1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm TRACYV. 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 2: If you're one of the folks who has listened to 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 2: every episode of our show going all the way back 7 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 2: to the beginning, you have heard how today's episodes are 8 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 2: a lot different from the earlier ones. If you have 9 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 2: not done that, today's episodes they're a lot different from 10 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 2: the earlier ones. It is not just that the show 11 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 2: went through a whole series of other hosts from when 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 2: it started in two thousand and eight until twenty thirteen 13 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 2: when Holly and I came on. Especially for the first 14 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,879 Speaker 2: couple of years, the episodes could be really short, and 15 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 2: sometimes they were based almost entirely on an article from 16 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 2: the House Stuffworks website. That's where Holly and I used 17 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 2: to work and where the podcast got started. If you 18 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 2: go look at the house Stuffworks website today, there are 19 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 2: disclaimers on it that the articles were written in conjunction 20 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,839 Speaker 2: with AI technology. That of course was not the case 21 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 2: when we worked there. Generative AI did not exist in 22 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 2: that way at that time. No, to be clear, our 23 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 2: podcast is not being written in conjunction with AI technology. 24 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 2: Holly and I are human beings and are doing it 25 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 2: just to be to the best of your knowledge, I'm 26 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 2: a human being. What if Holly has been replaced? 27 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 3: What if I'm an alien? 28 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: What if I was never a human? 29 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 3: Oh, We've opened up a whole can of worms. 30 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 2: Anyway, When Holly and I first came on to the show, 31 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 2: we kind of thought of those topics that the earlier 32 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 2: hosts had covered as done already, even if the earlier 33 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 2: episode was maybe only five or ten minutes long. But 34 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 2: we've gotten to a point now that those five and 35 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 2: ten minute early episodes are more than fifteen years old. 36 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 2: They're not even available in most podcast players anymore, and 37 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 2: because they are really short, we don't usually put them 38 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 2: out as Saturday classics, so at least for most listeners 39 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 2: to the show, they're just they're gone. They've basically disappeared. 40 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 2: A while back, Holly and I started talking about the 41 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 2: idea of revisiting some of those early very short episodes 42 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 2: and giving them a deeper look, and one that I 43 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:23,399 Speaker 2: kept mentally returning to was the eighteen fifty six caning 44 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 2: of abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner on the Senate floor that 45 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 2: was covered in a twelve minute episode that came out 46 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 2: in two thousand and nine, and that has seemed particularly 47 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 2: relevant for multiple reasons at various points over the last 48 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,520 Speaker 2: several years. Almost immediately after starting the research on this, 49 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 2: I decided it didn't just need to be a longer 50 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 2: examination of that twelve minute episode. It needed to be 51 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 2: a two parter, because Charles Sumner really should be remembered 52 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 2: for more than just being the guy who was almost 53 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 2: beaten to death in the US Senate Chamber. Then, to 54 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 2: my surprise, two parts turned into three parts, making this 55 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 2: our second ever three parter on the show. 56 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: So let's jump into it. Charles Sumner and his twin sister, 57 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: Matilda were born on January sixth, eighteen eleven, in Boston, Massachusetts. 58 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: They were the oldest children born to Charles Pinkney and 59 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,959 Speaker 1: Relief Jacob Sumner. The family were Unitarians, although Charles never 60 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: considered himself to be a member of any church. 61 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 2: Charles and Matilda had at least seven younger siblings. Sadly, 62 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 2: while those nine children all survived their earliest years, most 63 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 2: of the siblings died by the time they reached middle age, 64 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 2: and Charles survived almost all of them. This included his 65 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 2: twin Matilda, who died of tuberculosis when she was only 66 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 2: twenty one. 67 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: Charles's parents had both faced some hardships in their young lives. 68 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: Charles Pinkney Sumner, known as Pinkney, was born out of wedlock. 69 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: His father, Job, had made a name for himself serving 70 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, reaching the 71 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: rank of major, and he was given lucrative appointments after 72 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:17,039 Speaker 1: the war was over, but Job fell into debts and 73 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: then he died when Pinkney was in his early teens. 74 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: Job had paid for Pinckney to attend the elite Phillips 75 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,559 Speaker 1: Exeter Academy, and Pinckney used the money he inherited after 76 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,359 Speaker 1: Job's death to pay for his tuition at Harvard. He 77 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: became a lawyer, but he faced a lot of derision 78 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: and stigma over the fact that his parents had not 79 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: been married, and as a consequence, his law practice was 80 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: not very lucrative relief. Jacobs had been born into an 81 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: affluent family, but then her parents and a younger sister 82 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: had all died in a disease outbreak when she was 83 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: only fourteen. She supported herself by becoming a seamstress, and 84 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: when she met Pinckney Sumner, they were both living in 85 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: the same boarding house in Boston. Some articles you'll find 86 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: described Charles Sumner growing up in Boston's affluent Beacon Hill neighborhood, 87 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: which is only partly correct. Sumner did grow up in 88 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: Beacon Hill, but it wasn't on the wealthier South Slope 89 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,840 Speaker 1: next to Boston Common. The Sumners lived on the North Slope, 90 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 1: which was home to Boston's largest black community in the 91 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: nineteenth century. Some of the other people we've talked about 92 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: on the show who lived in this neighborhood were Rebecca Crumpler, 93 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 1: the first black woman in the US known to have 94 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: earned an MD, and Kitty Knox, a black cyclist who 95 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: was part of the late nineteenth century bicycle boom. 96 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:42,840 Speaker 2: While the Sumners were white, they were a part of 97 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 2: this black community. Their friends and their neighbors included a 98 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 2: lot of Boston's most prominent black residents and black social 99 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 2: and political leaders. Pinckney was an abolitionist. Slavery had already 100 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 2: been abolished in Massachusetts after a series of court decisions 101 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 2: in the seventeen eighties, and Pinkney thought it should be 102 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,840 Speaker 2: abolished in the rest of the country as well. He 103 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,919 Speaker 2: also thought abolition was just a starting point, and that 104 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 2: abolitionists should also be working toward just treatment of free 105 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 2: black people in society. He was quoted as saying, quote, 106 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,920 Speaker 2: the best thing the abolitionists can do for the people 107 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,719 Speaker 2: of color is to make their freedom a blessing to 108 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 2: them in the states where they are free. 109 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: While Pinckney's opinions on abolition and racial justice surely had 110 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: an influence on Charles, they did not see eye to 111 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: eye on a lot of things. One of those was 112 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 1: Charles's education. While Pinkney had gone to prestigious schools, he 113 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: didn't think that education had actually been very useful to him, 114 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: and he had also seen the way that those schools 115 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 1: could deepen and reinforce class divisions among the students. The 116 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: family also needed money, and he wanted Charles to get 117 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,160 Speaker 1: an education that would allow him to help the family quickly, 118 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: not something that would need years of apprenticeship for further 119 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: study or lead him into academic pursuits that really didn't 120 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,359 Speaker 1: bring in much of an income. That was not what 121 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: Charles wanted. 122 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 3: Though. 123 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 2: He was a bookworm and to use today's terminology kind 124 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 2: of a nerd. He was a sort of kid who 125 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 2: would compile lists of facts about things that interested him 126 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 2: because that was the sort of thing he liked to do. 127 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 2: I have an affinity for him in this regard. He 128 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 2: wanted more than just to attend the local public school 129 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 2: that his father sent him to, so he started studying 130 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 2: Latin on his own in secret. He kept that up 131 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 2: until he felt ready to surprise his father by knowing Latin. 132 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 2: So after that, Pinkney agreed to let Charles and one 133 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,880 Speaker 2: of his brothers sit for an exam to attend the 134 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 2: prestigious Boston Latin School. 135 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 3: That was an exam they both passed. 136 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: Charles, who had started going by the name Sumner, graduated 137 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 1: from Boston Latin School at the age of fifteen. It 138 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: sounds early by today's standards, but it was pretty typical 139 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: for the time. He had not really fit in with 140 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: most of his peers there, not really surprising considering how 141 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: much he liked to do serious, studious things for fun. 142 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: This included sneaking into an address given by then Senator 143 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: Daniel Webster after the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, 144 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: and he had to sneak into that address because he 145 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: did not have the money for a ticket. 146 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 3: By the time. 147 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 2: Sumner graduated from Boston Latin School, his father had been 148 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 2: made high Sheriff of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, which took a 149 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 2: lot of the financial pressure off the family. It did 150 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 2: not make them rich by any means, but this was 151 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 2: a respectable job with a steady income. Pinkney's career as 152 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 2: sheriff could be a whole separate episode, but at various 153 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,240 Speaker 2: points it intersected with his views as an abolitionist. This 154 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 2: included protecting William Lloyd Garrison from a mob that attacked 155 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:02,080 Speaker 2: the Massachusetts Anti Slavery Society in eighteen thirty five, and 156 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 2: being blamed for the escape of two people who had 157 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 2: liberated themselves from slavery in eighteen thirty six. Legally, Sheriff 158 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 2: Pinkney was required to help capture people who liberated themselves, 159 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 2: but in this case people just thought that he had 160 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 2: allowed them to get away. Somebody claimed they had heard 161 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 2: him say he was happy about it, and when he 162 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 2: was questioned, Pinkney said, quote, I should be ashamed of 163 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 2: myself if I did not wish that every person claimed 164 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 2: as a slave might be proved to be a freeman, 165 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 2: which is the purport of the words attributed to me. 166 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,079 Speaker 2: Pinkney's job as sheriff also meant that when Charles wanted 167 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 2: to go to Harvard, the family could afford to pay 168 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 2: for his tuition. He graduated from Harvard in eighteen thirty 169 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 2: and we will get into his life after graduating after 170 00:09:52,320 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 2: we pause for a sponsor break. After graduating from Harvard College, 171 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 2: Charles Sumner continued his education at Harvard Law School, graduating 172 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,319 Speaker 2: from there in eighteen thirty three. The law school was 173 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 2: only about fifteen years old at this point, and the 174 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 2: idea of becoming a lawyer by attending a law school 175 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 2: was still pretty new. It was more common for people 176 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 2: to apprentice with an established lawyer. We've talked about that 177 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 2: transition from apprenticeships to law schools on the show before. 178 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 2: When Sumner was studying law, Joseph's Story was Harvard's lead 179 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,959 Speaker 2: law professor. He was a close friend of Charles Pinckney 180 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:43,680 Speaker 2: Summer and also a US Supreme Court justice. Sumner really 181 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 2: loved studying law, and he especially loved how he was 182 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 2: being taught. He had always been studious and he loved 183 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 2: to learn, but he hadn't always found his earlier education 184 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,319 Speaker 2: very engaging, but that was not the case with Story. 185 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,079 Speaker 2: Story would lecture on law and then call on students 186 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:05,199 Speaker 2: at random to give their response and analysis. This has 187 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 2: roots in the Socratic method, and it's still part of 188 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 2: a lot of law schools today. It's known as cold calling. 189 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 2: Cold calling was very new in the world of higher 190 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,839 Speaker 2: education in the US in the early nineteenth century, and 191 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 2: Sumner absolutely loved it. After finishing law school, Sumner was 192 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 2: asked to stay at Harvard as the law school's first librarian, 193 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 2: and he served in that role for about a year. 194 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 2: Then he started working for a commercial lawyer named Benjamin 195 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 2: Rand to get some more practical law experience and eventually 196 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 2: build up to having his own practice. It turned out 197 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 2: that while Sumner had really loved learning about the law, 198 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 2: he did not actually like being a lawyer, especially with 199 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 2: the commercial cases that Rand was focused on. Sumner really 200 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 2: preferred to read and study and just immersed himself in 201 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 2: the intellectual side of law rather than doing things like 202 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,719 Speaker 2: meeting with clients and arguing cases. It also turned out 203 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 2: that he was not great in front of a jury. 204 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 2: He kind of came off as an annoying and overly 205 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 2: educated pedant. For years, Sumner was prone to just doing 206 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 2: other stuff instead of focusing on his legal cases, including 207 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 2: acting as Charles Dickens's personal tour guide when he was 208 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 2: in Massachusetts in eighteen forty two. In eighteen thirty four, 209 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 2: Sumner made a trip to Washington, d C. So that 210 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 2: he could hear cases being argued before the Supreme Court. 211 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 2: He absolutely hated Washington, d C. And said that he 212 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 2: thought he would never go back. That cracks me up 213 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 2: a little bit. I'm like, I'm sorry, Sumner, I have 214 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 2: some bad news for you. 215 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,079 Speaker 1: Right. It's like a portend. He was like, this place 216 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: is bad for me. 217 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 2: Around this same time that he made the trip to Washington, 218 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 2: d C. Sumner started subscribing to William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist newspaper, 219 00:12:56,559 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 2: The Liberator. While Sumner and Garrison were both abolitionists, they 220 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 2: had some really different views about what needed to be 221 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 2: done to achieve abolition and justice in the United States. 222 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 2: Sumner's views were really influenced by his study of law, 223 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 2: including study of the US Constitution, which is at its core, 224 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 2: a legal document establishing the framework for the United States 225 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 2: as a nation. Garrison and a lot of other abolitionists 226 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:28,199 Speaker 2: thought that the Constitution was a pro slavery document. Garrison 227 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 2: described it as quote an agreement with Hell, and Garrison 228 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 2: thought that the union that had been founded under the 229 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 2: Constitution needed to be dissolved. But Sumner vigorously defended the Constitution. 230 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 2: He would do this for his whole life. He saw 231 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 2: it as an extraordinary and groundbreaking text, a document that 232 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 2: had established one of the first nations in the world 233 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 2: to be founded with a written work of law. In 234 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 2: eighteen thirty seven, Sumner left the US for a tour 235 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 2: of Europe, learning French, at and German. While he was there, 236 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 2: and he already knew Latin and Greek. One of the 237 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 2: things he observed was that relationships among people of different 238 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 2: races in Europe were often really different from what he'd 239 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 2: experienced in the United States. Even in Massachusetts, where slavery 240 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 2: had been abolished, he saw things like integrated schools and monasteries. 241 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 2: Sumner interpreted this as meaning that there wasn't any racial 242 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 2: prejudice in Europe and that everyone was equal, which of 243 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 2: course was not really true, but he also saw it 244 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 2: as evidence of multi racial integrated societies as a possible 245 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 2: thing to achieve now. He was for sure not the 246 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 2: only American to go to Europe and be like, Wow, 247 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 2: there is no bigotry here, which I mean in comparison 248 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 2: to what people were witnessing in the US. It was 249 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 2: a different situation, but it did not mean that there 250 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 2: was no racial prejudice anywhere in Europe. Sumner's father died 251 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 2: on April twenty fourth, eighteen thirty nine, while Sumner was 252 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 2: still in Europe. 253 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 3: He does not seem to. 254 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,600 Speaker 2: Have spoken much about his father after that, and he 255 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 2: returned to the United States in eighteen forty. 256 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: After getting back to Boston, Sumner reconnected with a close 257 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,360 Speaker 1: group of friends who called themselves the Five of Clubs. 258 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 1: Two of the other members were men that Sumner had 259 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: met separately back in eighteen thirty seven, poet Henry Wadsworth 260 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: Longfellow and physician Samuel Gridley Howe. Howe had helped found 261 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 1: the Perkins School for the Blind, which was the first 262 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: school for blind people in the United States, and he 263 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 1: had also become its first director. Sumner would be close 264 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: to both of these men for the rest of their lives. 265 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 2: Today, in the United States, white heterosexual men are really 266 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 2: not encouraged to develop deep, emotionally intimate and physically demonstrative 267 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 2: relationships with one another. That was not the case in 268 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 2: the nineteenth century. It was a lot more common and 269 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,560 Speaker 2: even expected for men to develop very close and sometimes 270 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 2: physically affectionate friendships, especially before they got married to a woman. 271 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 2: These kinds of same sex friendships are sometimes described as 272 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 2: romantic friendships, which is a term that was also used 273 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 2: to describe similar friendships between women. The term romantic friendship 274 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 2: was in use by the eighteenth century, including in descriptions 275 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 2: of past podcast subjects Eleanor Butler and Sarah ponsonby the 276 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 2: Ladies of Vangoughlin. In the early eighteen forties, Sumner spent 277 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 2: a lot of time with both Longfellow and how and 278 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 2: these relationships have been described as romantic friendships. Sumner would 279 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 2: divide weekends between the two of them, spending Saturday with 280 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 2: how and Sunday with Longfellow. He was especially close to 281 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 2: how to the point that Sumner's law partner, George Hillard, 282 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 2: who was also in the Five of Clubs, commented on it, saying, quote, 283 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 2: he is quite in love with Howe and spends so 284 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 2: much time with him that I begin to feel the 285 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 2: shooting pains of jealousy. In eighteen forty two, Sumner wrote 286 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 2: a letter to his friend and colleague Francis Lieber, which 287 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,200 Speaker 2: set in part quote, I am with how a great 288 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:12,359 Speaker 2: deal bachelors. Both we ride and drive together, and pass 289 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,639 Speaker 2: our evenings far into the watches of the night, in 290 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 2: free and warm communion. I think, however, he will be 291 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,439 Speaker 2: married very soon. What then will become of me? It 292 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 2: is a dreary world to travel in alone. 293 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,560 Speaker 1: As that quote suggests. While it was expected for men 294 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:33,639 Speaker 1: to have these kinds of relationships with one another, it 295 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,400 Speaker 1: was also expected for them to just put them aside 296 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: after getting married. Longfellow and Sumner encouraged a match between 297 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward, and those two got 298 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: married on April twenty sixth, eighteen forty three. Sumner also 299 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 1: encouraged a relationship between Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Fanny Appleton. 300 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: Longfellow's first wife had died before he and Sumner had met, 301 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: and Longfellow married fan Danny Appleton on July thirteenth, eighteen 302 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 1: forty three. Theirs was a long courtship, with Sumner often 303 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: acting as chaperone on their dates. Fanny rejected Henry the 304 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,199 Speaker 1: first time he asked her to marry him, and Henry 305 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:19,479 Speaker 1: asked her again after Sumner's encouragement. My favorite definition of 306 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,399 Speaker 1: the word queer comes from the National Museum of Iceland. Quote, 307 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:27,359 Speaker 1: the term queer refers to sex, gender, and sexuality that 308 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: don't coincide with the traditions and customs of a particular 309 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:35,439 Speaker 1: time period. Sumner's relationships with How and Longfellow fit with 310 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:40,120 Speaker 1: this definition. Especially Sumner and How, people commented on how 311 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: close they were before the other men got married and afterwards. 312 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: Sumner really struggled to put these relationships aside in the 313 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: way that he was expected to. It seems like How 314 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: also had similar struggles. Sumner became deeply depressed after How 315 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 1: got married. In a letter to Francis Lieber on How's 316 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,439 Speaker 1: wedding day, Sumner wrote, quote, I am alone alone. My 317 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:08,439 Speaker 1: friends fall away from me. A few weeks later, Longfellow 318 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:10,919 Speaker 1: told Sumner that he was getting married as well, and 319 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: later that same day Sumner wrote to him and said, quote, 320 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 1: I fear much, dear Henry, that I may have seemed 321 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: dull and indifferent to your great happiness when you first 322 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,439 Speaker 1: broke it to me this morning how has gone, and 323 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 1: now you have gone, and nobody has left with which 324 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: I can have sweet sympathy. What shall I do these 325 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: long summer evenings? And what will become of those sabbaths 326 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: sacred to friendship and repose. 327 00:19:36,119 --> 00:19:39,920 Speaker 2: After the Longfellows got married, they were both close to Sumner. 328 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 2: Fanny invited him to be part of the wedding and 329 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,919 Speaker 2: to accompany them on their honeymoon. Sumner was not the 330 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 2: only honeymoon guests. Some of Fanny's female friends accompanied them 331 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 2: as well. Sumner was a frequent guest at the Longfellow 332 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 2: home for the rest of his life, and he retained 333 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,479 Speaker 2: his connection with Longfellow while all so developing a close 334 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:02,959 Speaker 2: friendship with his wife. 335 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: But the same was not true of the How's. How 336 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: seems to have been really torn over his feelings for 337 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: both Sumner and Julia. He wrote forty letters on their honeymoon, 338 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: and thirty three of them were to Sumner. Julia seems 339 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: to have been understandably envious of her husband's relationship with Sumner, 340 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: and she started to resent it. At one point, she said, quote, 341 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 1: Sumner ought to have been a woman, and you to 342 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: have married her. 343 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,919 Speaker 2: On top of that, the Howe's marriage just wasn't very happy. 344 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,480 Speaker 2: Julia was, of course a poet and a writer, and 345 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 2: Samuel did not encourage these pursuits or want her to 346 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 2: have a public career in them. He seems to have 347 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 2: really been pretty controlling. Sumner sided with how on this. 348 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 2: When Julia Ward Howe published work during her lifetime, a 349 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 2: lot of the time she published it anonymously because her 350 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 2: husband didn't want her doing it. She also wrote a 351 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 2: book called The her man Aphrodite, which was first published 352 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 2: long after her death. This book tells the story of 353 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,959 Speaker 2: an intersex person who sometimes lives as a man and 354 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 2: sometimes as a woman. This book is sometimes interpreted as 355 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 2: a reflection of her husband's relationships with her and with 356 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 2: Charles Sumner. More than a year after how and Longfellow 357 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 2: each got married, Sumner was still grief stricken and depressed. 358 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 2: At one point, how wrote him a letter that said, quote, 359 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 2: if you will go on neglect, exercise, neglect, sleep, study 360 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 2: late and early, stoop over your table, work yourself to death, 361 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 2: grieve all your friends and break my heart for where, 362 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:43,000 Speaker 2: dear Charlie, at my time of life shall I find 363 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 2: a friend to love as I love you? A few 364 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 2: months after that, Sumner wrote to How saying, quote, I 365 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 2: am going to say what will offend you, but what 366 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 2: I trust God will pardon for me. There is no 367 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:00,640 Speaker 2: future either of usefulness or happiness throughout all all of this, 368 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 2: Longfellow and How, we're both encouraging Sumner to get married himself, 369 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 2: and that is something he seems to have genuinely wanted 370 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,360 Speaker 2: to do. The Five of Clubs even shifted its focus 371 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 2: to finding Sumner a wife, but Sumner had trouble connecting 372 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,360 Speaker 2: with the women that his friends introduced him to. Sometimes 373 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 2: things would get off to a promising start with women 374 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,640 Speaker 2: who seemed like they were intellectually and socially combatible with him, 375 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,439 Speaker 2: but then he would just seem to lose interest or 376 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:31,119 Speaker 2: stop responding to them. 377 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: It is obvious that all three of these men loved 378 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 1: one another, and that the loss of his intimacy with 379 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: How and Longfellow was deeply painful for Sumner, even as 380 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: Longfellow and his wife tried to welcome him into their 381 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 1: lives together. There are also some gaps in what we 382 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: know about all of their thoughts and feelings. Sumner heavily 383 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,400 Speaker 1: edited his letters, especially the ones he received from How 384 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: blotting out or cutting out portions of them, and burning 385 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 1: some of them entirely. When Sumner was eventually elected to 386 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: be a senator, Howe wrote to him and told him 387 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: that he was burning any letters that quote might be 388 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: disagreeable to you to have seen by unfriendly eyes. Ultimately, 389 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: most of Sumner's letters to how were destroyed. 390 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 2: In the first year after how and Longfellow each got married, 391 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 2: Sumner was sometimes so depressed that he could not get 392 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:29,119 Speaker 2: out of bed. As he recovered, he largely left the 393 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 2: practice of commercial law to focus on social causes and reform, 394 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 2: including joining the Peace Society and working on prison reforms, 395 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 2: and of course focusing on the abolition of slavery. We 396 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 2: will get into some things more related to that after 397 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 2: a sponsor break. Broadly speaking, Charles Sumner was an expansionist. 398 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,719 Speaker 2: This was the era of manifest destiny, when a lot 399 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 2: of white people in the United States believed it was 400 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,440 Speaker 2: inevitable for the nation to spread across the entire continent. 401 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 2: But there were limits to Sumner's expansionism. He thought embarking 402 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 2: on a war to conquer and claim new territory was 403 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 2: a violation of international law, and he thought any expansion 404 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,679 Speaker 2: of the United States should not involve the expansion of 405 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:27,400 Speaker 2: the institution of slavery. 406 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: That means, when President James K. Polk started talking about 407 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: annexing Texas, which had declared itself an independent republic, and 408 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: possibly annexing additional land from Mexico, Sumner was solidly against it. 409 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: Annexing Texas would add another slave state to the United States, 410 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: an annexing part of Mexico would almost certainly lead to war. 411 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 1: He called a possible war with Mexico mean and cowardly, 412 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:59,880 Speaker 1: and he would eventually join the State Anti Texas Committee. 413 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 1: Forty five, when Sumner was thirty four, the United States 414 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: was in the process of annexing Texas and was also 415 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:11,719 Speaker 1: facing the possibility of a war with Mexico. At that point, 416 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,439 Speaker 1: Sumner was invited to be the keynote speaker for Boston's 417 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:20,440 Speaker 1: Independence Day celebration. For his address, Sumner delivered an anti 418 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 1: war speech called True Grandeur of Nations. This speech was 419 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 1: more than one hundred pages long. 420 00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:33,399 Speaker 2: That's so long everything He was not long with every 421 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 2: speech that he ever gave, but there were a lot 422 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 2: of long speeches for both like how many people really 423 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 2: paid attention to one hundred pages worth of speech. We're 424 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 2: gonna get to longer speeches later. 425 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,600 Speaker 1: At which point they're checking out. Nobody's hearing your message, 426 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 1: My love, Okay, Sumner said in part quote in our age. 427 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: There can be no peace that is not honorable. There 428 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: can be no war that is not dishonorable. The true 429 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: honor of a nation is to be found only in 430 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,639 Speaker 1: deeds of justice and in the happiness of its people, 431 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: all of which are inconsistent with war. In the clear 432 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:12,360 Speaker 1: eye of Christian judgment. Vain are its victories, infamous are 433 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,439 Speaker 1: its spoils. He is the true benefactor and alone worthy 434 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:20,160 Speaker 1: of honor. Who brings comfort where before was wretchedness, Who 435 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,399 Speaker 1: dries the tear of sorrow, who pours oil into the 436 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: wounds of the unfortunate, who feeds the hungry, and clothes 437 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:31,160 Speaker 1: the naked, who unlooses the fetters of the slave, Who 438 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: does justice, who enlightens the ignorant, Who enlivens and exalts 439 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: by his virtuous genius in art, in literature, in science, 440 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,719 Speaker 1: the hours of life, Who by words or actions inspires 441 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: a love for God and for man. This is the 442 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,359 Speaker 1: Christian hero, This is the man of honor. In a 443 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: Christian Land. 444 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,679 Speaker 2: Later on in this speech, Sumner said quote war is 445 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:01,040 Speaker 2: utterly ineffectual to secure or advance the object at which 446 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:06,040 Speaker 2: it aims, the misery which it excites, contributes to no end, 447 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,440 Speaker 2: helps to establish no right, and therefore, in no respect 448 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 2: determines justice between the contending nations. 449 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:18,400 Speaker 1: In other words, peace was the grandeur of nations, not war. 450 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: This being an Independence Day event, there were a lot 451 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: of military veterans in the audience, and they found this 452 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: speech to be deeply insulting. Some people approved of it, 453 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:34,120 Speaker 1: including Samuel Gridley Howe, but overall the people of Boston 454 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: were furious. After the speech, a private dinner was held 455 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: at Fanuel Hall, where a whole series of speakers publicly 456 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: criticized Sumner and denounced what he had said. 457 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 2: When Sumner stood up to make his own speech that night, 458 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:54,760 Speaker 2: he toasted the dinner's earlier speakers and he wished them happiness. 459 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 2: He did not try to argue back against their criticisms. 460 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 2: And then afterward he and on kind of an apology tour. 461 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 2: He visited a lot of prominent people who had been 462 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:09,199 Speaker 2: offended by his remarks, including some of those veterans. He 463 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,159 Speaker 2: didn't really take back what he had said, but he 464 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 2: explained that he was talking about principles, not the actions 465 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,560 Speaker 2: of the individual men who had served in the military. 466 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,439 Speaker 2: When he provided a copy of the speech for publication, 467 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 2: he also clarified his intent a little bit quote. Believing 468 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 2: that in the present state of Christian society, all war 469 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 2: and all preparation for war are irrational, unnecessary, and inconsistent 470 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 2: with that true greatness at which our republic should aim. 471 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 2: I deemed it my duty on that occasion to uphold 472 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 2: that truth. I was also anxious that our country should 473 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 2: seek the true glory, and what is higher than glory, 474 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 2: the great good of taking the lead in the disarming 475 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,600 Speaker 2: of the nations. Allow me to add that I wish 476 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 2: to be understood as restraining my opinions precisely within the 477 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,960 Speaker 2: limits which I have assigned them in these pages, and 478 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,959 Speaker 2: particularly to disclaim the suggestion which has been volunteered with 479 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,560 Speaker 2: regard to them, that force may not be employed under 480 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 2: the sanction of justice in the conservation of the laws 481 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:19,040 Speaker 2: and of domestic quiet. All good men must unite in 482 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 2: condemning as barbarous and unchristian the resort to external force, 483 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 2: in other words, to the arbitrament of war to international 484 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 2: lynch law, or the great trial by battle to determine 485 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 2: justice between nations. This is like the most conciliatory Charles 486 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:42,520 Speaker 2: Sumner would be regarding one of his speeches in at 487 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 2: least in terms of like all the ones that I 488 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 2: read in part of this research, the person who was 489 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 2: chosen to give this Independence Day speech in Boston was 490 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 2: usually somebody who was seen as up and coming and promising, 491 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 2: somebody sort of imagined as representing the future of Boston. 492 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 2: Unlike in his earlier school years when Sumner had really 493 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 2: had trouble connecting with his peers, as an adult, he'd 494 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:08,760 Speaker 2: made a lot of friends that included a lot of 495 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 2: really prominent people in the United States and Europe. After 496 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 2: getting back from that trip abroad, he had been the 497 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 2: recipient of a lot of very fashionable invitations. He was 498 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 2: very tall, striking to look at, and usually well dressed. 499 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 2: Sometimes he's described as a little foppish. 500 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:27,800 Speaker 3: But this speech was a turning point. 501 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 2: People started to distance themselves from him a little bit 502 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 2: and his purportedly radical views. 503 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 3: Even after this kind of. 504 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:39,480 Speaker 2: Conciliatory aftermath, he started to fall out with some of 505 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 2: those high profile friends and acquaintances, He also lost. 506 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: One of his mentors, Joseph Story, who died a couple 507 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:51,680 Speaker 1: of months after the Independence Day speech. Story's last letter 508 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 1: to Sumner had been about the speech, praising its quote, 509 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: elegance of diction and classical beauty, while saying that Story 510 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: dissented from its core message. Sumner was devastated at the 511 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: loss of his mentor and colleague. 512 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 2: Beyond that loss and grief, a lot of people, including Sumner, 513 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,960 Speaker 2: really thought that he would be succeeding Story as the 514 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 2: Dane Professor of Law at Harvard. Sumner had been lecturing 515 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 2: there in law since graduating from the law school. He'd 516 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,880 Speaker 2: been filling in when Story or other professors were absent, 517 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 2: but Harvard instead hired William Kent, who was the son 518 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 2: of Chancellor James Kent. In addition to losing this position, 519 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 2: Sumner was hurt that another one of his mentors at Harvard, 520 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 2: Simon Greenleaf, had not really advocated for him in all 521 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:44,920 Speaker 2: of this. The next big moment in Charles Sumner's legal 522 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 2: career involved a school segregation case, and we're going to 523 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,520 Speaker 2: get into that next time, but for now, Tracy, do 524 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:53,360 Speaker 2: you have listener mail? 525 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 3: I Do I have listener mail? 526 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 2: I'm catching up on some really old listener mail that 527 00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,320 Speaker 2: I meant to read a while ago that didn't get 528 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 2: read for various reasons, and I don't think I read 529 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 2: it and forgot to check it off. 530 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 3: This one is from Armas, who. 531 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,720 Speaker 2: Wrote, Hi, Tracy and Holly, I just listened to part 532 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 2: one of your Unearthed episodes for July till how long 533 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 2: ago this was, and was delighted to hear you mentioned 534 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:22,440 Speaker 2: the hand painted slightly sacrilegious condom recently acquired by the 535 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 2: Reis Museum, because I actually saw the condom in person 536 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 2: on a recent trip to Amsterdam. Looking back at when 537 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 2: the episode came out, I realized I actually saw the 538 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,400 Speaker 2: condom just a few days before your episode came out, 539 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,160 Speaker 2: which is just a little funny coincidence. Honestly, the condom 540 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 2: and the exhibit around it of sexual art was one 541 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 2: of my favorite parts of the museum. I have a 542 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 2: master's degree in art history and focused a lot of 543 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,840 Speaker 2: my studies on depictions and histories of sexuality in art. 544 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 2: But aside from that, I think the condom would have 545 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 2: been one of the most memorable parts of the museum. Anyway, 546 00:32:57,120 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 2: the collection of the Reis Museum is so massive that 547 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 2: it's a little bit overwhelming, and a condom definitely manages 548 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 2: to stand out for its novelty if nothing else. While 549 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 2: in Amsterdam, I also went on a red light district tour, 550 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 2: which was fascinating in a lot of ways. But it's 551 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 2: interesting to note that the tour started in front of 552 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,480 Speaker 2: a shop called the Condomerie, the first condom shop in 553 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 2: the world, and the front window display was full of 554 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:25,479 Speaker 2: hand painted novelty condoms. Interesting to see just how that 555 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 2: particular art form has continued on all those years later, 556 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:32,200 Speaker 2: and gives a little insight into the way that humans 557 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 2: have found the same types of things funny across the generations. 558 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 2: I adore your podcast and all the things that you do, 559 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 2: especially in these difficult historical times when so much of 560 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 2: education and access to good historical information is under threat. 561 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 2: I've been listening for many years now and hope to 562 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 2: continue for many years to come. I've attached a photo 563 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 2: I took of the condom in questioned, as. 564 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 3: Well as some. 565 00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 2: Less salacious pictures of my rabbit's dog and a horse 566 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,600 Speaker 2: for the pet tax. The little white and gray bunny 567 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 2: is theo. He likes to sleep on my bed with 568 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 2: me every night. The gray bunny is Sulky. She's a 569 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 2: bundle of energy that does not get along with theo. 570 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:13,799 Speaker 2: The pupp is Tasca. She loves everybody and has just 571 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 2: enough herding instincts to always try her absolute hardest to 572 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:19,760 Speaker 2: keep her sheepies my family in the same room together. 573 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 2: And the horse is Ben. He's a bit useless, but 574 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:24,600 Speaker 2: we love him anyway. Thanks for all you too are 575 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,440 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for this email and for the picture. 576 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 2: I love all of it. I love all of it. 577 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 2: I love all these bunny rabbits. I love this dog 578 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,879 Speaker 2: who looks a little bit forlorn, and I also love 579 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,880 Speaker 2: the useless horse. Many years ago I knew some folks 580 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:44,560 Speaker 2: who had adopted or rescued a herding dog. I don't 581 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:48,359 Speaker 2: remember the exact breed of dog, but they had two 582 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:52,799 Speaker 2: horses and they lived out in the country, obviously, and 583 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 2: the dog basically herded the two horses around like all 584 00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:59,399 Speaker 2: the time, just making sure both the horses were where 585 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 2: they needed to because working dogs were bred to do that, 586 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:06,640 Speaker 2: which means if you get one and you are expecting 587 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:08,759 Speaker 2: to just have a pet, it might not work out. 588 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: As plants, you got to give them busy work. 589 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:14,799 Speaker 2: They gotta have stuff to do. That is what they 590 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 2: are inclined for. So thank you so much again for 591 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 2: this email and the pictures. 592 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:19,640 Speaker 3: I love it. 593 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:21,880 Speaker 2: If you'd like to send us a note about this 594 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,279 Speaker 2: or any other podcasts, we are at history podcast atiheartradio 595 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,560 Speaker 2: dot com and you can subscribe to our show on 596 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:31,399 Speaker 2: the iHeartRadio app and anywhere else you'd like to get 597 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:39,600 Speaker 2: your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 598 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:43,960 Speaker 2: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 599 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,520 Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 600 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:49,800 Speaker 2: favorite shows.