Compare And Contrast The Caning Of Charles Sumpter Brooks

The United States was founded by compromise and cooperation, as the states stood together united against Britain. As the nation developed, socially, economically, and politically, the tensions prevented the use of cooperation and differences grew more pronounced. This new failure to compromise was caused by differing opinions on slavery, disagreements in the political spheres, and sectional divisions largely between the North and the South. Primarily, it was the harsh disagreement over slavery that resulted in the collapse of the compromise. Each citizen had his own opinion, and they were firmly set. There could be no compromise over the issue of slavery; you were either for it or you weren 't. Abolitionists, like those in the American Anti-Slavery Society, displayed their qualms and …show more content…
The issue of slavery brought so much fighting that as it grew larger, the gag rule, enacted by the House of Representatives, prevented even the discussion of the matter. All materials “relating in any way or to any extent whatsoever, to the subject of slavery or the abolition of slavery” were ignored. (Document C). The caning of Charles Sumpter by Preston Brooks was one specific incident that illustrated the political disagreements. After Sumpter spoke of the evils of slavery, Brooks beat him brutally with a cane. In the background of Document E, some of the senators are smiling while others looks very angry. These men represent differing political ideologies, and those laughing are democrats who supported slavery while those upset were opposed to it. As the time neared the start of the Civil War, the author of Document E felt the tensions were increasing and he had to do something about it. This attempt to convince the entire nation of the growing danger of increasing political tensions ultimately failed and the nation proceeded closer to