidentialcanvass."The Re-
publicanSpringfield Republicanominously notedon 22 March
thatthe plot "receivesno resoluteresistancefromanyconsid-
erableportionoftheAmericanmembersofthelegislature."'8
Throughoutthe monthof March,Sumnerreceivedreports
fromT. P. Chandler,JohnB. Alley,Samuel G. Howe, Seth
Webb,Jr.,CharlesF. Adams,RichardH. Dana, Jr.,and James
W. Stone. Most concludedthatthe odds of a re-scheduled
electionwere slimand that,ifheld,it wouldembarrassGard-
ner,notSumner.19At SamuelHowe's request,however,James
Stoneinvestigated the matterthoroughly. Aftercanvassingthe
especiallyAmericanpartymembers,Stonedecided
legislators,
thattherewas "notthe slightest danger"of an imminent elec-
tion,though"some of them would tryit if theythoughtit
would succeed." Stone's finalreportcalculatedthatGardner
could not mustermore than50 votes amonghis 173 Know-
Nothinglegislators; Sumnercould counton 100, withonly63
Republicansamongthem,a totalthateasilyled a vastlyscat-
tered field of Whigs, Democrats,Republicans,and Ameri-
cans.20
Even armedwiththisknowledge,however,Sumnercould
notbe entirelyconfident,fortheupcomingNovemberelection
did not look promising.In his finalreport,JamesStone pre-
'It wasn'tuntil8 AprilthatBowlesbecame convincedthattheKnow-Nothings had

droppedtheidea (Springfield Daily Republican,8 April1856).
19T.P. Chandlerto Sumner,3 March 1856, reel 13, pp. 26-27; JohnB. Alleyto
Sumner,14 March 1856, reel 13, pp. 67-68; RichardH. Dana, Jr.,to Sumner,14
March 1856, reel 13, p. 69; Seth Webb, Jr.,to Sumner,19 March 1856, reel 13, pp.
80-81; Adamsto Sumner,1 April1856, reel 13, p. 112; Howe to Sumner,15 March
1856,reel72, p. 123,SumnerPapers.
"2James W. Stoneto Sumner,25 March1856,reel 13, pp. 100, 101,and 28 March
1856,reel 13,p. 105,SumnerPapers.See also,Stoneto Sumner,20 March1856,Sum-
nerPapers,reel 13,pp. 86-87.
dicteda majority or pluralityfortheAmericanpresidential can-
didate, Millard in of
Fillmore, thecity Boston.Fillmore'sonly
challenge,Stone thought, would come fromDemocratJames
Buchanan. Given these dynamics,the Know-NothingBee
began tauntingthe Republicans.AfterpredictingFillmore's
victoryand reminding Republicansthattheyhad lostin 1855,
theBee asked"ifanybodyis foolenoughto think[theRepubli-
cans]can do anybetterin thecomingcontest?"The Bee's opti-
mismcontinuedthroughApril.Reportingon Americanparty
successes aroundthe country,it commented:"at the riskof
again disturbing the nervoussystemsof the opponentsof the
AmericanParty,we give this morninga few more victories
achievedupon theAmericanplan.We are awarethatit'scruel,
butcan'tbe helped."In lateApril,itreportedthat"theRepub-
licanshave not the merestshadowof hope of success in the
Presidentialcampaign."Even the RepublicanSpringfield Re-
publican seemed to agree: "There is no more, ifas much, prac-
tical anti-slaverysentimentin Massachusettsnow,thanthere
was beforethelastgreatseriesofoutragesoftheslavepowerin
and as to Kanzas [sic].... thereis nothingin theaspectofpub-
lic sentiment at thepresentmomenttojustify a different opin-
ion."21If the dailieswere accuratelyreadingthe pulse of the
state,Sumner'schancesforre-election werenotat all good.
While Sumnerrecognizedby the end of MarchthatGard-
ner's immediatethreathad passed,his long-term problemof
winning back anti-slavery voters from the anti-Catholic party
remained.Friendsurged Sumnerto intensify his anti-slavery
rhetoric, to heightenawarenessofslavery'sthreatto American
libertyand Protestant morality. Even beforetheFillmorenom-
inationprecludedchancesof a Republican-Know-Nothing al-
liance,TheodoreParkeradvisedSumnerto outflank theKnow-
Nothingsbyradicalizing theanti-slavery debate:
If thereis onlya quantitative difference
betweenhim[Gardner] &
you,I feartheresult. Iftherebe a qualitative as between
difference,
LightandDarkness ... thenI thinkGardner goesintoprivatelife,&
2'BostonBee, 14 March1856 (see also 11 and 12 Marchforpredictions

ofvictory),
14 and 25 April1856; Springfield
Republican,10 March1856.
to servethecauseofJustice
youcontinue intheSenateofU. S. The
moredecidedyourcourseis against & thefurther
Slavery youdepart
fromtheHunkers,themoresecureisyourposition.
Parker'sfurther warningto Sumnerto err"ontheside ofgoing
toofast and toofar, not the other"receivedadditionalrein-
forcementfrom Republican politicians.22 Future Governor
John A. Andrew called for"a good, stout,thorough& brave
vindicationof the principle"underlying personallibertylaws.
Two monthsbeforeSumnerspoke on Kansas, Ohio Senator
SalmonP. Chase urgedhim"totakeoffyourcoat& go intothe
everydayfight."George Baker assuredSumner"thatwe can
triumph on a realantiSlaveryissueas wellas on a mereKansas
question."23Sumnerheeded theadviceofhiswell-wishers. He
resumedhisattackson themorality ofslavery.
BleedingKansas and fraudulent electionsthereofferedan
for
opportunity Sumnervigorously to press the slaveryissue.
Buoyedbywordofthemomentary safetyofhisSenateseatand
drivenby recommendations to attackthe peculiarinstitution
sharply,Sumnerbeganhispreparations for"The Crimeagainst
Kansas."Understanding thenatureofhisnextaddress,Sumner
foresawconflict.Late in March,he predictedto GerritSmith
"a long season of excitement and ribalddebate."24 JuliaWard
Howe laterrecalledthathe had promisedto "delivera speech
in the Senatewhichwilloccasiona good deal ofexcitement. It
willnotsurpriseme ifpeople leave theirseats and showsigns
of unusualdisturbance."25On 26 Marchhe wroteParkerthat
22Parkerto Sumner,14 January 1856,SumnerPapers,reel 12, pp. 663-64, For the

influenceof the Fillmorenomination, see Gienapp,Originsof theRepublicanParty,
p. 263; Adams,Diary,26 February1856,reel74.
2JohnAndrewto Sumner,14 January 1856,reel 12, p. 661; SalmonChase to Sum-
ner, 18 March 1856, reel 13, p. 76; Baker to Sumner,8 November1855, reel 12,
p. 529, SumnerPapers.Baker'sletteris perhapsthe mostinteresting, because he sug-
gestedthatSumnerhithardat slaveryas an institution and notjust at its extension,
whichis whatSumnerwoulddo.
Memoirof Sumner,3:433; Donald, Sumnerand theWar, p. 281. Due to
24Pierce,
the congressionalcalendar,Sumnerdid not appear in Congressbetweenthe spring
1855 speakingtourthatended in New Yorkand December 1855,whichmarkedthe
startofthesessioninwhichSumnerdelivered"The CrimeagainstKansas."
"Julia Ward Howe, Reminiscences, 1819-1899 (Boston: Houghton,Mifflinand
Company,1900),p. 178.
he was "fullofhope now.... Oh! thisenormity is notreallyun-
derstood!The more I thinkof it the more its wickedness
glares."To Adams he predicted"thatKansas will be a free
state.I am surewe are goingto breakthemin the discussions:
And I feelsanguine,thatundertheweldingheatofthiswe are
to have a truefusion,witha real chanceof success."26Adams
repliedwithless thanhis usual despair,notingthattheparty's
difficulties"seem muchreducedfromwhattheywere a year
ago." Still,Adams advisedSumner,as Parkerhad, to assume
theforemost place theattackon slavery:
in
I hopeifSewardtakesthelead,thatyouwillnotbe farbehindhim.It
is ofthefirstimportanceinthisStatethatyoushouldnot,youmust
notpermit yourcolleague forifyoudo
togivethetonetoourpolitics,
itwillcertainly
provepernicious.27
Sumner,who probablydid notneed Adams'sencouragement,
was by 1 Aprilalreadypreparinga speech to fanthe "welding
heat."
By earlyMay,havingwrittenseveraldraftsof "The Crime
againstKansas,"Sumnerconcludedthat"we are on the brink
of a fearfulcrisis"thatshould be met "withoutsparinglan-
guage." To Chase, less than a week beforehe deliveredhis
speech,Sumnerpromisedto "makethemostthorough & com-
of
plete speech my life.My soul is wrungby thisoutrage,& I
shallpourit forth.. . . Surelywe can succeed.-We mustsuc-
ceed in the comingelection.If we do not,well maywe de-
spair." Justtwo days before his speech, Sumnerwrote to
Parker,who had called fora "qualitative"difference in anti-
slavery that
rhetoric, he to
planned "pronounce the mostthor-
ough Philippic ever uttered in a legislativebody."28Taking
stockofthe Massachusetts politicalsituationand his ownideo-
logicalinclinations,Sumnerintroducedthe explosiveissue of
2The Lifeand Correspondence of TheodoreParker,ed. JohnWeiss,2 vols. (1864;
reprinted,New York:BergmanPublishers,1969),2:179; Sumnerto Adams,29 March
1856,SumnerPapers,reel72, pp. 142-43.
27Adams to Sumner,1 April1856,SumnerPapers,reel 13,p. 112.
28Sumner toWilliamJay,6 May 1856,in Pierce,Memoirof Sumner,3:438; Sumner
to Chase, 15 May 1856, SumnerPapers,reel 72, p. 176; Sumnerto Parker,17 May
1856,ParkerCorrespondence, 2:179.
of slave women to the United States
the sexual exploitation
Senate.
"TheCrimeagainstKansas"
Interpreting
As earlyas 1850,CharlesSumnerhad seen the"greatadvan-
tagewhichour cause nowpossessesin the fullreportsof anti-
slaveryspeechesin Congress,whichare madebytheWashing-
ton papers. At last we can reach the country,and the
slaveholders themselves. The SenateChamberis a mighty pul-
pit from which the truth can be preached."29In the last min-
utesof"The CrimeagainstKansas,"itis clearthatSumnerun-
derstoodhisadvantageforhe consciously addressedthenation
at large.The Kansas debate,he observed,"willsoon be trans-
ferredfromCongressto a broaderstage,whereeverycitizen
willbe notonlya spectator, but actor;and to theirjudgmentI
confidently appeal. To the People,nowon theeve ofexercising
the electoralfranchise, in choosinga ChiefMagistrateof the
I
Republic, appeal." Charles Sumnercould not convincethe
Senate to admita freeKansas to the Union in 1856, but he
knew his speech, as reproduced,would circulate widely
enoughto influencethe fallelections.As he warnedvoters,
"theSlave Powerdaresanything; and it can be conqueredonly
by united masses of the People. From Congressto the People,
I appeal."30
Sumneropened his addresson 19 May 1856 by comparing
Kansas under FranklinPierce to Sicilyunder the harshand
corruptruleofitsRomangovernor Verres.Whileleftunexam-
inedbySumner,hishistorical parallelprovidesa contextwithin
whichto place the remainderofthe speech.First,Sumnerre-
29Sumner to WilliamJay,19 February1850, in Pierce,Memoirof Sumner,3:212.

DuringReconstruction, Sumnerbelievedthat"the Senatehas become a centerfrom
whichto addressthe country.A seat here is a loftypulpitwitha mightysounding-
board, and the whole widespreadpeople is the congregation" (quoted by Allan G.
Bogue,in TheEarnestMen:RepublicansoftheCivilWar Senate[Ithaca:CornellUni-
versityPress,1981],p. 84).
3Sumner,The CrimeagainstKansas. TheApologiesfor the Crime.The TrueRem-
edy. (Washington, D.C.: Buell & Blanchard,Printers,
1856),pp. 32, 31. This appears
to be the earliesteditionof "The Crime againstKansas."Judgingby page numbers
givenin SenatorButler'sreplyof 11-12 June,he was readingfromthisedition.Fur-
in thetext.
thercitationsto thisworkwillbe givenparenthetically
inforcedhis own reputation as an oratorbylikeninghimselfto
Cicero,the man who had broughtVerresto justice. Second,
Verreshad plunderedSicily,thusundermining Rome'slonges-
tablishedpolicy of grantingits territories self-rule.Finally,
however,Cicero's orationshintedat, but did not elaborate
upon,Verres'svastsexualdebaucheries."Good tastewouldnot
allowhimto mentioneverything," one modernCicero scholar
writes."But his gesturewas notwasted.Cicero's reticenceal-
lowed the jurors' imaginationto evoke more guiltthan his
wordsmighthaveproven."3'Constrainedbythesame limitsof
decorumand evidencethatCicero faced,Sumnerhoped for
the same effectand thereforeemployedthe same means
throughout hisspeech.
Sumner'scomparisonofterritorial in Kansasand
exploitation
in Sicilywas followedbymetaphors oflust,rape,andvirginity:
Notinanycommon lustforpowerdidthisuncommon tragedyhave
itsorigin.
It is the ofa
rape virgin Territory,
compellingittothehate-
fulembraceof Slavery; and it maybe clearlytracedto a depraved
longing fora newSlaveState,thehideousoffspring ofsucha crime,
inthehopeofaddingtothepowerofSlavery intheNational Govern-
ment.... hereinourRepublic, force-aye,sir,FORCE--hasbeen
openly in
employed compelling Kansastothispollution.
[P.4]
The pro-slaveryconquest of Kansas would-illegitimately,
Sumnerargues-add land to and enhancethe politicalpower
of the South. Sumner'ssexualimagerycan, however,also be
takenmoredirectly. The productionof enslaved"hideousoff-
spring"-a strikinglyinsultingphraseforSumnerto applyto
mixed-racechildren-was an even more personal,and more
sourceof slaveholderprofits,
grosslyillegitimate, as abolition-
istshad maintainedfordecades. In addition,undertheConsti-
tution'srepresentationclauses, these children,by increasing
3'FinleyHooper,RomanRealities(Detroit:Wayne State University Press, 1979),

p. 237; forthe Verrestrial,see pp. 233-39. Preciselyto equate Cicero's cautionand
Sumner'swouldbe an exaggeration, however,forCicero is muchmoredirect.While
stillessentially
introducinghis case, CicerocallsVerres"notan adultererbuta ravager
of chastity,"and he coylyorders,"Let nothingbe said abouthis nocturnalrevelsand
vigils,lettherebe no mentionofpimps,gamblers, or panderers"(Cicero,VerrinesII.1,
trans.T. N. Mitchell[Warminster, England:Aris& Phillips,1986],pp. 31, 51).
the South'spopulation,added "to the powerof Slaveryin the
National Government."Motivatedby no "commonlust for
power,"as Sumnerargued,Southernmastersbothactedoutof
and continuedto gainfromtheirsexualand economicgreed.
Havingcharacterized pro-slavery settlersas rapists,Sumner
must then personifyKansas as their victim.Later in the
speech,he wouldcall fortheimmediateadmissionofKansasas
a freestate,which,if effected,would assurethat"the Crime
againstKansas will be all happilyabsolved."To illustratehis
point,he quotesfromOvid'sMetamorphosis:
"Ohhelp,"shecries,"inthisextremestneed,
IfyouwhohearareDeitiesindeed,
Gapeearth,andmakeforthisdreadfoea tomb.
Orchangemyform, whence allmysorrows come.
[P.24]32
Sumnerplaces the words into the mouthof a personified
Kansas. In itself,the quotation,like Sumner'swhole speech,
seems hardlyobjectionable;the context,however,is quite ex-
aboutrape:Daphne fleesfromApollo,whothreatens
plicitly to
overpowerher.As translated byJohnDryden,"Th' enamour'd
deitypursues the chace; / The scornfuldamsel shuns his
loathedembrace";"She, likea crime,abhorsthe nuptialbed."
Drydendid not hesitateto particularizethe bodilylust that
firesApollo'spursuit:
Herwell-turn'dneckheview'd(herneckwasbare)
Andonhershoulders herdishevel'dhair;
Ohwereitcomb'd,saidhe,withwhata grace
Wou'devery waving curlbecomeherface!
He view'dhereyes,likeheav'nly lampsthatshone,
He view'dherlips,toosweettoviewalone,
Hertaperfingers, andherpanting breast;
He praisesallhe sees,andforalltherest
Believesthebeauties yetunseenthebest.
32Ovid'sMetamorphosis, in FifteenBooks,translated
intoEnglishVerseunderthe
Directionof Sir Samuel Garthby JohnDryden,AlexanderPope, JosephAddison,
WilliamCongreve and Other Eminent Hands (1717; reprinted,Verona: Officina
Bodoni,1958),bk. 1, p. 24 (bk.1 was translated
byDryden).
As Daphne runsfromhim,she simplyfuelsApollo'sdesire:
Feargaveherwings,andas shefled,thewind
Increasing, her
spread flowing hairbehind;
Andleftherlegsandthighsexpos'dtoview:
WhichmadetheGodmoreeagertopursue.
TheGodwasyoung, andwastoohotly bent
To losehistimeinempty
compliment.33
At thismoment,havingprayedforrelease fromApollo'sas-
sault,Daphne is transformed intoa laureltreeand thussaved.
Kansas's conversionto a free state,Sumnersuggests,would
likewisesaveit,and itsfemaleinhabitants,fromdesecration.
Sumneralso uses classicalallusionsto slanderthe moralsof
prominent rivals.FormerMissouriSenatorDavid Atchisonhad
helped pass the Kansas-Nebraska Act beforeleavingthe Sen-
ate and assuminginformalcommandof the pro-slavery Mis-
souriansknownas borderruffians. SumnercomparedAtchison
withCataline,whohad conspiredagainsttherepublicwhilehe
was a memberofthe Romansenate.Havingbeen drivenfrom
thecapitolbyCicero,Catalinehadjoined a rebelarmyoutside
Rome onlyto be killedin battle."Like Cataline,"Sumneras-
serts,Atchison
stalkedintothischamber,reekingwithconspiracy-immo in Sena-
tumvenit-andthenlikeCatalinehe skulked away--abiit,excessit,
evasit, and the
crupit-tojoin provoke conspirators, who ata distance
awaitedtheircongenial
chief.Undertheinfluenceofhismalign pres-
ence theCrimeripenedto itsfatalfruits,
whilethesimilitude with
Catalinewas againrenewedin the sympathy, notevenconcealed,
whichhe foundintheverySenateitself.
[P. 9]
AgainSumnerassumesthe mantleof Cicero to defendlegiti-

mate governmentagainst politicalintrigues.Cicero having
called Cataline "the supremecommanderof the civilwar,"
Sumner'sanalogyplaysuponthesectionalimagerydominating
thedisputeoverKansas.34
O330vid,
Metamorphosis, pp. 21, 22, 23.
Nine Orationsand the Dream of Scipio,trans.PalmerBovie (New York:
34Cicero,
MentorBooks,1967),p. 121.
The comparisonalso raised other issues. In his Orations
againstCataline,Cicero had indictedCatalineand his follow-
ersnotonlyfortheirtreasonbutfortheirundisciplined charac-
tersand sexualexcessesas well. He of
asked Cataline:
Whatbrandofdisgusting notbeenmarked
conducthasyourfamily
with?Whatlustful is to what
craving foreign youreyes, crimeunfa-
miliarto yourhands,whatindecencynotknownto yourbody?Is
therea singleyoungman,trappedin the seductive
pleasuresyou
whomyouhavenotequippedwitha swordforhisviolence
offer, ora
torchtolighthislusts?
Cataline'sarmywas equallycorrupt:"Theirpassionatelustsare
notaveragebutextreme,... theytakeno thoughtforanything
but murder,arson,robbery, rape,"Cicerowarned.Had he not
saved it, Rome would have witnessed"the panic of maidens
and boys, the violationof the Vestal Virgins."'"Justlike
Cataline'sfollowers,Sumnerseems to imply,the borderruffi-
ans acted onlyin the hope of acquiringslavewomenand boys
whomtheycouldrapeon thefieldsofKansas.
SenatorAndrewButlerof SouthCarolinaalso fellvictimto
Sumner'sliterary assault.Butler,Sumnerquips,remindshim
ofDon Quixoteinsofaras he "hadread manybooksofchivalry,
and believes himselfa chivalrousknight,withsentimentsof
honorand courage"(p. 5).36Of course,neitheris a realknight,
even thoughDon Quixoteis a gentlefigureof truechivalry.
Butleris a misguidedimposter:"sir,the chivalricSenatorwill
conductthe Stateof SouthCarolinaout of the Union!Heroic
knight!ExaltedSenator!A secondMoses come fora secondex-
odus!"WhereasDon Quixoteselectsa reputablewomanto be
hismistress,Butler,Sumnerclaims,has chosen
a mistressto whomhe hasmadehisvows,andwho,though uglyto
others,is alwayslovelyto him;thoughpollutedin thesightofthe
world,is chastein hissight-I meantheharlotslavery.
Forher,his
Cicero:A Polit-
'Cicero, NineOrations,pp. 112, 125,152. See also David Stockton,
ical Biography(New York:OxfordUniversity Press,1971),pp. 110-42.
-'The Don Quixoteallusionwas not casuallymade,forSumnerhad withdrawn a
copyof Cervantes'sbook fromthe Libraryof Congress.See Donald, Sumnerand the
War,p. 281.
SUMNER'S ANTI-SLAVERY RHETORIC 549
tongueis alwaysprofusein words.Let her be impeachedin charac-

ter,or anypropositionmadeto shutheroutfromtheextensionofher
wantonness, and no ofmanneror hardihoodofassertion
extravagance
is thentoo greatforthisSenator.The frenzyof Don Quixote,in be-
halfofhiswenchDulcineadel Toboso,is all surpassed.[P. 5]
Like all pro-slaveryideologues, Butler stands ready to defend
the sexual purityof an institutionwhose characteris that of a
"harlot."And, pledged as he is to the "extensionof her wanton-
ness" into Kansas, Butler is thereby personally implicated in
acts of indecency.
Sumner also condemns Stephen Douglas and his doctrineof
Popular Sovereignty,the principle by which Kansas had been
opened to slavery.In this case, Sumner builds his accusation
around a passage fromParadise Lost. "Popular Sovereignty...
now liftsitselfbefore us," Sumner warns,"like Sin, in the terri-
ble picture of Milton." "Sin" referredto a characterin Paradise
Lost, the keeper of the gates of hell. Sumner quoted Milton's
ofher:she
description
seemedwomanto thewaist,and fair,
Butended foulin manya scalyfold
Voluminousand vast,a serpentarmed
Withmortalsting;abouthermiddleround
A cryofhell-hounds neverceasingbarked
WithwideCerebeanmouthsfullloud,and rung
A hideouspeal; yet,whentheylist,wouldcreep,
If aughtdisturbedtheirnoise,intoherwomb,
Andkennelthere,yettherestillbarkedand howled
Within,unseen.
[P. 15]
Again, the quotation's contextis important.Sin emerges from

the head of Satan when he firstconceives of his rebellion
against God. Because Sin is Popular Sovereigntyin Sumner's
analogy,and Popular Sovereigntywas the brainchildof Doug-
las, the Illinois senator is, therefore,Lucifer and the Kansas-
Nebraska Act a revoltagainstDivine Law!37
3"Sin recountsherbirthto Satan:"Thenshining
heav'nlyfair,a goddessarmed/Out
of thyhead I sprung"(JohnMilton,ParadiseLost [New York:W. W. Norton& Com-
pany,1975],bk.2, 11.757-58). The passageSumnerquotedis in bk.2, 11.650-58.
As withSumner'sotherbrilliantly executedinsults,thisat-
tack on Douglas centerson politicsbut also involvessexual
connotations.In passages not quoted by Sumner,Satan se-
duces his daughterSin, who givesbirthto Death. Douglas's
couplingwithPopularSovereignty thereforecreatesDeath in
the formof BleedingKansas and the perpetuation of slavery.
Death,however, is also a character,and he rapes mother:
his
... he pursued (thoughmore,itseems,
Inflamed withlustthanrage)andswifter far,
Me overtook hismother alldismayed,
Andinembraces forcible
andfoul
Engend'ring with me,of thatrapebegot
Theseyelling monstersthatwithceaselesscry
Surround me,as thousaw'st, hourlyconceived
andhourly born,withsorrow infinite
To me."
The productof Douglas's illicitunion with Popular Sover-
eignty,then,is notjust death but rape. These "yellingmon-
sters"thusconceivedand bornare hell-hounds who,likeslave-
holders in Sumner's eyes, bark out their ugly protests
ceaselesslyand enterthe womb "whentheylist."As withthe
Cervantessimile,the associationof Popular Sovereignty and
Sin encouragesSumner'saudienceto linktheextensionofslav-
erynot just withpoliticalcrimesbut withthe spread of un-
governedlustand "embracesforcibleand foul."
Sumneralso highlights the sexual depravityof slaveryby
contrasting the livesofwomenin freeand slavecommunities.
In Lawrence,Kansas,Sumnerclaims,"even the womengave
theireffectiveeffortsto Freedom (p. 30)." Such Free-Soil
womenexhibitheroicattributes, muchlike thosecharacteriz-
ingthewomenofRome and Prussiawhentheywereunderat-
tack and, mostof all, "the mothersof our own Revolution."
Those women,"who sent forththeirsons,coveredoverwith
prayersand blessings,to combatforHuman Rights,did noth-
ing of self-sacrifice
truerthandid thesewomenon thisocca-
sion" (p. 30). Beyondsacrificinglabor and goods,the women
Paradise
3'Milton, Lost,bk.2,11.790-98.
and childrenof Free-SoilKansas suffer"suddenassault"and
themurderofhusbandsand fathers in thenameoffreedom.
By contrast, slaveryprovides no outletsforheroismbut vic-
timizeswomenof all races. Sumner'sallusionsnow are drawn
notfromclassicalliterature butfromtwocontemporary events,
both of whichhad attractednationalattention.The firstcon-
cerns the case of fugitiveslave MargaretGarner,who had
killedher infantdaughterjust priorto theirimminentrecap-
ture. Legal proceedingsto decide whetherGarner should
standtrialformurderin Ohio beforeherreturnto Kentucky as
a fugitiveslave were protracted, and the case figuredpromi-
nentlyin the news fromearlyFebruarythroughMarch 1856.
Many,thoughnot all, accountssuggestedthatGarnerfeared
thatheryoungdaughterwouldsuffer thesame sexualexploita-
tion she had endured. The CincinnatiDaily Gazette,in a
widely copied story,claimed that the murderedchild was
"much lighterin color than [her mother]-lightenough to
showa red tingein itscheeks."In short,this"littlegirlof rare
beauty"was "almostwhite."39Speakingin the courtroomon
Garner'sbehalf,Lucy Stonenotedthat"thefadedfacesofthe
Negro childrentell too plainlyto what degradationfemale
slavessubmit.Ratherthangive her daughterto thatlife,she
killedit."40Even byjustbriefly alludingto themotherwho"has
lately taken the lifeof her (p. 15), Sumneragainre-
offspring"
mindedhis audienceof the sexualabuse slavewomenexperi-
enced.
Sumnercontinuedhis arraignment ofwomen'streatment in
Southernsocietywithreferenceto the 1854 imprisonment of
MargaretDouglass,a whiteVirginian.In the South,Sumner
observed,"a dungeonrewardsthe pious matronwho teaches
littlechildrento relievetheirbondageby readingthe Book of
Life" (p. 30). Douglass laterwrotea scathingpamphletabout
herimprisonment whichwas widelycopiedin abolitionistliter-
39Xenia 13 February1856.
Torchlight,
4CincinnatiDaily Gazette,14 February1856, quoted by JuliusYanuck,in "The
GarnerFugitiveSlave Case," MississippiValleyHistoricalReview40 (June1953):
47-66. See also Reminiscences
of Levi Coffin(Cincinnati:RobertClarke Company,
1896),p. 565.
ature.In it,she reasonedthatSouthernmen closedherschool
because learningwould make the sexualexploitation of black
women more difficult.Interracialintercourse,she averred,
"prevailsto a fearfulextentthroughout the South. . . . The
whitemothersand daughtersofthe Southhave suffered under
it for years-have seen their dearest affectionstrampled
upon-their hopes of domestichappinessdestroyed."South-
ern women's"heartsbleed underits knowledge,"she contin-
ued, "howevertheymayhave attemptedto conceal theirdis-
coveries.Southernwives knowthattheirhusbandscome to
themreekingwithpollutionfromthe armsoftheirtawnymis-
tresses.Fatherand son seek the same sourcesof excitement,
and alikegratify theirinhumanpropensities,scarcelyblushing
whendetected."In a rhetorical movethatcould have inspired
Sumnerand threatenedSoutherners, Douglass advocatedpo-
liticalaction:"thissubjectdemandsthe attention, not onlyof
the religiouspopulation,but of statesmenand law-makers."41
The Douglassreference, widelyunderstoodin early1856,rein-
forcedSumner'scase thatslaverywas,in essence,an assertion
of sexual power and, moreover,a legitimateconcernof the
UnitedStatesSenate.
Reactionsto "TheCrimeagainstKansas"
The indignation thatimpelledPrestonBrookson 22 May to
take up his cane and beat Charles Sumnerover the head as
manyas thirty timesseemsto havecenteredaroundtheinsults
directedtowardButlerand SouthCarolina.42 EyewitnessMon-
cure D. Conway,a Virginian, believed"thatBrooksregarded
the speech as an attackon the moralcharacterof his uncle."43
To his brothernextday Brooksexplainedhis violentactionas
41MargaretDouglass,EducationalLaws ofVirginia.ThePersonalNarrativeofMrs.
MargaretDouglass,a Southernwoman,who was imprisoned for one monthin the
commonjail of Norfolk,underthelaws of Virginia,for thecrimeofteachingfreecol-
oredchildrento read (Boston:J.P. Jewett
& Co., 1854),pp. 62-63, 61.
Neil Mathis,"PrestonSmithBrooks:The Man and His Image,"SouthCar-
42Robert
olinaHistoricalMagazine79 (October1978):304-5.
43Autobiography:Memoirsand Experiencesof MoncureDaniel Conway,2 vols.
(Boston:Houghton,Mifflin and Company,1904),2:237.
"mydutyto relieveButlerand avengethe insultto myState"
forthe damagereceivedduring"a violentspeech in whichhe
insultedSouthCarolinaand JudgeButlergrossly.""44 Less than
a weeklater,Brookswroteof Sumnerthat"he reflectedinjuri-
ouslyuponthe Stateof SouthCarolinaand was particularly of-
fensiveto SenatorButler,who is my relative."Brooksthen
citedas an "objectionable"passagetheDon Quixotemetaphor.45
Henry Edmundson, who was in close contactwithBrooksbe-
forethe attack,testified to the House committeeinvestigating
the assaultthathe had "heardMr. Brookssay it was timefor
Southernmento stopthiscoarseabuse used bytheAbolition-
istsagainstthe Southernpeople and States."46Drawingon this
evidence,historians have arguedthatBrookswas motivated by
his sense of familyhonorand statepride. If we look beyond
Brooks,however,and gauge the reactionsof his compatriots,
we discoverthathis responsewas not an impetuouspersonal
actbutwas approvedbymuchoftheDemocraticpartybothin
anticipationofand following theattack.
Democrats understoodthat Sumner had opened a new
rhetoricalfrontin the war againstslavery.Well versedin the
classics,severalwere also readersof the Tribune,whichhad
printedthespeechSumnerhad deliveredin New YorkCitythe
yearbefore.There theywould have learnedabout the three
nightsof packedhouses,multi-racial audiences,femalelisten-
ers, and warmapplause thatgreetedSumner'sallegationsof
master-slave sexualliaisons.47
On the day Sumnerdelivered"The Crime againstKansas"
beforehis colleagues,SenatorsLewis Cass, StephenDouglas,
"RobertMeriwether, ed., "PrestonS. Brookson theCaningofSumner,"The South

CarolinaHistoricaland GenealogicalMagazine52 (January 1951): 2.
45"Statement by PrestonS. Brooks,"MassachusettsHistoricalSocietyPublications
61 (1927-28): 221.
46"AllegedAssaultupon SenatorSumner,"Reportsof Committees of the House of
Representatives, made during the First Session of the Thirty-Fourth Congress,
1855-56, vol. 1, report182 (Washington, D.C.: CorneliusWendell,Printer,1856),
p. 59.
471nspeeches followingthe caning,two Southernsenators,AndrewButlerand
JamesPearce,claimedto have read and been libeledby the Tribune.Congressional
Globe,vol. 25, 34 Congress,pp. 630, 667, and New YorkTribune,10, 14, and 16 May
1855.
and JamesMason roseimmediately to denouncethespeechas
unfitforthe Senate and its speakerunfitforsociety.Specifi-
callycitingthe referencesto Cervantes,Cicero, and Milton,
Douglas deploredthe mannerin whichsuch finewritershad
been used. '"We have had anotherdish of the classicsserved
up,"he said,
classicallusions,
eachoneonlydistinguished foritslasciviousness
and
obscenity--each onedrawnfrom thoseportions oftheclassicswhich
all decentprofessorsin respectable
collegescausetobe suppressed,
as unfitfordecentyoungmentoread.Sir,I cannotrepeatthewords.
I shouldbe condemned as unworthyofentering decentsociety, ifI
repeated those
obscene, vulgartermswhich have been usedat leasta
hundred timesinthatspeech.It seemsthathisstudies oftheclassics
haveallbeeninthosehaunts whereladiescannotgo,andwheregen-
tlemen neverreadLatin.
WhileDouglas also labeledtheattackson Butler"grossinsults"
and joined Mason and Cass in defendingthe absentsenator's
character,hisvigorousdenunciation of Sumner'sclassicalallu-
sions indicatesthat Douglas well understoodthe thrustof
Sumner'ssubtext.48
Indeed, "CrimeagainstKansas"was decriedas obscene by
manySoutherners. An aggrievedSenatorButlerset the tone
on 12-13 Junebycondemning thespeechas "privateslander,"
"grosspersonalabuse, traduction,calumny,"and generally"li-
centious."Afterreadingthe twoparagraphsthatincludedthe
Don Quixotesimile,Butlerroundlyrejectedthe use of such
languagein a civilizedparliament,
an objectionthatgivescre-
dence to a sexualizedreadingofthetext."How anyman,"But-
lercommented,
whohasnotbeenexcludedfromsociety, coulduse suchan illustra-
tiononthisfloor,
I knownot.I do notsee howanymancouldobtain
theconsentofhisownconscience toriseinthepresence ofa gallery
ofladiesandgiveto slavery
thepersonificationofa "mistress,"and
48CongressionalGlobe, 34 Congress,1 sess., appendix,pp. 544-47. Ironically,
FrancesA. Seward,in the periodbetweenthe speech'sdeliveryand the caning,"ob-
jected" to Sumner's"cuttingpersonalsarcasm,whichseldomamends,and is less fre-
quentlyforgiven"(FrancisSewardto Sumner,21 May 1856, SumnerPapers,reel 13,
221.
saythatI lovedherbecauseshewasa "harlot."
I begpardonforre-
peatingit.Whatin thenameof and
justice decency couldhaveeven
ledthatmantousesuchlanguage?
SumnerhavingimpugnedthesexualhonoroftheSouth,Brooks
had no choicebutto respond,Butlerargued.Brookswas
stungbythestreetrumors andthestreetcommentaries andbythe
in theparlors,
conversations whereevenladiespronounced a judg-
ment;and,sir,woman never fails
to a
pronounce judgment where
honorisconcerned,anditisalwaysinfavoroftheredress ofa wrong.
I wouldtrust
totheinstinctofwomanuponsubjects ofthiskind.He
couldnotgo intoa parlor,or drawing-room,or to a dinnerparty,
wherehe didnotfindanimplied reproachthattherewasan unmanly
submission
toaninsulttohisStateandhiscountrymen.49
CongressmenMiles Taylorand JohnSavage also expressed

theirdisgustover Sumner'suse of "obscene sources."Taylor
identified "a grossnessof languageand a coarsenessof epithet
neverbeforeheardin thatbody."SavagecondemnedSumner's
"vulgarity, malice, falsehood,slander and literarythieving
[without] parallelin anyage or anynation.All Southernsociety
is assailedbythefoulestcharges."R. M. T. Hunterwas partic-
ularlyoffendedby Sumner'schargesthatslaveswere "bredas
cattle"and that a school of "pious matrons"had been de-
stroyed.Fellow VirginianThomas Bocock,whose imagination
playedupon Sumner'sintroduction of womenas a subjectof
debate,predictedthe imminent arrivalof "yourgreatdoctrine
ofwoman'srights"in the Senate.5?Justas Southerners had sti-
fledanti-slavery in
petitions the 1830sand 1840swiththe Gag
Rule, theiruproarover Sumner'sportrayal of slavery'ssexual
dynamics was designed to halt an escalation of anti-slavery
rhetoricin the Congressional Globe and otherWashington pa-
pers.Pressedto defendBrooks'sactionbya motionto censure
the South Carolinian,theyhintedat the offensive contentof
Sumner'sspeechonlyas longas was necessarytojustify theas-
saultbeforelettingthematterdrop.
Globe,34 Congress,1 sess.,appendix,pp. 628,625, 626,632.

49Congressional
5CongressionalGlobe,34 Congress,1 sess.,pp. 629,628, 875,913,657, 820.
Awareofthepoliticalgainsto be madewithnewevidenceof
a slave-powerconspiracyagainstfreespeech and whiterights
but also aware thatSumner'ssubtext,if fullyexposed,might
seem provocatoryenough to some Northernersto warrant
Brooks's response, Republicans ignored Sumner's sexual
themein the hopes thatBrooks'sattackwouldtherebyappear
utterlyunjustifiable. George Simmonsof New Yorkcriticized
the caningas "a deliberate,premeditatedassault"based on
"politicalfeelings."Recallinghis own fightagainstthe Gag
Rule, JoshuaGiddingsdeplored"efforts to abridgethe free-
dom of debate." MassachusettsCongressmenW. S. Damrell
and RobertHall likewiseidentifiedfreedomof speech as the
centralconcern,as did the Republicanpress and the Whig
BostonDaily Advertiser, whoseWashingtoncorrespondent on
22 May reportedthattheattack"was deliberately planned last
Emphasison thedeliberatenatureoftheSouthernre-
night."''51
sponserenderedit a planned,conspiratorial attackon freedom
ratherthana personalreactionto slanderoussexualallegations.
Sumner'sinterestin the sufferings of enslavedblacks re-
ceived onlyfaintacknowledgment. Damrell proposedadding
"'if yourmastersare willing"'to the commandments "Honor
thy fatherand thy mother" and "children,obeyyourparents."
Henry Wilson also vaguely supported Sumner's inferred
charges."Thingsare called by theirrightnames,"he said of
Sumner'sspeech. "No wordswere sparedwhichseemed nec-
essaryto this exhibition."Sumnerhad been, he assertedin
Garrisonianterms,as "severeas truth."52 Nevertheless,Sum-
ner'smessagewas lost.
CharlesSumneralwaysdeniedanyintention of provoking a
physical assault on himself, but he did mean to generatesec-
tionalanimosity. In both May 1855 and May 1856, he broke
new rhetorical groundin the politicalstruggleagainstslavery.
Responding as an astutepoliticianto the Know-Nothing threat
to his constituency, Sumnerchose thistwelve-month periodto
expand his moral of
critique slavery and reclaim the primary al-
51Congressional Globe, 34 Congress,1 sess., pp. 818, 1120, 1117-21, 872-73,
23 May 1856.
886-87; Daily Advertiser,
52CongressionalGlobe,34 Congress,1 sess.,appendix,pp. 872, 1403.
legianceofanti-slavery voters.Broachingthe
and anti-Catholic
subject of sexual abuse, Sumner amplifiedslavery'sthreatto
virtue,women,and Protestantmorality in a mannerthatthe
Know-Nothings, with their failed investigationsof nuns,
and
priests, convents, could not Sumnersucceededin
match.53
his efforts;he was returnedto the Senate and servedthere
untilhis deathin 1874. On the otherhand,Southerners could
not tolerate Sumner's public denunciations.Supportedby
much of the Congress,Brooksattemptedto insurethatthe
subjectwouldnotbe raisedagain.Onlytemporarily successful
in silencingSumner, Brooks and his Southerncolleagues
watchedSumnerrepeathisaccusationsin thesummerof 1860,
therebyforcing themto exploreothermeansfordeflecting the
abolitionistrhetoricthatwas slowlyfindingitswayintotheRe-
publicanparty.
*The Know-Nothings in Massachusetts,
forexample,had createdtheJointSpecial
Committeeon theInspectionofNunneriesand Convents,butthecommitteefoundno
evidenceof Catholicatrocities.Know-Nothing committeememberJosephHiss,how-
ever,was disgracedafterhe used statefundsto renta hotelroomforhis mistress
dur-
in Lowell.JohnR. Mulkern,"ScandalBehindtheConventWalls:
ing an investigation
The Know-Nothing NunneryCommitteeof 1855,"HistoricalJournalofMassachusetts
11 (January1983): 22-34.
MichaelD. Pierson,AssistantProfessor of Historyat Hender-

son State Universityin Arkansas,is currentlycompletinga
bookmanuscript entitled"'FreeHeartsand Free Homes':Fam-
ilyIdeologyand theAntebellum RepublicanParty."

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"All Southern Society Is Assailed by the Foulest Charges": Charles Sumner's "The Crime against

Kansas" and the Escalation of Republican Anti-Slavery Rhetoric

You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

JN May 1856, SouthCarolinaRepresentative PrestonBrooks

2JamesM. McPherson,The BattleCryofFreedom:The Civil War Era (New York:

6Donald,Sumnerand the War,p. 268; Gienapp,OriginsoftheRepublicanParty,

7TheWorksof CharlesSumner,15 vols. (Boston:Lee and Shepard,1870), 3:106,

'NorthernKnow-Nothings clearlyexpressedconcernsabout the expansionof slav-

'3Donald,Sumnerand the War, pp. 268-69. For an outlineof Sumner'sspeaking

'5Sumnerto SamuelG. Howe,28 December 1855,SumnerPapers,reel63, p. 672.

"'GeorgeBakerto Sumner,8 December 1855,reel 12,p. 585; SumnertoTicknor&

'It wasn'tuntil8 AprilthatBowlesbecame convincedthattheKnow-Nothings had

2'BostonBee, 14 March1856 (see also 11 and 12 Marchforpredictions

22Parkerto Sumner,14 January 1856,SumnerPapers,reel 12, pp. 663-64, For the

29Sumner to WilliamJay,19 February1850, in Pierce,Memoirof Sumner,3:212.

3'FinleyHooper,RomanRealities(Detroit:Wayne State University Press, 1979),

AgainSumnerassumesthe mantleof Cicero to defendlegiti-

tongueis alwaysprofusein words.Let her be impeachedin charac-

Again, the quotation's contextis important.Sin emerges from

"RobertMeriwether, ed., "PrestonS. Brookson theCaningofSumner,"The South

CongressmenMiles Taylorand JohnSavage also expressed

Globe,34 Congress,1 sess.,appendix,pp. 628,625, 626,632.

MichaelD. Pierson,AssistantProfessor of Historyat Hender-

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