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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Sumner, Charles (1811-1874) The Crime Against Kansas. Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts. In the Senate of the United States, May 19, 1856.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02095.20 Author/Creator: Sumner, Charles (1811-1874) Place Written: New York, New York Type: Pamphlet Date: 1856 Pagination: 31 p. ; 23 x 15 cm. Order a Copy

Sumner delivered this speech after the May 1856 debates on slavery in Kansas. Condemns Southern advocacy of the expansion of slavery. Published by Greeley and McElrath, New York. Advertised on cover page as being "for sale at the office of the New York Tribune." With advertisements for other publications on the back cover.

Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina believed that Sumner had insulted his uncle, Senator Andrew Butler, in this two day oration against slavery. In retaliation, Brooks used his cane to beat Sumner unconscious in the Senate chamber 22 May 1856. The South applauded Brooks, while the North used the caning to symbolize the savagery and brutality of the South. Sumner did not fully recover, or return to his Senate seat, until 1859.

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

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