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Andrew Butler | |
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| 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 Senate from Edgefield District | |
| In office November 22, 1824 – December 5, 1833 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Andrew Pickens Butler (1796-11-18)November 18, 1796 |
| Died | May 25, 1857(1857-05-25) (aged 60) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Susan Ann Simkins Rebecca Harriett Hayne |
| Profession | Politician,lawyer,judge |
| Signature |  |
Andrew Pickens Butler (November 18, 1796 – May 25, 1857) was an American lawyer, slaveholder, andUnited States senator fromSouth Carolina who authored theKansas-Nebraska Act with SenatorStephen Douglas ofIllinois.[1]
In 1856,abolitionist senatorCharles Sumner gave 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.
Butler was a son ofWilliam Butler and 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 bar in 1818.[2] Butler had two wives; Susan Anne Sirr 1830 and Harriet Hayne who had his only child, Eloise.[3]
Butler was elected to theSouth Carolina House of Representatives as 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.
Butler was appointed to theUnited States Senate in 1846 as aStates' Rights Democrat and 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 Committee during much of that time.
Butler was an ardent advocate ofslavery. He was a co-author withStephen A. Douglas of theKansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. This act provided for westward expansion, but in order to gain Southern support, it repealed theCompromise of 1820 by 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 Sumner ofMassachusetts, 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 Quixote and 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."[4]
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 floor with agutta-percha cane, while fellow South Carolina Rep.Laurence Keitt brandished 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.[citation needed]
Butler's death at age 60 was attributed to dropsy, an archaic term foredema.[5] He was buried in theButler Family Cemetery near Saluda.[6]
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.
Butler County, Kansas is named for him.[7] His brotherWilliam Butler and his nephewMatthew Calbraith Butler also served in the United States Congress.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) pp. 471, 472, 485{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| U.S. Senate | ||
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| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from South Carolina December 4, 1846 – May 25, 1857 Served alongside:John C. Calhoun,Franklin H. Elmore,Robert W. Barnwell, Robert B. Rhett,William F. De Saussure andJosiah J. Evans | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of theSenate Judiciary Committee 1847–1857 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 3 | ||
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| People | |
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