Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American advocate for the abolition of slavery. He chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1861 to 1871, until he lost the position following a dispute with President Ulysses S. Grant over the attempted annexation of Santo Domingo. After breaking with Grant, he joined the Liberal Republican Party, spending his final two years in the Senate alienated from his party. Sumner had a controversial and divisive legacy for many years after his death, but in recent decades, his historical reputation has improved in recognition of his early support for racial equality.Sumner began his political activism as a member of various anti-slavery groups, leading to his election to the U.S. Senate in 1851 as a member of the Free Soil Party; he soon became a founding member of the Republican Party. In the Senate, he devoted his efforts to opposing the "Slave Power," which in 1856 culminated in a vicious beating, almost to the point of death, by Representative Preston Brooks on the Senate floor. Sumner's severe injuries and extended absence from the Senate made him a symbol of the anti-slavery cause. Though he did not return to the Senate until 1859, Massachusetts reelected him in 1857, leaving his empty desk as a reminder of the incident, which polarized the nation as the Civil War approached.
During the war, Sumner led the Radical Republican faction, which was critical of President Abraham Lincoln for being too moderate toward the South. As chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sumner worked to ensure that the United Kingdom and France did not intervene on behalf of the Confederate States. After the Union won the war and Lincoln was assassinated, Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens led congressional efforts to grant equal civil and voting rights to freedmen and to block ex-Confederates from power so they would not reverse the gains derived from the Union's victory in the war. President Andrew Johnson's persistent opposition to these efforts played a role in his impeachment in 1868.
During the Grant administration, Sumner fell out of favor with his party. He supported the annexation of Alaska but opposed Grant's proposal to annex Santo Domingo. After leading senators to defeat the Santo Domingo Treaty in 1870, Sumner denounced him in such terms that reconciliation was impossible, and Senate Republicans stripped him of his power. Sumner opposed Grant's 1872 reelection and supported Liberal Republican Horace Greeley. He died in office less than two years later. Provided by Wikipedia
Showing 1 - 20 results of 49 for search 'Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874', query time: 0.03s
Refine Results
-
1
The rebellion : its origin and main-spring / by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1861Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
Located: Loading…
CONNECT
Electronic eBook -
2
The war system of the commonwealth of nations : an address before the American Peace Society, at its anniversary in Boston, May 28, 1849 / by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1854Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
Located: Loading…
Electronic eBook -
3
Addresses on war, by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1972Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
4
The war system of the commonwealth of nations. Mr. Sumner's address before the American Peace Society. by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1849Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Microfilm Book Loading… -
5
The scholar, the jurist, the artist, the philanthropist. An address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard University, at their anniversary, August 27, 1846. by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1846Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Microfilm Book Loading… -
6
The true grandeur of nations: an oration delivered before the authorities of the city of Boston, July 4, 1845, by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1845Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Microfilm Book Loading… -
7
White slavery in the Barbary States, a lecture before the Boston Mercantile Library Association, Feb. 17, 1847. by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1969Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
8
The papers of Charles Sumner by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1988Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Microfilm Book Loading… -
9
The crime against Kansas. by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1969Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
10
The selected letters of Charles Sumner / by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1990Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
11
The war system of the commonwealth of nations : an address before the American Peace Society, at its anniversary in Boston, May 28th, 1849 / by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1849Call Number: Loading…
Located: Loading…Book Loading… -
12
The true grandeur of nations : an oration delivered before the authorities of the city of Boston, July 4, 1845 / by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1846Call Number: Loading…Connect to view scanned images of this item
Located: Loading…
Get full text
Book -
13
The scholar, the jurist, the artist, the philanthropist : an address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard University, at their anniversary, August 27, 1846 / by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1846Call Number: Loading…Connect to view scanned images of this item
Located: Loading…
Book -
14
The promises of the Declaration of Independence. : eulogy on Abraham Lincoln : delivered before the municipal authorities of the city of Boston, June 1, 1865 / by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1865Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
Located: Loading…
CONNECT
Electronic eBook -
15
The national security and the national faith : guaranties for the national freedman and the national creditor : speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, at the Republican state convention, i... by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1865Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
Located: Loading…
CONNECT
CONNECT
Electronic eBook -
16
The crime against Kansas : speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts : in the Senate of the United States, May 19, 1856. by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1856Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
Located: Loading…
CONNECT
CONNECT
Electronic eBook -
17
The crime against Kansas : the apologies for the crime, the true remedy : speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, in the Senate of the United States, 19th and 20th May, 1856. by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1856Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
Located: Loading…
CONNECT
Electronic eBook -
18
The scholar, the jurist, the artist, the philanthropist : an address before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard University, at their anniversary, August 27, 1846 / by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1846Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
Located: Loading…
CONNECT
Electronic eBook -
19
Recent speeches and addresses / by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1856Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
Located: Loading…
CONNECT
Electronic eBook -
20
No property in man : speech of Hon. Charles Sumner, on the proposed amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery through the United States. by Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874
Published 1864Call Number: Loading…CONNECT
Located: Loading…
CONNECT
Electronic eBook
Search Tools:
Related Subjects
Politics and government
Slavery
Extension to the territories
Peace
Foreign relations
Fourth of July orations
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
Speeches, addresses, etc., American
War
Arbitration (International law)
Emancipation
Fourth of July celebrations
Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871
Fugitive slaves
History
Impeachment
Impeachments
Pamphlets
Peace movement
Slaves
Trials (Impeachment)
Abolitionists
Agency (Law)
Annexation to the United States
Antislavery movements
Archives
Arms transfers
Campaign literature, 1860
Causes
College orations