The America Legislator that assaulted a fellow Congressman prior to the start of the Civil War was Preston Smith Brooks, an supporter of slavery, who beat Senator Charle Sumner, an abolitionist, close to death at the United State Senate itself. For decades later Senators carried weapons, including revolvers into the Senate to protect themselves from assaults. Preventive measures proved unsufficient, since many more violent acts happenned over the years.
