History of the United States I / Unit 12 USH1 1702 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Honour Code
Captions available
The idea
A code of honour among privileged White southerners dictated what gentlemen and ladies believed and did, and maintaining reputation was supremely important.
In practice
Honour tied to control over dependents, meaning enslaved people, wives and relatives.
Where people slip
Duelling had largely disappeared in the North by the early nineteenth century and remained integral in the South through the Civil War.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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