Andrew Butler

For other people named Andrew Butler, seeAndrew Butler (disambiguation).

Andrew Pickens Butler(November 18, 1796 – May 25, 1857) was an American lawyer, slaveholder, andUnited States senatorfromSouth Carolinawho authored theKansas-Nebraska Actwith SenatorStephen DouglasofIllinois.

Andrew Butler
United States Senator fromSouth Carolina
In office December 4, 1846 – May 25, 1857
Preceded by	George McDuffie
Succeeded by	James H. Hammond
Judge of theSouth Carolina Court of Common Pleas
In office December 6, 1833 – December 3, 1846
Member of theSouth Carolina Senatefrom Edgefield District
In office November 22, 1824 – December 5, 1833
Personal details
Born	Andrew Pickens Butler (1796-11-18)November 18, 1796 Edgefield, South Carolina,U.S.
Died	May 25, 1857(1857-05-25)(aged 60) Edgefield, South Carolina,U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Susan Ann Simkins Rebecca Harriett Hayne
Profession	Politician,lawyer,judge
Signature

In 1856, abolitionist senatorCharles Sumnergave a speech in which he insulted Butler's character. In response,Preston Brooks,Butler's first cousin once-removed,caned Sumner on the Senate floor,nearly killing him.

Biography

Butler was a son ofWilliam Butlerand Behethland Butler (1764–1853), and he was born inEdgefield,South Carolina.His early education was atMoses Waddel's Willington Academy.He graduated from South Carolina College, now theUniversity of South Carolina.He wasadmitted to the South Carolina barin 1818.

Political history

Butler was elected to theSouth Carolina House of Representativesas a young man, and in 1824 was elected to theSouth Carolina Senate.He served two terms and part of a third in the state Senate before being appointed the judge of the session court in 1833. In 1835, Butler was appointed the judge of theSouth Carolina Court of Common Pleas.

U.S. Senate

Daguerreotype of Senator Andrew P. Butler, 1849

Butler was appointed to theUnited States Senatein 1846 as aStates' Rights Democratand elected thereafter to finish the term ending in 1849. He was re-elected by the South Carolina legislature to a full term in 1848 and again re-elected in 1854. He served in the Senate for the remainder of his life and was the chairman of theSenate Judiciary Committeeduring much of that time.

Butler was an ardent advocate ofslavery.He was a co-author withStephen A. Douglasof theKansas-Nebraska Actof 1854. This act provided for westward expansion, but in order to gain Southern support, it repealed theCompromise of 1820by allowing voting residents of new states the right to choose on allowing slavery.

Butler's Senate career is noted for an event at which he was not present. SenatorCharles SumnerofMassachusetts,during his "Crime Against Kansas" speech in May 1856, denigrated South Carolina and abused Butler personally in terms considered to exceed parliamentary propriety. Sumner likened Butler toDon Quixoteand said Butler: "has chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight. I mean the harlot, Slavery." SenatorStephen Douglas,who was also a subject of criticism during the speech, suggested to a colleague while Sumner was orating that "this damn fool [Sumner] is going to get himself shot by some other damn fool."

South Carolina CongressmanPreston Brooks,the first cousin once removed of Butler, considered Sumner's speech an attack on hisfamily honor.Two days after the speech, Brooksbrutally beat Sumner on the Senate floorwith agutta-perchacane, while fellow South Carolina Rep.Laurence Keittbrandished a pistol to prevent other senators from intervening, even as Sumner lay defenseless on the floor and Brooks continued to beat him. Butler later remarked that if present during the speech, he would have called Sumner to order, hoping to prevent further offense.

Death

Butler's death at age 60 was attributed to dropsy, an archaic term foredema.He was buried in theButler Family Cemeterynear Saluda.

Evaluation

Butler's cenotaph at the Congressional Cemetery

U. R. Brooks noted that biographical material to write from was scanty and that Butler's power lay in his own presence with "grand gifts of eloquence, action, pathos, and convincing argument." Ellet wrote

Senator Andrew Pickens Butler was conceded to be the most unique and original intellect in the Senate. His face, though not handsome, was sturdily expressive, with massive features and "troubled, streaming, silvery hair, that looked as though it had been contending with the blasts of winter".... His power as a speaker stood acknowledged in the admiration of both Houses... Like all men of impetuous impulse, he was very restless; one moment pacing to and fro the space behind the Speaker's desk, another giving the grasp of his hand to some younger Senator, the next taking active part in the debates of the day.... The moment a question was submitted to him, his mind instinctively applied all the great principles.

Legacy

Butler County, Kansasis named for him.His brotherWilliam Butlerand his nephewMatthew Calbraith Butleralso served in the United States Congress.

See also

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)

References

• Ellet, Elizabeth (1869).Court Circles of the Republic.Various Reprints.ISBN0-405-06910-3.pp. 471, 472, 485
• Brooks, U. R. (1908).South Carolina Bench and Bar.The State Company.pp. 9–20
• Benson, T. Lloyd (1877).The Caning of Senator Sumner.Thomson Wadsworth.ISBN0-15-506347-2.

External links

• United States Congress."Andrew Butler (id: B001173)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.