Slavery And Southern Honor

1654 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The life of the slaves

Parallels

To southern men, honor was everything. I dictated their standing in society, whether or not they could own slaves; it basically was a secret caste system. A man held in the highest honor experienced a good life from a social stance in the south. The honor system used in the south was related to the language used by southern gentlemen.# Honor and Slavery by Kenneth S. Greenburg attempts to explain the vernacular and customs used by men in the antebellum south. It would be hard for a person in today's society to understand the way honor was shown; it would have even been a challenge for men living in the Northern United States to understand at that time.# As Greenburg states, "Since the language of honor was the dominant language of the men who ruled the slave South, we will never understand masters, the nature of slavery, or the Civil war without first understanding that language."# To be a powerful man in the south, society also had to consider you to be an honorable man. Honor and power in the South were parallel to each other; a man with a high honor ranking was usually a prominent member of society.#

The white gentlemen of the South used honor as a means for running society and it slightly resembled a monarchic society, as if a person was born into honor whether or not they chose so. It was very important to a Southern man the family name he carried because it would prove his honor in some situations.#

The biggest insult that could be given in the antebellum South was accusing an honorable man of lying.# It could be over something trivial or something serious. Either way, if a man was accused of lying, his very livelihood was being challenged. If a certain person fell out of societies favor an...

... middle of paper ...

... high honor holdings were usually wealthy also. Today, money is not necessary to achieve honor. Honor is not dictated by social standings but by the actions and decisions that people make on a daily basis. Most consider religious figures, soldiers, doctors, firefighters, etc. to be honorable positions because they make a helpful contribution to society. Honorable people help others even if they cannot gain anything from the situation. An small example of honor would be taking an hour out of your busy schedule to help brighten someone's day. This clashes greatly with the perception of honor in the Old South. We consider slavery to be an illegal act and something bad but the Old South considered most slave masters to be very honorable people. If honor has changed so significantly over the past 150 years just imagine what it will be like in the next years to come.

Show More
Related

  • The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South

    2325 Words  | 5 Pages

    Slavery is perhaps the most polarizing subject of American history. Because of this, actual conditions of slavery are biased and marred by personal opinion. The abolitionists made use of the plights of slave in order to push their propaganda whereas the pro-slavery apologists maintained ignorance regarding the treatment of slaves. Because of these varied perspectives, the sources regarding the true nature of slavery are littered with bias. This bias leaves the modern historian trying to decipher the truth behind manipulated propaganda tales. This was the norm until 1956. It was this year in which Kenneth M. Stampp released his book entitled, The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South. Stampp successfully managed to create a book regarding slavery in the South without inserting his own personal bias. Because of this, Stampp was able to conclude that slavery was used primarily to exploit labor and to produce substantial revenue gains.

    Read More

  • Slavery: Northern v. Southern

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 1980's southern blacks from the United States dedicated to migrate to the north with the belief that the north had more opportunities and advantages blacks. Although, Frederick Douglas and Booker T. Washington opposed a migration to the north, millions of blacks migrated northward. The industries for the blacks migrating t o the north was what Douglas and Washington feared, black northern workers being placed in the same situation prior to their movement. Blacks were going to experience the same obstacles and disadvantages as they had in the south just with different situations. Northern blacks were going to experience prejudice, riots and murdering.

    Read More

  • Culture Of Honor Summary

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    Those who are living below the poverty line my become very territorial and have little tolerance for those who may pose a threat of losing what little they have and its possible that being uncomfortable and miserable in the heat can further fuel anger, I don’t think that people in the south found stress helped them calm down or fueled their need to solve problems head on. It’s fair to say that honor can have a different meaning from person to person or family to family. Tradition plays a part, as attitudes maybe passed down from one generation to

    Read More

  • JoAnn Marshall - The Roles of Southern Women, Black and White, in Society

    1648 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lillian Smith provides a description of the typical black woman and the typical white woman "of the pre-1960's American South" (Gladney 1) in her autobiographical critique of southern culture, Killers of the Dream. The typical black woman in the South is a cook, housekeeper, nursemaid, or all three wrapped up in one for at least one white family. Therefore, she is the double matriarch of the South, raising her own family and the families of her white employers: "It was not a rare sight in my generation to see a black woman with a dark baby at one breast and a white one at the other, rocking them both in her wide lap" (Smith 130). The southern black woman's duties extend far beyond rearing children, as she also serves as a family counselor, confidant, and nurse for the entire white family (Smith 129) and her own if time permits. She can do all this and more because she is strong, wise, and insightful in all areas of life (Smith 119). In short, the southern black woman is the cornerstone of the southern, domestic life. The white woman in the South has an equally important role. The southern white woman is responsible for maintaining southern social order, better known as Southern Tradition.

    Read More

  • The Beginnings of the Sectional Crisis

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the antebellum period, the North and the South were complete opposites. This led to each side viewing itself as superior and viewing the other as "backward." Each side believed itself to be superior, in all aspects, to the other. The reasons for these opinions can be found in the different economic, social, and cultural systems found in these two regions.

    Read More

  • Southern Honor Summary

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author uses historical and literal writings to show the roots and evolution of the Antebellum South’s dependency on honor, it was more than reputation and a boast of status, it governed society and helped make life more straight forward while setting forth standards to live by. “Since honor gave meaning to lives, it existed not as a myth but a vital code” (114). Two different types of honor contributed to the South’s antebellum code of ethics. The first, primal honor, According to primal honor, Southerners must stand up to threats against their home; their center of prestige and the focus of their identity. must live up to the critics of honor; accomplished through actions, mindset, and physical prowess. This was the code of ethics that supported the strong, masculine, and dependable protector. The second type of honor which mingled and altered straight primal honor, was what Brown calls gentility. Gentility, what modern historians often accredit to Southern gentlemen of the antebellum period, allowed a transformation to an educated and pious class of smart

    Read More

  • Achilles' Honor in Homer's Iliad

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.

    Read More

  • Katherine Watkins: A Quaker In The 17th Century

    440 Words  | 1 Pages

    n seventeenth century Virginia, women were expected to be faithful to their husbands. Slaves and servants were expected to be obedient to their masters. As for the white man in the south, he was the figure with the most rights and credibility. The dilemma that Katherine Watkins faced revealed life among the slaves and others. As shown in the document of the Testimony from Virginia Court Records, 1681, the southern societal perception of the everyday person differed greatly among women, men, and slaves and any other varying attributes such as religion.

    Read More

  • Jim Crow's Legacy

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the Reconstruction era, politicians from northern states were moving south to take advantage of political opportunity in the south (McPhee) and court the freedman’s vote. This practice gave blacks increased influence over the political and financial landscape of southern districts, In essence disenfranchising the white southern elite. Disturbed by their dwindling authority, white southern business owners, landlords, teachers, religious leaders and lawmakers initiated and enforced Jim Crow legislation and etiquette (Shmoop). In an effort to circumvent the newly won freedom gained by slaves (Country Studies), Jim Crow were laws that created a legal, race-based caste system that operated primarily in the southern and border state...

    Read More

  • Honor In The Iliad Essay

    2040 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the Homeric world, honor is qualified by power. In the Iliad, power is measured several ways. When Nestor tries to mediate between the enraged Achilles and Agamemnon, he makes the point that “power and glory [are] given by Zeus himself” (Book I, Line 294). A king is the ultimate in nobility, even if he is the king of a small, poor Greek city. Being a king depends on accident of birth, not on ability, and is a sign of the gods’ favor. Because the gods have smiled on him, “a scepter-holding king has honor beyond the rest of men” (Book I, Line 293). In the Greek army...

    Read More

  • Julius Caesar Honor Quotes

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is honor? Honor coins an individual’s nature. A principle that exists on the purpose of perception, a martyr willing to conform and accomplish. In the case of Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus was the most honorable of men. A brother to Caesar, but a father to Rome, he persist and perish for the future of his child. The idea of ignorance, and the belief of a false faith, turns this noble man toward a vulgar grave, with virtuous notions.

    Read More

  • The Central Theme of Southern History by Ulrich B. Phillips

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine a historian, author of an award-winning dissertation and several books. He is an experienced lecturer and respected scholar; he is at the forefront of his field. His research methodology sets the bar for other academicians. He is so highly esteemed, in fact, that an article he has prepared is to be presented to and discussed by the United States’ oldest and largest society of professional historians. These are precisely the circumstances in which Ulrich B. Phillips wrote his 1928 essay, “The Central Theme of Southern History.” In this treatise he set forth a thesis which on its face is not revolutionary: that the cause behind which the South stood unified was not slavery, as such, but white supremacy. Over the course of fourteen elegantly written pages, Phillips advances his thesis with evidence from a variety of primary sources gleaned from his years of research. All of his reasoning and experience add weight to his distillation of Southern history into this one fairly simple idea, an idea so deceptively simple that it invites further study.

    Read More

  • Honor

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    HONOR CAN BE DEFINED IN SO MANY WAYS CAN mean respect and esteem shown to another. HONOR may ALSO apply to the recognition of one's right to great respect or to any expression of such recognition IN SOME SITUATIONS IT implies profound respect mingled with love, devotion.There is a priceless respect that everyone in the world possesses, and that is the. respect of a person?s honor. A person?s honor is something that can not be bought, sold,. or traded it?s something that must be gained by the respect of your peers. An example of. how honor is seen in everyday life in through a persons word. The standard dictionary definition of honor first lists public regard and esteem under the word, with ethical conduct or high standards of justice and responsibility appearing much further down the list. This is reflected in the way the modern world treats the issue of honor. In ancient times, honor was the manner of being that we now describe as having integrity. In plain language, an honorable person avoids deception whenever possible, treats others with respect and sticks to her beliefs no matter how others think or act. People generally do not seem to behave very well toward each other any more.Honor determines the hierarchy of an individual while revealing his loyalty and true intentions. Reward comes for those at the top whose honor does not diminish, while a false or fleeting honor of a lesser mortal causes destruction. Exploring and discussing how to act honorably toward each other is a place to start.The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. How can you be a person of integrity? First, figure out what integrity (honor) is. My mother used to say to treat others the way you wanted to be treated. Does anyone do that these days? Well, I know that I don't want to be cut off in traffic, or yelled at, or bumped into rudely at the grocery store, or left picking up garbage all over my yard from the street. So I could try not to do those things to other people. I won't cut off others in traffic, or yell, or act rude at the grocery store, or throw garbage in the street. That's just a place to start. Treat others the way you want to be treated.

    Read More

  • The Honor and Shame of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    Scholars describe the term “honor” as one that varies from culture to culture. With that in mind, the two focused cultures of this paper are the Greco-Roman and the Mediterranean. In the Greco-Roman world, honor and its counterpart shame, were a psychological means of keeping the social body under control. Honor was attributed to those who conformed most to the value system of the group. Not conforming, not only meant one was disapproved by the social body, but it meant one was socially disrupting the group’s continued existence. The basis of honor was largely projected through maintenance of “agreement and unity” for the good of the larger group. In fact the greek word idiots, was coined after individuals who failed to participate in their civic duty for the common good. For example, shop owners, who instead of shutting down business to joi...

    Read More

  • Integrity In Othello Essay

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    how honor is seen in everyday life is through a person’s words. A person’s honor is

    Read More

More about Slavery And Southern Honor

Open Document