Writing Assignment - Charles Sumner
After reading about "Bleeding Kansas" In your text, read the speech Sumner gave on the floor of the Senate.
Respond to it in this way, Why did Preston Brooks beat him so mercilessly? What you need to keep in mind at this point is that, at this point in time, slavery is not only not illegal but it is a constitutional protected institution. Not only the right to own slaves, but the right to hunt down runaways from anywhere in the union and bring them back.
The point of this reading is not to make you accept slavery, but to put yourself in the shoes of that southern Plantation owner like Brooks. Was he just angry because of the attack against his uncle? Or could there have been more to it?
From the Northern Perspective, did he deserve the beating?
From the Southern Perspective, did he deserve the beating?