TOW #15 - "Crimes Against Kansas" (Charles Sumner)

Charles Sumner on the Crimes Against Kansas

     In the year of 1856, the Union was undergoing a difficult time period known as the "Bleeding Kansas." As the name suggests, much blood was shed on American soil primarily because of conflicting opinions on abolitionism. Charles Sumner was a strong advocate for abolitionism and denounced the Kansas-Nebraska Act (which stated that the Nebraskan territories can become free or slave by popular sovereignty). This act angered many abolitionists of the time because it quite clearly favored southern slave states. In retaliation to this, Charles Sumner delivered his "Crime against Kansas" speech on May 19 and May 20 that argued for the immediate admission of Kansas as a free state. He also denounced the "Slave Power" and their criminal behavior of raping a virgin territory. His vivid imagery and passionate tone helped struck a chord in many people, successfully increasing abolitionism support. 

     Sumner first attacked the "Slave Power" in an attempt to denounce the peculiar institution of slavery and criminalize slaveholders. He says, "Not in any common lust for power did this uncommon tragedy have its origin. It is the rape of a virgin territory, compelling it to the hateful embrace of slavery; and it may be clearly traced to a depraved desire for a new Slave State, hideous offspring of such a crime, in the hope of adding to the power of slavery in he National Government." Sumner compared southern slaveholders rapists with animalistic desires to rape a pure territory. This 'pure territory,' of course, referring to the Western lands that had just recently been acquired from Mexico and Britain. By making comparisons between slaveholders and rapists, Sumner is able to sway his audiences' opinions against slaveholders. If enough people see the evil sinful side of slavery, Kansas and Nebraska would be able to become free states. Even better, slavery may be able to be suppressed. 

     Throughout his entire speech, Sumner is passionately voicing out his feelings. Sumner was well-known to be a speaker with a temper, which fortunately, proved to be useful in his case. Legal scholar William R. Long states that the speech was a "gauntlet thrown down, a challenge to the 'Slave Power' to admit once and for all that it were encircling the free states with their tentacular grip and gradually siphoning off the breath of democracy-loving citizens." And sure enough, Sumner's speech and the conflict that came about later was crucial in advancing the abolitionist cause. It also proved that abolitionists were not afraid to fight for what they believed in, even if it was by violent means.

    American politician and Massachusetts's Senator Charles Sumner successfully furthered the abolitionist cause through his characteristically graphic speech "Crimes Against Kansas." He denounced the Slave Power and advocated for Kansas' immediate admission as a free state very passionately with use of great imagery. It is through his use of such rhetorical devices that he was able to prove his great support of the abolitionist cause and fight against injustice.