Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 4th district
In office August 1, 1856 – January 27, 1857
Preceded by
Himself
Succeeded by
Milledge Bonham
In office March 4, 1853 – July 15, 1856
Preceded by
John McQueen
Succeeded by
Himself
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the Edgefield County district
In office November 25, 1844 – December 15, 1845
Personal details
Born
Preston Smith Brooks
(1819-08-05)August 5, 1819 Edgefield County, South Carolina, U.S.
Died
January 27, 1857(1857-01-27) (aged 37) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party
Democratic
Education
University of South Carolina
Military service
Allegiance
United States
Branch/service
United States Army
Years of service
1846–1848
Rank
Colonel
Commands
Palmetto Regiment
Battles/wars
Mexican–American War
Battle of Chapultepec
Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American slaveholder, politician and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from August 1856 until his death.[1]
A member of the Democratic Party, Brooks was a strong advocate of slavery and states' rights to enforce slavery nationally. He is most remembered for his May 22, 1856 attack upon abolitionist and Republican Senator Charles Sumner, whom he beat nearly to death; Brooks beat Sumner with a cane on the floor of the United States Senate in retaliation for an anti-slavery speech in which Sumner verbally attacked Brooks's first cousin once removed,[2]: 7 [3] South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler.
Sumner was seriously injured by Brooks's beating, and was unable to resume his seat in the Senate for three years, though eventually he recovered and resumed his Senate career.[2]: 104 The Massachusetts Legislature reelected Sumner in 1856, "and let his seat sit vacant during his absence as a reminder of Southern brutality".[4]
An attempt to oust Brooks from the House of Representatives failed, and he received only token punishment in his criminal trial. He resigned his seat in July 1856 to allow his constituents to express their view on his conduct; they reelected him in the August special election to fill the vacancy created by his resignation. He was re-elected to a full term in November 1856, but died in January 1857, five weeks before the new term began in March.[5]
As described by historian Stephen Puleo, "The caning had an enormous impact on the events that followed over the next four years.... As a result of the caning, the country was pushed, inexorably and unstoppably, to civil war."[6]
^Weil, Julie Zauzmer (January 10, 2022). "More than 1,800 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation". Washington Post. Retrieved May 5, 2024. Database at "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, January 13, 2022, retrieved April 29, 2024
^ abHoffer, Williamjames Hull (2010). The Caning of Charles Sumner. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-9469-5.
^The relationship between Brooks and Butler is often reported inaccurately. "In reality, Brooks's father Whitfield Brooks, and Andrew Butler were first cousins." Mathis, Robert Neil (October 1978). "Preston Smith Brooks: The Man and His Image". The South Carolina Historical Magazine. 79 (4): 296–310. JSTOR 27567525.
^"Canefight! Preston Brooks and Charles Sumner". ushistory.org. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
^Foreman, Amanda (2010). A World On Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War. New York: Random House. p. 34.
^Puleo, Stephen (March 29, 2015). "The US Senate's darkest moment". Boston Globe Magazine. Boston, MA.
Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American slaveholder, politician and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South...
Sumner, or the Brooks–Sumner Affair, occurred on May 22, 1856, in the United States Senate chamber, when Representative PrestonBrooks, a pro-slavery...
PrestonBrook is a village and civil parish in the borough of Halton, a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Cheshire in North West England....
Robert PrestonBrooks (July 23, 1881 in Milledgeville, Georgia – October 28, 1961 in Athens, Georgia) was one of the first recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship...
subsequently brutally assaulted in the Senate chamber by Representative PrestonBrooks (D-South Carolina), who was hailed as a hero by the pro-slavery South...
a vicious beating, almost to the point of death, by Representative PrestonBrooks on the Senate floor. Sumner's severe injuries and extended absence from...
contracts were given by Graham Page for £6.3 million to Marples Ridgway for PrestonBrook to Lymm, and to Robert McGregor & Sons for 5.2 miles (8.4 km) from Lymm...
Look up Preston in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Preston or Prestons may refer to: Preston, Victoria City of Preston (Victoria) Electoral district...
terms. Two days later, Butler's cousin, the South Carolina Congressman PrestonBrooks, nearly killed Sumner on the Senate floor with a heavy cane. The action...
slave trader, and one of the wealthiest women of that French colony. PrestonBrooks (1819–1857), veteran of the Mexican–American War and U.S. Congressman...
Robert, Bob or Bobby Brooks may refer to: Robert A. Brooks (1932–2000), American telecommunications entrepreneur Robert H. Brooks (1937–2006), founder...
PrestonBrooks, the first cousin once removed of Butler, considered Sumner's speech an attack on his family honor. Two days after the speech, Brooks brutally...
Bridgewater Canal, which it joins at PrestonBrook in Cheshire. Although mileposts measure the distance to PrestonBrook and Shardlow, Derwent Mouth is about...
(the brutal caning of Charles Sumner by South Carolina Representative PrestonBrooks in the Senate chamber) as election slogans. The Buchanan/Breckinridge...
(1884–1952), American architect [Preston Brady III]] (born 1957), American writer PrestonBrooks (1819–1857), American politician Preston Brown (linebacker) (born...
Sumner, an abolitionist Senator, by one of his pro-slavery opponents, PrestonBrooks, on the floor of the United States Senate. Argument from authority Conformity...
May 22, 1856, PrestonBrooks brutally assaulted Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor, leaving Sumner bloody and unconscious. Brooks had been upset...
Council. Retrieved 6 April 2024. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED - Norton South and PrestonBrook" (PDF). Halton Borough Council. Retrieved 6 April 2024....
Preston on the Hill is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of PrestonBrook and the unitary authority area of Halton, in Cheshire, England...
Charles Sumner Massachusetts (Senator) May 22, 1856 PrestonBrooks Assault Representative PrestonBrooks, a Democrat from South Carolina's 4th district, assaulted...
Carolina for the Kansas–Nebraska Act. When a relative of Andrew Butler, PrestonBrooks, heard of it, he felt that Sumner's behavior demanded retaliation, and...
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