Congressman Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Sumner nearly to death on the Senate floor because
a. Sumner had helped to fund John Brown's violent activities in Kansas.
b. Sumner had used abusive language to describe the South and a South Carolina senator.
c. Sumner had personally blocked the admission of Kansas to the Union as a slave state.
d. Sumner had threatened to kill Brooks if he had the opportunity.
e. Democrats believed that Sumner would be a dangerous Republican candidate for president.
Answer: B