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--- sinha_the_caning_of_charles_sumner [2025/01/23 15:13] – ehighsmi
+++ sinha_the_caning_of_charles_sumner [2025/04/17 17:00] (current) – 199.111.138.113
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 The caning of Sumner also represented a widespread realization among Northerners that the question of slavery undermined the republic. The idea was that slavery as an institution in a land of supposed equality would bring about inequality everywhere. The South had already been oppressing abolitionist rhetoric in several forms, and the caning was an extreme and violent example that brought that idea to the forefront. - Ewan H
+What is interesting about it is that under the code of Southern Honor, a normal dispute between equals would have been settled by a duel (Brooks had previously been involved in two duels), but caning or beating would have been reserved for “unequals” (I.E slaves). Therefore, the beating of Charles Sumner was meant to reduce him to no more than an unequal in the eyes of law and society for his association with Black Americans and abolition. His defenders claimed that it was not his intention to kill, just to degrade. -Sophia
+Before coming a politician, Sumner was wildly unpopular with Harvard and Boston elites for his views on abolition and racial equality, especially by mill owners, who used cotton imported from plantations. This demonstrates why a northern white business man might not be so against slavery. -Sophia
+For many Black Americans in the North, this event further cemented that the US needed to abolish slavery to redeem American democracy.The event immediately strengthened the position of Black abolitionists and further radicalized certain White Northerners against slavery, especially Sumner himself.- Sophia
+Sinha explained that southerners would base their judgements of how “manly” a person was based on their willingness to use force. Sinha further explained that many thought of Brooks as extremely manly due to his willingness to beat up Sumner. Sinha explained that Sumner on the other hand was deemed to be weak and therefore feminine. Sinha further explained that not only was this behavior seen as feminine, but “slavish” as well. - Lauren V.
+I found it interesting how Sumner, unlike most other antislavery supporters, fought for equal rights among all Americans. He didn't want to just end the existence and expansion of slavery, but also bring a new equality to the states between all citizens of the growing nation. (Lexi)