Final answer:
The conflict between Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks in 1856 escalated when Sumner made derogatory remarks about slavery and Senator Andrew Butler. Brooks, offended by the personal and state libel, beat Sumner with a cane in the Senate chamber, an act that was celebrated in the South and indicative of the intense sectional divide over slavery.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Conflict Between Charles Sumner and Preston Brooks
The confrontation between Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner and South Carolina representative Preston Brooks is a historical example of the extreme tensions over the issue of slavery that existed prior to the American Civil War. During a speech, Sumner criticized the institution of slavery and personally attacked fellow senator Andrew Butler, referring to slavery as a “harlot” and suggesting that Butler had a deviant relationship with it.
Outraged by these remarks, which he saw as a libel against his state and his family's honor, Brooks assaulted Sumner on May 22, 1856, in the Senate chamber with a cane, continuing his attack until Sumner was left bleeding and unconscious. This event, often referred to as “Bleeding Sumner,” illustrated the increasingly violent discourse of the period and became emblematic of the South's defense of slavery and so-called gentlemanly honor.
The political cartoon “Southern Chivalry: Argument versus Club's” lampoons the ideal of Southern chivalry that Brooks believed he upheld during his assault on Sumner. The beating Sumner received left him incapacitated, yet he was later reelected by the people of Massachusetts, displaying the deeply polarized national sentiment on the topic of slavery. It's worth noting that many Southerners applauded Brooks's actions, with some even sending him canes to replace the one broken during the attack, highlighting the extent to which violence was an acceptable defense of honor and social norms in parts of the country at the time.