Steven Spierer, 3/14/15

On May 22, 1856, on the floor of the United States Congress, Representative Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with his walking cane in retaliation for a speech given by Senator Sumner two days earlier, beating Sumner into unconsciousness. That breakdown of reasoned discourse into violence marked a turning point that led four years later to the American Civil War. Steve interviews Stephen Puleo, author of Author: The Caning: The Assault that Drove America to Civil War.