The 1857 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in January 1857. Incumbent Charles Sumner was re-elected to a second term in office as a member of the
Republican Party. Sumner was elected in 1851 by a single vote after twenty-five inconclusive ballots by a coalition of
Free-Soil
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...
and
Democratic legislators. He had since become a founding member of the
Massachusetts Republican Party
The Massachusetts Republican Party (MassGOP) is the Massachusetts branch of the U.S. Republican Party.
In accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 52, the party is governed by a state committee which consists of one man and one woma ...
.
At the time, Massachusetts elected United States senators by a majority vote of each separate house of the
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
: the
House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
and the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
During the election, Sumner was still recovering from a brutal attack by a fellow member of Congress, Preston Brooks. He would not permanently return to the Senate until 1859.
Background
On May 22, 1856, Congressman
Preston Brooks
Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American politician and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from August 1856 until his ...
used a walking cane to attack incumbent Senator
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...
on the floor of the Senate. Brooks considered his attack retaliation for a Sumner's speech given two days earlier, in which Sumner fiercely criticized slaveholders including South Carolina Senator
Andrew Butler
Andrew Pickens Butler (November 18, 1796May 25, 1857) was a United States senator from South Carolina who authored the Kansas-Nebraska Act with Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois.
Biography
Butler was a son of William Butler and Behethland ...
, author of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act and Brook's relative. The beating nearly killed Sumner and contributed to the country's polarization over the issue of slavery.
In the 1856 legislative elections, supporters of the Republican ticket, including Republicans and nominal members of the
Know-Nothing Party
The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...
, won an overwhelming majority in both houses of the General Court, securing Sumner's re-election without opposition. Representatives-elect included 218 Republicans, 5 Fremont Americans, 6 Fillmore Americans, 4 Democrats, and 2 Whigs. 24 seats were left vacant.
House
In a noted contrast
from the divisive and lengthy 1851 election, Sumner was re-elected overwhelmingly by the House on January 9.
In the House, Sumner received votes from 333 of 345 voting. Some protest votes were cast for conservative former
Whig politicians who had become independents or Democrats following the party's dissolution in 1856.
Senate
On January 13, the Senate re-elected Sumner unanimously.
References
{{Federal elections in Massachusetts footer
1857
Events January–March
* January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, ''Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen.
* January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating.
* Janua ...
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...