Imagine what would happen if your Senator was beaten bloody on the Senate floor. Or if your Congressperson pulled a gun on a member of the opposition party. Our current political climate is ugly but that kind of violence would be unfathomable today. In the early and mid-1800s however, it was a whole different story. Joanne Freeman spent 17 years wrenching out the hidden history of just how endemic violence was within the political class in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Freeman shares riveting accounts of Capitol Hill beatings, brawls, and duels, and details how that period of violence led to a war that shaped what our country would become.Email us at WITHpod@gmail.comTweet using #WITHpodRead more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappeningRELATED READING:The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War by Joanne B. FreemanAffairs of Honor by Joanne B. Freeman Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.