The Brooks-Sumner Affair, 1856
The Brooks-Sumner affair was mainly based on a speech called “The Crime Against Kansas”. While Mr. Sumner he briefly mentions Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina due to his involvement in the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This had personally offended Senator Brooks because he was related to Senator Butler. So on May 22, 1856 Brooks and two other men went to Sumner at his empty desk. As the other two men back other men off, Brooks attacked Sumner with his cane since Sumner had “dishonored his family” and deserved to be punished. He continued to attack until his cane broke and Sumner was treated for serious injuries. He wouldn’t return to the Senate until three years after the incident. The news of the conflict spread and angered the Northerners while the Southerners felt pride. This highlights the conflict and Southern culture as something horrible to the Northerns’ eyes. Thus leading to help cause the Civil War.
The Dred Scott Case, 1857
The Dred Scott vs Sanford was based on a slave who lived the free state of Illinois and wanted to move back to the slave state of Missouri. When his master died he sued the widow for his freedom so he appealed to the Supreme Court. Now the judge of his case was the Chief Justice Roger Taney and he believed that all blacks could never be citizens in a white society. So in turn he told Dred Scott that even though he was a free black he could never be a citizen and therefore he could not sue. This outraged many people because it raised the question about the constitution's phrase “all men are created equal” and put on a bigger concern on the issue of slavery.