ator Andrew Pickens Butler. Preston Brooks, Butler’s nephew, sought out
Sumner and is reputed to have said: “Mr. Sumner, I have read your speech
carefully, and with as much calmness as I could be expected to read such a
speech. You have libeled my State, and slandered my relation, who is aged
and absent, and I feel it to be my duty to punish you for it.” The punish-
ment followed, and Sumner was caned senseless (Williams 1980, 26).
General Andrew Jackson, future president of the United States, at-
tempted in 1813 to horsewhip Thomas H. Benton, a future U.S. senator,
but Benton reached for a pistol while Jackson dropped the whip and drew
his own firearm. Benton’s younger brother Jesse, who had the grudge
against Jackson, was on the scene; he shot Jackson with a pistol loaded
with a slug of lead and two bullets. Jackson’s shoulder was shattered and
his left arm pierced, but he refused amputation. Fifteen years later, when
both Andrew and Thomas were U.S. senators, they became reconciled.
During Jackson’s presidency (1829–1837), Benton was a staunch sup-
porter, and on Jackson’s death in 1847 Benton eulogized him. Both Jack-
son and Benton killed men in duels.
Although motives for challenging and accepting a duel can vary,
honor is most frequently mentioned. For members of an upper class, honor
is directly linked to class membership. Dueling not only defines who is in
Dueling 99A Code of Honor—A Duel in the Bois de Boulogne, Near Paris.This illustration of a typical duel appeared in the
January 8, 1875, edition of Harper’s Weeklyand clearly shows all the elements of a “duel.” (Harper’s Weekly)