Charles sumner significance meaning

At one point, for example, Sumner declared that "[Senator Butler] has chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste [pure] in his sight. I mean the harlot [prostitute] slavery. Two days later, South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks, who was Butler's nephew, strode over to where Sumner was seated in the Senate chambers.

Without warning, Brooks beat Sumner senseless with his cane. By the time other congressmen intervened to end the assault, Sumner lay bloody and semiconscious on the floor of the Senate. The attack on Senator Sumner immediately became a symbol of Southern brutality and viciousness across much of the North. Are we too, slaves, slaves for life, a target for their brutal blows, when we do not comport [behave] ourselves to please them?

Southerners praised him for defending the region's honor, and South Carolina voters reelected him to the Senate a few months after the attack. Sumner, meanwhile, spent the next three years recuperating from his injuries. In , the voters of Massachusetts reelected Sumner to the Senate, even though he had not yet recovered from Brooks' attack.

In December , he returned to Washington, D. By , when North-South disputes over slavery finally triggered the American Civil War , Sumner had regained his position as a member of the Republican leadership. In fact, he was made chairman of the Senate's important foreign relations committee that year. Sumner generally supported fellow Republican Abraham Lincoln and his policies during the war's first two years, even though he grew frustrated with the president's refusal to emancipate free Southern slaves during this period.

In , however, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves all across the Confederacy. The declaration delighted Sumner, who later introduced a constitutional amendment formally abolishing slavery in America. This amendment—the Thirteenth Amendment —became law in December After the Civil War ended in the spring of , Sumner and many other Republican leaders who had led the fight to end slavery wanted to punish the Southern states for their rebellion.

Angry about the April assassination of Lincoln and the bloodshed of the war, these Republicans—called "Radical Republicans"—wanted to pass laws that would guarantee black rights, punish Confederate leaders, and change Southern institutions that promoted racism. When their ideas were criticized as unconstitutional, Sumner argued that the Southern states had "committed suicide" by their secession and thus had lost their rights under the Constitution.

Sumner's harsh stance toward the South changed somewhat after he toured the region's devastated farmlands and cities. Stunned by the widespread destruction that he saw, he began to show a greater interest in legislation designed to help the entire region recover from the war. Most of the bills that he personally introduced, however, were designed primarily to help blacks.

He introduced a number of civil rights bills, for example. He also helped create the Freedmen's Bureau, an organization charged with helping former slaves build new lives for themselves. In addition, he remained hostile to the South's old political leaders and slave-holders. He held them personally responsible for starting the Civil War.

In the years immediately following the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson and the Republican-led Congress became involved in a bitter dispute about how to rebuild the South and readmit the Confederate states into the Union. For one thing, both sides disagreed about who was responsible for this process, known as Reconstruction, which took place from to Congressional leaders, for example, charged that Johnson did not have the authority to shape Reconstruction policies.

Johnson, however, argued that he—not Congress—should be primarily responsible for the Reconstruction process. This disagreement became even more heated when it became clear that Johnson and the Radical Republicans had very different approaches to Reconstruction. Johnson, for instance, pardoned many Confederate leaders and set lenient easy conditions for the Southern states to return to the Union.

In addition, his Reconstruction plan did not give blacks the right to vote or serve as elected representatives. Republican members of Congress thought Johnson's Reconstruction policies were too lenient toward the South. They worried that former Confederate leaders would return to power and continue to discriminate against blacks. The Radical Republicans wanted guarantees of increased black rights and other new laws.

As a result, the Republican-led U. Congress took control of the Reconstruction process in and sent federal troops into the Southern states to enforce their policies. As Congress began implementing its own Reconstruction program, some members were willing to compromise with President Johnson. But Johnson refused to accept any changes to his policies toward the South.

The battle between the two sides continued until , when Sumner and other Republican leaders became so angry that they launched an effort to remove Johnson from office. The Constitution notes that all federal officials can be impeached brought up on legal charges and removed from elected office if they are found guilty of "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

The House of Representatives brings the charges and acts as prosecutor. The chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial as a judge. The Senate hears the case and votes as a jury. Two-thirds of the senators present must vote to convict in order to remove the impeached official from office. Congress began the process of impeachment on February 22, It marked the first time in history that an American president had been impeached.

The trial lasted for more than two months and captured the attention of the entire country. Finally, the senators voted on the charges on May Johnson was found not guilty by one vote and remained in office. The verdict deeply disappointed Sumner. In fact, Sumner disliked Johnson so much that he unsuccessfully tried to convince his fellow Republicans to impeach the president again.

In , Union war hero Ulysses S. Grant —; see entry replaced Johnson as president of the United States. Sumner's relationship with Grant proved to be a difficult one as well, even though they were both Republicans. They clashed over a wide range of issues, and in , Sumner broke with the Republicans and threw his support behind the candidacy of liberal Republican presidential candidate Horace Greeley —; see entry.

On March 10, , Sumner suffered a heart attack in the Senate chamber. He died one day later. Blue, Frederick J. Charles Sumner and the Conscience of the North. Donald, David Herbert. Charles Sumner clashed with all six presidents who served while he was senator. Three preceded Abraham Lincoln — Millard Fillmore —; served —53 , Franklin Pierce —; served —57 , and James Buchanan —; served — They were vilified talked and written about negatively by Sumner because they allowed states to decide the issue of slavery.

Presidents Johnson and Grant, according to Sumner, proceeded too slowly on civil rights legislation. Sumner also clashed with Lincoln, although much more respectfully, over the president's gradual approach to emancipation. In August , John C. Sumner wrote a protest letter to Lincoln over his gradual emancipation policy, stating how sad it was "to have the power of a god and not use it godlike.

In the presidential election of , in fact, Sumner supported Grant's rival, newspaper editor Horace Greeley —; see entry. Grant won reelection easily. By this time, the Republican Party had grown more conservative, and Radical Republicans were on the wane. Sumner continued to fight for the interests of Southern freedmen, but legislation and federal action in their favor always proved to be weaker than Sumner advocated.

Sumner fell ill in and was advised against continuing his Senate work. Nevertheless, he attended the Senate session of March 10, That evening, he suffered a heart attack ; Sumner died the next day. His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Capitol, and the funeral services were held in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Blue, Frederick J.

Charles Sumner and the Conscience of the North. Donald, David Herbert. Charles Sumner. New York : Da Capo Press, Linder, Douglas O. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 8, Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list.

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Summit Family Restaurants Inc. Summi Pontificatus. Summerton, Laura —. Summerson, Sir John Newenham. Travels in Europe [ edit ]. Early political activism [ edit ]. United States Senate — [ edit ]. The "Crime against Kansas" and beating by Preston Brooks [ edit ]. Further information: Caning of Charles Sumner. Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Crime against Kansas.

Wikisource has original text related to this article: The Barbarism of Slavery. Civil War [ edit ]. Emancipation [ edit ]. Foreign relations [ edit ]. See also: Trent Affair. Reconstruction and Civil rights [ edit ]. Alaska annexation [ edit ]. CSS Alabama claims [ edit ]. Dominican Republic annexation treaty [ edit ]. Main article: Proposed annexation of Santo Domingo.

Liberal Republican revolt [ edit ]. Conciliation to South [ edit ]. Virginius Affair [ edit ]. Death [ edit ]. Historical interpretations [ edit ]. In popular culture [ edit ]. Personal life [ edit ]. Marriage [ edit ]. Memorials [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. Notes [ edit ]. New England Journal of Medicine. ISSN PMID American Council of Learned Societies, — Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, ISBN Chris Voices of the American Past: Documents in U.

The Shattering of the Union: America in the s. Henry Wilson and the coming of the Civil War. Lanham, Md. OCLC The Crime Against Kansas. John P. Title page. August 8, Archived from the original on March 25, Retrieved December 23, Davidson, Pearson Prentice Hall, , pp. The South Carolina Historical Magazine. JSTOR Mitchell, Anti-slavery politics in antebellum and Civil War America p.

New York: Hill and Wang. Retrieved May 18, December American Heritage. Retrieved November 29, Library of Congress. March 30, Retrieved November 30, Retrieved April 23, The Routledge Handbook of Smuggling. The Independent. Hamilton Fish. Lamere Pub. Joshua B. Boston Post. July 7, Retrieved September 1, Profiles in Courage. Beale, The Critical Year was revisionist.

The New York Times. Retrieved May 17, New York: Simon and Schuster p. Centenary Edition. Houghton Mifflin, In Good Taste Denver. Members and Officers of the American Antiquarian Society. Worcester: American Antiquarian Society. Archived from the original on July 6, Retrieved June 29, Archived from the original on February 11, Retrieved May 21, Origin of Washington geographic names.

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United States senators from Massachusetts.

Charles sumner significance meaning

Butler Walsh Lodge Jr. Kennedy Smith E. Kennedy Kirk Brown Warren. Historical anti-slavery parties in the United States. Sumner openly and boldly advocated the policy of emancipation. Lincoln described Sumner as "my idea of a bishop," and consulted him as an embodiment of the conscience of the American people. Sandford case. In , Sumner said:.

I speak what cannot be denied when I declare that the opinion of the Chief Justice in the case of Dred Scott was more thoroughly abominable than anything of the kind in the history of courts. Judicial baseness reached its lowest point on that occasion. You have not forgotten that terrible decision where a most unrighteous judgment was sustained by a falsification of history.

Of course, the Constitution of the United States and every principle of Liberty was falsified, but historical truth was falsified also…. As soon as the Civil War began Sumner put forward his theory of Reconstruction , that the South had by its own act become felo de se], committing state suicide via secession, and that they be treated as conquered territories that had never been states.

He resented the much more generous Reconstruction policy taken by Lincoln, and later by Andrew Johnson , as an encroachment upon the powers of Congress. Throughout the war, Sumner had constituted himself the special champion of blacks, being the most vigorous advocate of emancipation, of enlisting the blacks in the Union army, and of the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau.

Sumner was unusually far-sighted in his advocacy of voting and civil rights for blacks. His father hated slavery and told Sumner that freeing the slaves would "do us no good" unless they were treated equally by society. Channing believed that human beings had an infinite potential to improve themselves. Expanding on this argument, Sumner concluded that environment had "an important, if not controlling influence" in shaping individuals.

By creating a society where "knowledge, virtue and religion" took precedence, "the most forlorn shall grow into forms of unimagined strength and beauty. While Sumner often had dark views of contemporary society, his faith in reform was unshakable; when accused of utopianism, he replied "The Utopias of one age have been the realities of the next.

The annexation of Texas—a new slave-holding state mdash;in pushed Sumner into taking an active role in the anti-slavery movement. He helped organize an alliance between Democrats and the newly created Free-Soil Party in Massachusetts in That same year, Sumner represented the plaintiffs in Roberts v. Boston, a case which challenged the legality of segregation.

Arguing before the Massachusetts Supreme Court, Sumner noted that schools for blacks were physically inferior and that segregation bred harmful psychological and sociological effects—arguments that would be made in Brown v. Board of Education over a century later. Sumner lost the case, but the Massachusetts legislature eventually abolished school segregation in The senator was one of the most prominent advocates for suffrage, along with free homesteads and free public schools for blacks.

Sumner's outspoken opposition to slavery made him few friends in the Senate; after delivering his first major speech there in , a senator from Alabama rose and urged that there be no reply to Sumner, saying "The ravings of a maniac may sometimes be dangerous, but the barking of a puppy never did any harm. Sumner did introduce an alternate amendment that would have abolished slavery and declared that "all people are equal before the law"—a combination of the Thirteenth Amendment with elements of Fourteenth Amendment.

During Reconstruction, he often attacked civil rights legislation as too weak and fought hard for legislation to give land to freed slaves; unlike many of his contemporaries, he viewed segregation and slavery as two sides of the same coin. He introduced a civil rights bill in that would have mandated equal accommodation in all public places and required suits brought under the bill to be argued in federal courts.

The bill ultimately failed, but Sumner still spoke of it on his deathbed. Sumner was serious and somewhat prickly, but he developed friendships with several prominent Bostonians, particularly Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , whose house he visited regularly in the s. Longfellow's daughters found his stateliness amusing; Sumner would ceremoniously open doors for the children while saying " In presequas " in a sonorous tone.

A bachelor for most of his life, Sumner began courting Alice Mason Hooper, the daughter of Massachusetts congressman Samuel Hooper, in , and the two were married that October. It proved to be a poor match: Sumner could not respond to his wife's humor, and Hooper had a ferocious temper she could not always control. That winter, Hooper began going out to public events with Friedrich von Holstein, a German nobleman.

While the two were not having an affair, the relationship caused gossip in Washington, and Hooper refused to stop seeing him. When Holstein was recalled to Prussia in the spring of , Hooper accused Sumner of engineering the action Sumner always denied this and the two separated the following September. The situation depressed and embarrassed Sumner; the two were finally divorced on May 10, Sumner was strongly opposed to the Reconstruction policy of Johnson, believing it to be far too generous to the South.

Johnson was impeached by the House, but the Senate failed to convict him and thus remove him from office by a single vote.