In the 1850s, the U.S. Congress was bitterly divided over the issue of slavery, and on May 22, 1856, tensions boiled over with a violent attack on the Senate floor.
A slave-owning representative from South Carolina used a cane to attack and beat Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner, who was vehemently opposed to slavery and spoke out against it.
Here & Now‘s Anthony Brooks talks to David Freudberg, the host of the public radio show and podcast Humankind, about his new radio documentary “Ahead of His Time: The Story of Charles Sumner.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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