Charles Sumner was a U.S. Senator from from Massachusetts who was strongly against slavery. In his "Crime Against Kansas" speech, he denounced slavery and also criticized some lawmakers who stood for it.
Two days after the speech, Sumner was in the Senate chamber when he was attacked by Preston Brooks who was a cousin of one of the men Sumner criticized. Brooks beat him with a cane until his cane broke and then continued to beat him with the broken pieces in a display of savagery.
