Dickson D. Bruce

In Violence and Culture in the Antebellum South, Dickson D. Bruce, Jr. argues that violence was a fixture of antebellum Southern life and stemmed from the conflict between their desire for stability and their pessimistic view of others, whom they believed would put self-interest above society’s well being (18). Though Bruce primarily examines violence, his discussion of the duel forefronts honor as the primary motivation for the practice. Bruce writes, “On the one hand, the events of the duel demonstrated in vivid terms how violence could be used and under what circumstances. On the other hand, in the duel violent activity was itself raised to an expression of Southerners’ conceptions of themselves, their society, and their world” (21). The duel, though fought in secrecy, directly reflected the all-consuming social connections in the South. Bruce writes, “Anyone who failed to meet his opponent on the field had to worry, rightly or wrongly, that he faced a much sterner test in maintaining his social standing in the face of public scorn. Only a known Christian, appealing to religious scruples, could refuse a challenge from another gentleman with public approval” (28). He concludes, “Honor was very much a public matter, involving not only one’s opinion of himself, but also his sense of what others should expect him to be” (28). This public demonstration of honor and bravery in order to maintain social standing recurs throughout books dedicated to honor in both the South and North.
According to Bruce, “The practical meaning of the duel lay in its opportunities for risking one’s life in proof of honor an reputation” (38). Linking the duel to his discussion of violence as an outgrowth of passion, Bruce writes that the structured ritual following a challenge “provided formal channels for controlling passion while defending oneself, but directing anger into conventional courtesies between principals as, through their seconds, they communicated with each other” (39). It also afforded the opportunity for men to demonstrate their mastery of passion and fear while allowing “each principal to experience vividly the forces of nature that challenged civilization” (39). In representing the structure of Southern society, Bruce argues, “Dueling reflected Southern ideals of social hierarchy, since there was a strict convention that duels were to involve only gentlemen, and that one should never fight with a social inferior” (40). According to Bruce, “Southerners closely related high social status to an ability, carefully cultivated, to control one’s own passions” (40). This understanding of the duel, as a social performance demonstrating the duelists’ mastery of their position in society and providing them an opportunity to respond to a slight while maintaining a degree of respect for one another due to their advanced social position, recurs throughout books dedicated to the subject of honor.… (altro)