A political cartoon portrays a man beating another man with a cane. The man on the ground has a quill pen in one hand, and a speech in the other. The man with the cane is representative Preston Brooks, from South Carolina. The man being beaten was Charles Sumner, and the speech in his hands was, "Crimes Against Kansas." In the background of the cartoon, it shows spectators watching, some with smiles on their faces, and others frowning. The man with the cane, Preston Brooks, was born on August 5, 1819. He was a Democratic representative from South Carolina. Brooks was very pro-slavery. He believed that white people, enslaving black people, was right and proper. He also believed that anyone who attacked, or tried to put restriction on slavery, was attacking him, and the social structure of the south. During Brook’s time as a representative, there was great controversy over slavery in Kansas, which was still a territory at the time. The debate was over weather Kansas be a free state, or a slave state. Brooks Stated, “The fate of the south is to be decided with the Kansas issue. If Kansas becomes a hireling state, slave property will decline to half its present value and abolitionism will become the prevailing sentiment.” This was why he felt so strongly about Sumner’s speech, “Crimes Against Kansas.” Throughout his life, Brooks displayed a violent episodes. Brooks attended South Carolina College, now known as the University of South Carolina. A few weeks before graduating, Brooks threatened local police officers with firearms, and was expelled. Another violent episode that occurred was when Brooks fought Louis T. Wigfall in a duel. During this duel, Brooks was shot in the hip, which forced him to use a cane for the rest of his life. The man on the ground, in the political cartoon, was Charles Sumner. Sumner was born January 6, 1811. He was an academic lawyer and orator. Charles was a senator in Massachusetts, and the leader of the Radical Republican party. He fought for equal voting rights for freed men, and worked hard to destroy the confederacy. Sumner also worked in foreign affairs. H