Historian Joanne Freeman recovers the long-hidden history of physical violence on the floor of Congress before the Civil War. She documents dueling threats, canings, and all-out brawls, showing that sectional tensions over slavery manifested in physical intimidation that shaped legislative outcomes. Freeman's research in congressional records, newspapers, and personal papers reveals incidents that contemporaries knew about but later historians forgot or ignored. Southern representatives systematically used violence and its threat to silence antislavery speech, creating a climate of fear that distorted democratic deliberation. The book culminates in the 1856 caning of Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks, the most famous instance of congressional violence, but situates it within a broader pattern that made such assault thinkable. Freeman examines how Northern representatives responded - some with outrage, others with intimidation-induced silence - and how the violence contributed to sectional breakdown. Her analysis speaks to contemporary concerns about political violence while maintaining historical specificity. For readers who assume that American political discourse has uniquely deteriorated, Freeman provides sobering context showing that physical conflict has repeatedly threatened democratic institutions.