Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/87

 SUxMNER

SUMNER

in Faneuil Hall, Nov. 4, 1845 : " That the Govern- ment and Independence of the United States are founded on the adamantine truths of equal rights and the brotherhood of all men." This move- ment failed of its purpose, for in December, 1845, Texas was admitted as a slave state, and from this time Sumner was a leader of the anti-slavery movement. On Feb. 4, 1846, in Faneuil Hall, he urged the withdrawal of the troops from Mexico, and on February 18, delivered a lecture on " White Slavery in the Barbary States." He was a delegate to the Massachusetts state convention, Sept. 29, 1847 ; opposed the nomination of General Taylor at the Whig convention held at Worcester, Mass., in May, 1848, and supjjorted the candidacy of Martin Van Buren at the Free Soil national con- vention held at Buffalo, Aug. 9, 1848. He was the Free Soil nominee for representative in the 30th congress against Robert C. Winthrop, and although defeated he gained wide national rep- utation by the campaign. He was the Free Soil candidate for representative in the 31st congress to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of Robert C. Winthrop to the U.S. senate to com- plete the term of Daniel Webster, appointed secretary of state by President Fillmore, but Sumner was defeated by Samuel A. Eliot, the Whig candidate. He was a member of the Massachusetts Free Soil convention of Oct. 3, 1850, and was nominated for U.S. senator in 1851, receiving the unanimous vote of the Free Soil members of the legislature and two-thirds of the vote of the Democratic members. He was elected,. _ April 24, 1'851, and took his seat, Dec. 1, 1851. His first important speech in the senate delivered Aug 26, 1852, " Freedom National, Slavery Sec- tional," created a profound impression, and on Feb. 21, 1854, he opposed the Kansas-Nebraska bill in a speech that reviewed the history of slavery, and prophesied the breaking of the slave power. The debate between Senator Butler of South Carolina and Senator Sumner, which then followed, increased the personal hostility felt to- ward him by the pro-slavery party, and the feel- ing in the senate was so strong that a proposal to expel him was seriously considered. On May 19 and 20, 1856, Senator Sumner delivered a speech on the " Crime against Kansas," in which he at- tacked in scathing terms the position taken by Senators Butler and Douglas, and added bitter personalities. This speech was called by Long- fellow "the greatest voice, on the greatest sub- ject, that has been uttered since we became a na- tion." On May 22, the senate having adjourned early. Senator Sumner remained writing letters and was personally assaulted by Representative Preston S. Brooks, a nephew of Senator Butler, who struck hiin a series of blows on the head with a flexible cane? causing him to fall to the

floor. The house of representatives by a party vote refused to expel Brooks, but he resigned his seat, and was unanimously re-elected. Sumner was unable to take his seat in the senate in De- cember, 1856, and talked of resigning ; but was re-elected Jan. 13, 1857, and on Feb. 26, 1857, he took his seat for one day, in order to vote on the tariff bill. On March 7, 1857, he sailed for France for medical advice, arriving at Paris, March 23, and spending over seven months in Europe. He returned to Boston, Nov. 19, 1857, re- suming his

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18G0, when he delivered a speech on "The Bar- barism of Slavery." Following the lead of South Carolina, which passed the ordinance of secession, Dec. 20, 1860, the Southern states successively withdrew from the Union, and on Feb. 8, the Confederate States constitution was adopted. Senator Sumner oijposed any form of compromise between the North and South. He was made chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, and on Nov. 8, 1861, when Captain Wilkes, in com- mand of the U.S.S. Sail Jacinto, stopped the British steamer Trent and took from her Mason and Slidell, envoys from the Confederate States to England and France, he urged their surrender in a speech, Jan. 9, 1862. On Sept. 10, 1863, he delivered a speech in New York city on " Our Foreign Relations," which did much toward keep- ing the good will of England and France. He was a staunch supporter of President Lincoln and was re-elected to the senate for a third term in 1863. He urged the emancipation of the slaves, and on Feb. 8, 1864, he introduced a bill to repeal all fugi- tive slave laws, which was passed by tlie house June 13, and by the senate. June 28. 1864. The Freedaien's bureau bill passed. May 35, 1864. and Sumner proposed : " That every freed man shall be