Charles Sumner was twenty-seven, on a European tour in France when he observed students of different races, “jaunty” “men of fashion”, interacting as equals. He at once understood that education, and not nature, had divided black from white. He dedicated the rest of his life fighting to fulfilling the promise of American equality. At a time when abolitionists were disdained radicals he spoke out for the end of slavery, and when the North finally embraced abolition, he pushed for even more radical laws protecting equality and conferring voting rights.

The story of Sumner’s career is also the story of America’s division and its awakening and embracing the humanity of the enslaved. Sadly, with every victory and advance came a whiplash of brutality and violence, and the conflict over race and equality continues to this day.

This is the story of single-minded commitment to justice. After Sumner was caned nearly to death on the floor on congress, taking years to physically recover and left with post traumatic stress syndrome, he persevered in his mission. And, it is the story of America’s original sin and its legacy.

Sumner was an imperfect man, a lonely man, who could be cold and difficult, and he was a failed husband. He held lifelong deep friendships with luminaries like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his wife, was a close advisor President Lincoln and stayed with the dying president, and was a dear friend to Mrs. Lincoln, supporting her through the loss of her son and helping to secure her a pension after her husband’s tragic death.

I had been reading around Sumner’s life in various books, and was thrilled with every page of this revealing biography, impressed by the depth of Sumner’s impact on American history.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book. ( )