On May 22, 1856, South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks attacked Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor in response to a speech entitled "The Crime against Kansas" that Senator Sumner had given days earlier. What was Sumner's argument in his speech?

Question

On May 22, 1856, South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks attacked Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor in response to a speech entitled "The Crime against Kansas" that Senator Sumner had given days earlier. What was Sumner's argument in his speech?
 A. 
He spoke out against the Fugitive Slave Act.
 B. 
He spoke out against the Compromise of 1850.
 C. 
He spoke out against the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
 D. 
He spoke out against the Missouri Compromise

GPT-4o mini · Answer

C. He spoke out against the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

In his speech "The Crime against Kansas," Senator Charles Sumner criticized the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the violence that was occurring in Kansas as a result of it. His remarks were particularly aimed at pro-slavery advocates and the implications of allowing popular sovereignty to determine whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slave state.