Here's something we don't see every day: A United States Senator being caned (i.e. beaten up with a walking stick) into unconsciousness on the Senate floor by a United States Congressman.

But that's what happened two days after Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner gave this beauty of a speech to his colleagues in Washington.

In addition to uber-eloquently arguing that the soon-to-be state of Kansas should abolish slavery, he delivered a severe verbal smackdown to Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina.

Senator Douglas was there to defend himself against the harsh attack; Senator Butler was not.

And so, all irritated and puffed up on behalf of his hometown pal, South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks took it upon himself to assault poor old Charles while the rest of the Senate looked on in stunned disbelief.

Not surprisingly, this ridiculous act of violence totally irritated a lot of folks in the North, and it's one of many things that kicked the Civil War party planning committee into high gear.

It took Senator Sumner five hours over two days to give this speech. It's not short, but it sure is beautifully written. Even the insults are poetic and clever.

Though maybe if he'd known what was going to happen, Sumner would have toned them down just a tad. Nobody likes getting the stuffing knocked out of them by a colleague.