Who delivered the "Crime Against Kansas" speech in the Senate?

The "Crime Against Kansas" speech was delivered by Charles Sumner in the Senate in 1856. In this influential speech, Sumner condemned the violence and turmoil resulting from the conflict over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slave state, a crisis known as "Bleeding Kansas." His remarks were particularly pointed as he criticized pro-slavery advocates and their violent tactics, specifically targeting figures like Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina.

This speech was significant not only because it articulated the tensions over slavery in a powerful manner, but it also intensified divisions within Congress and between the North and South. Sumner's speech led to an immediate and violent response when Preston Brooks, a relative of Andrew Butler, brutally attacked him in the Senate chamber, which drew national attention to the rising tensions surrounding the issue of slavery in the United States. The incident exemplified the deep-rooted conflicts that would eventually lead to the Civil War.

The other figures mentioned—Preston Brooks, Stephen Douglas, and James Buchanan—played their own roles in the debates over slavery, but none delivered the "Crime Against Kansas" speech.