Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Greenberg, Kenneth S

Title Honor & slavery : lies, duels, noses, masks, dressing as a woman, gifts, strangers, humanitarianism, death, slave rebellions, the proslavery argument, baseball, hunting, and gambling in the Old South / Kenneth S. Greenberg
Published Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©1996

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xvi, 176 pages : illustrations
Contents 1 The nose, the lie, and the duel -- 2 Masks and slavery -- 3 Gifts, strangers, duels, and humanitarianism -- 4 Death -- 5 Baseball, hunting, and gambling
Summary "The "honorable men" who ruled the Old South had a language all their own, one comprised of many apparently outlandish features yet revealing much about the lives of masters and the nature of slavery. As Kenneth Greenberg so skillfully demonstrates, the language of honor embraced a complex system of phrases, gestures, and behaviors that centered on deep-rooted values: asserting authority and maintaining respect. How these values were encoded in such acts as nose-pulling, outright lying, dueling, and gift-giving is a matter that Greenberg takes up in a fascinating and original way." "The author looks at a range of situations when the words and gestures of honor came into play and he re-creates the contexts and associations that once made them comprehensible. When John Randolph lavished gifts upon his friends and enemies as he calmly faced the prospect of death in a duel with Secretary of State Henry Clay, his generosity had a paternalistic meaning echoed by the master-slave relationship and reflected in the pro-slavery argument. The way a gentleman chose to lend money, drink with strangers, go hunting, and die formed a language of authority and control, a vision of what it meant to live as a courageous free man. In reconstructing the language of honor in the Old South, Greenberg reconstructs a world."--Book jacket
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 147-169) and index
Subject Honor -- Southern States -- History -- 19th century
Slavery -- Southern States
Civilization.
Honor.
Manners and customs.
Slavery.
Eer.
Expressie.
Blanken.
Mannen.
Esclavage -- États-Unis (sud) -- 19e siècle.
Honneur -- États-Unis (sud) -- 19e siècle.
SUBJECT Southern States -- Civilization -- 1775-1865. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85125636
Southern States -- Social life and customs -- 1775-1865. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85125665
Subject Southern States.
États-Unis (sud) -- Moeurs et coutumes -- 1775-1865.
Genre/Form History.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780691214092
0691214093
Other Titles Honor and slavery