Existing comment:
The Brooks-Sumner Affair:
The code of honor said a duel should only match gentlemen of equal social status. One of the most famous events of the 1850s occurred when South Carolina Rep. Preston S. Brooks whipped Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner with a walking cane. After Sumner gave a speech insulting South Carolina and Brooks' cousin, Sen. Andrew P. Butler, Brooks walked into the U.S. Senate chamber and severely beat Sumner. Brooks considered Sumner a dishonorable man and therefore unworthy of a challenge to a duel. |