Southern Culture of Honor

I recently reviewed an article for a class on the Southern culture of honor and found it very interesting.  Most of you probably saw the Hatfields and McCoys series on the history channel.  Many of you are also aware of the male egotism that has been especially notable in the South.  I wrote a paper on this subject based on an article, and thought I would share an exerpt with you if you are interested in Southern chivalric society.

"The article "Andrew Jackson's Honor" by Bertram Wyatt-Brown focuses on a side of Andrew Jackson most historians do not focus on, which is the concept of Jackson making decisions in his life based on defending his honor an the honor of those close to him. In the Old South, many Southerners believed themselves to be heirs to the Middle Ages custom of chivalry, which emphasizes honor, societal standing, and allows a man to defend his honor through violence when it is brought into question. This tradition was extremely prevalent throughout the South and brought many Southern men, especially lawyers, to actual duels. Wyatt-Brown offers the notion of honor as the main reason behind many of Jackson's important life and presidential decisions.

Wyatt-Brown notes how easy it is for modern students of Jacksonian history to focus in on Jackson's faults, such as Indian Removal and also when Jackson tried to prohibit the delivery of anti-slavery materials by law. However, he argues that even those things could be representative of Jackson defending his honor. After he took so much land from the Creek Indians, Jackson said it was because the Creeks didn't respect the American's strength since they sided with the British. Jackson also believed in the sovereignty of the American government and true abolitionists could cause a rift, so even that was threatening to his honor.

Wyatt-Brown also discusses how the desire for honor was a very typical reflection of the American South culture. Customs such as dueling were prevalent in this South as a result of this cultural desire for honor and dignity. In the American South, many Southerners felt they were heirs to European chilvalric times such as the Middle Ages. Thus, there was a tradition of code duello in which a man could defend his honor if it was question, even through violent means. Jackson was in several duels in his lifetime.

Wyatt-Brown recalls the time that Jackson killed Charles Dickinson, and notes that Jackson was the only American president to kill a man in a duel. Jackson preferred to handle his conflict with Dickinson over a horse gambling debt (and also insults toward Jackson's wife) in a "gentlemanly" way, by having a "proper" duel. To Jackson, the only thing worse than someone offending his honor was offending the honor of a woman. He staunchly defended the honor of his wife, which was repeatedly questioned since she had married Jackson without having been divorced from her first husband. Jackson thought that it was extremely inappropriate and appalling how men insulted his wife throughout her lifetime and even blamed one of her insulters, Henry Clay, for her death.

However, Wyatt-Brown also points out that many men went into these duels hoping their honor would be restored to them by winning, but much of the time the duels ended up having negative consequences to the victor's reputation. For instance, Wyatt Brown notes that Aaron Burr's career was damaged by killing Alexander Hamilton. Also, Jackson would not have been able to win an elected position in the years following the duel. Not until his victory in the Battle of New Orleans was Jackson's reputation restored."