What incident highlighted the violent tensions between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in Congress?

The incident that highlighted the violent tensions between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in Congress is the Caning of Charles Sumner. This event took place in May 1856 when Charles Sumner, a passionate abolitionist senator from Massachusetts, delivered a speech known as "The Crime Against Kansas," in which he criticized pro-slavery politicians and specifically targeted Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina.

In response to Sumner's strong condemnation, Butler's cousin, Congressman Preston Brooks, attacked Sumner on the Senate floor with a cane, severely injuring him. This brutal act symbolized the growing hostility and polarization between North and South over the issue of slavery. The Caning of Sumner not only illustrated the breakdown of civil discourse in Congress but also served to galvanize anti-slavery forces in the North, while simultaneously inflaming pro-slavery sentiments in the South.

This incident is emblematic of the deeper conflicts surrounding slavery during this period, marking a significant moment in the lead-up to the Civil War. In contrast, the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, the Gadsden Purchase, and the Compromise of 1850, while significant in their own right, did not manifest this level of physical violence in Congress and thus did not encaps