Jerks in History

[J. Beckert]

That's a broad brush, Rob. Did the majority of Southerners use their slaves as concubines? Sumner crossed a line he shouldn't have by publically insulting other members of the Senate. Calling Stephen Douglas a "noise-some, squat, nameless animal" and mocking Butler's speech impediment after a stroke are on a whole different level that has nothing to do with slavery. He made this personal, which under the mores of the time, demanded a man on man confrontation. That's not something that would be condoned today, but in the 1850's, it was.