Political Cartoon: Arguments of the chivalry

Charles Sumner

Political Cartoon: Arguments of the chivalry

1856

Political Cartoon

The Library of Congress presents an 1856 political cartoon, drawn by John Henry Bufford and Winslow Henry, that depicts the caning of Charles Sumner (LR-MA)--the leader of the anti-slavery forces in Massachusetts and the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate--by Representative Preston Brooks (D-SC). Sumner is seated at a desk while Brooks is pursuing him with a cane and a crowd of congressmen are being threatened away from helping Sumner by one of Brooks's acquaintances. The caption reads, "The symbol of the North is the pen; the symbol of the South is the bludgeon."

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Library of Congress

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