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When Words Met Violence in the Senate | Fort Wayne News
In 1856, Congressman Preston Brooks stunned the nation by beating Senator Charles Sumner unconscious with a cane on the Senate floor — a violent act fueled by Sumner’s fiery anti-slavery speech. While Northerners rallied behind Sumner’s right to free speech, viewing violence as a betrayal of democratic ideals, Brooks’ supporters defended the attack, arguing abolitionist rhetoric was inherently dangerous. This clash exposed a deep divide over where speech ends and violence begins — a tension that echoes today, as modern debates over hate symbols and political speech mirror the same moral and…
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