How 'aggressive behavior' in Congress 'echoes' pre-Civil War tensions: historian

16 November 2023

Tuesday, November 14 saw multiple altercations in Congress.

During a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) hearing, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) threatened to assault Teamsters President Sean O'Brien. The two almost came to blows, but a frustrated Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) intervened and told Mullin, "You're a United States senator. Sit down."

Meanwhile, Rep. Timothy Burchett (R-Tennessee) told CNN that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) gave him a "clear shot to the kidneys" when they passed by one another. McCarthy has denied that version of the event.

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Politico's Kelly Garrity discussed these altercations with Joanne Freeman, a historian at Yale University in Connecticut and author of the 2019 book "The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War." During the interview, Freeman looked back on acts of violence that occurred among members of Congress during the 19th Century.

Freeman told Garrity, "It's certainly not the first time that there has been this kind of aggressive behavior or even physical violence in Congress."

According to Freeman, the fact that two altercations occurred in Congress on the same day shows that "we don't necessarily live in a time of normal politics." The historian/author added, however, that there are "more echoes than parallels" between the political tensions that were evident on November 14 and events in Congress leading up to the U.S. Civil War.

Freeman stressed that the November 14 skirmishes reflected tensions within the Republican Party.

According to Freeman, "It's always dangerous to say, what happened in 1850 is just like now. One thing you certainly saw in the 1830s, '40s and '50s, is there was one component within Congress — southerners — who were so adamant about defending the institution of slavery and silencing anyone opposed to it, that they pretty routinely used threats and occasionally violence to silence their opponents…. One of the interesting things that happened (on November 14) was when Sen. Mullin jumped to his feet, seemingly about to engage in a fight, and Bernie Sanders told him to sit down — you're a U.S. senator. It made me think of a lot of moments in the 1840s and '50s."

Freeman continued, "When something would go horribly wrong on the floor, people would lunge at each other — or threats would be exchanged. And someone would stand up and say, 'This is the U.S. Congress. What are we doing here? How could this be happening here?'"

Read Politico's full interview with Joanne Freeman at this link.

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