Charles Sumner

Charles Sumner trained as a lawyer and advocated for public education reform before he became a senator for Massachusetts (1852–74). During his long tenure, Sumner repeatedly voted against pro-slavery measures. In his 1856 speech “The Crime against Kansas,” he denounced the KansasNebraska Act, which allowed settlers to decide whether slavery would be allowed in new territories. Outraged, South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks assaulted him with a cane. Although it took Sumner three years to recover, he remained undeterred in his antislavery efforts. As chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations during the U.S. Civil War (1861–65), he espoused what many considered a radical approach, condemning Britain’s support for the Confederacy.