Southern honor had three interrelated components according to Bertram Wyatt-Brown's book Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South. First, honor involved an inner conviction of self-worth. Second, it required publicly claiming that self-assessment. Third, honor depended on the public's assessment of one's behavior and whether it matched one's claim. Thus, honor combined internal self-regard with external evaluation by one's community. It served as an ethical guide for how individuals located themselves within the social hierarchy.

1. Southern Honor
Dr. Bruce Clary
Friday, January 11, 2013

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Southern Honor
quotesfrom
Bertram Wyatt-Brown.SouthernHonor; Ethics and Behavior in the Otd South.Oxford
uP"1983.
At the heart of honor,then, lies the evaluationof the public....Honor hasthree basic
components, none of which may exist wholly independent the other.Honor is first the inner
of
convictionof self-worth.. .. The secondaspect honor is the claim of that self-assessment
of
beforethe public.... The third elementis the assessment the claim by the public, a judgment
of
basedupon the behaviorof the claimant.In otherwords, honor is reputatiott. Hono, residesin the
individual as his understanding who he is and wherehe belongsin the orderedranks of
of
society.(When societyhaspretensions that thereare no ranks,honor must necessarily set
be
asideor drasticallyredefinedto mean somethingelse.)It is, at leastin traditionalterms,both
internalto the claimant,so that it motivateshim toward behaviorsocially approved, and external
to him, because only the response observers he ordinarily understand
of can himself. The internal
and externalaspects honor are inalienablyconnected
of because honor servesas ethical mediator
between individual and the community by which he is assessed in which he also must
the and
locatehimself in relation to others.141 51
Honor is thereforeself-regarding character.
in One'sneighborsserveas mirrors that
return the image of oneself.This submission public evaluationpreventedoutrageous
to
haughtiness encouraged
and affability, for if one usedthe self as mirror as Narcissusdid, then
self-lovewould becomedestructive. is, for instance, themethat JaneAustenoften explored
It the

3. tz2
ft 'tr
I 124'3u
t{-.
Ctvlt-'Wnn {ton**'
I
,rttt'
i
2^
b,
Southern Honor
quotesfrom
Bertram Wyatt-Brown.SouthernHonor; Ethics and Behavior in the Otd South.Oxford
uP"1983.
At the heart of honor,then, lies the evaluationof the public....Honor hasthree basic
components, none of which may exist wholly independent the other.Honor is first the inner
of
1 convictionof self-worth.. .. The secondaspect honor is the claim of that self-assessment
of
beforethe public.... The third elementis the assessment the claim by the public, a judgment
of
basedupon the behaviorof the claimant.In otherwords, honor is reputatiott. Hono, residesin the
individual as his understanding who he is and wherehe belongsin the orderedranks of
of
society.(When societyhaspretensions that thereare no ranks,honor must necessarily set
be
asideor drasticallyredefinedto mean somethingelse.)It is, at leastin traditionalterms,both
internalto the claimant,so that it motivateshim toward behaviorsocially approved, and external
to him, because only the response observers he ordinarily understand
of can himself. The internal
and externalaspects honor are inalienablyconnected
of because honor servesas ethical mediator
between individual and the community by which he is assessed in which he also must
the and
locatehimself in relation to others.141 51
Honor is thereforeself-regarding character.
in One'sneighborsserveas mirrors that
return the image of oneself.This submission public evaluationpreventedoutrageous
to
haughtiness encouraged
and affability, for if one usedthe self as mirror as Narcissusdid, then
self-lovewould becomedestructive. is, for instance, themethat JaneAustenoften explored
It the

4. tz2
ft 'tr
I 124'3u
t{-.
Ctvlt-'Wnn {ton**'
I
,rttt'
i
2^
b,
Southern Honor
quotesfrom
Bertram Wyatt-Brown.SouthernHonor; Ethics and Behavior in the Otd South.Oxford
uP"1983.
At the heart of honor,then, lies the evaluationof the public....Honor hasthree basic
components, none of which may exist wholly independent the other.Honor is first the inner
of
1 2
convictionof self-worth.. .. The secondaspect honor is the claim of that self-assessment
of
beforethe public.... The third elementis the assessment the claim by the public, a judgment
of
basedupon the behaviorof the claimant.In otherwords, honor is reputatiott. Hono, residesin the
individual as his understanding who he is and wherehe belongsin the orderedranks of
of
society.(When societyhaspretensions that thereare no ranks,honor must necessarily set
be
asideor drasticallyredefinedto mean somethingelse.)It is, at leastin traditionalterms,both
internalto the claimant,so that it motivateshim toward behaviorsocially approved, and external
to him, because only the response observers he ordinarily understand
of can himself. The internal
and externalaspects honor are inalienablyconnected
of because honor servesas ethical mediator
between individual and the community by which he is assessed in which he also must
the and
locatehimself in relation to others.141 51
Honor is thereforeself-regarding character.
in One'sneighborsserveas mirrors that
return the image of oneself.This submission public evaluationpreventedoutrageous
to
haughtiness encouraged
and affability, for if one usedthe self as mirror as Narcissusdid, then
self-lovewould becomedestructive. is, for instance, themethat JaneAustenoften explored
It the

5. tz2
ft 'tr
I 124'3u
t{-.
Ctvlt-'Wnn {ton**'
I
,rttt'
i
2^
b,
Southern Honor
quotesfrom
Bertram Wyatt-Brown.SouthernHonor; Ethics and Behavior in the Otd South.Oxford
uP"1983.
At the heart of honor,then, lies the evaluationof the public....Honor hasthree basic
components, none of which may exist wholly independent the other.Honor is first the inner
of
1 2
convictionof self-worth.. .. The secondaspect honor is the claim of that self-assessment
of
3
beforethe public.... The third elementis the assessment the claim by the public, a judgment
of
basedupon the behaviorof the claimant.In otherwords, honor is reputatiott. Hono, residesin the
individual as his understanding who he is and wherehe belongsin the orderedranks of
of
society.(When societyhaspretensions that thereare no ranks,honor must necessarily set
be
asideor drasticallyredefinedto mean somethingelse.)It is, at leastin traditionalterms,both
internalto the claimant,so that it motivateshim toward behaviorsocially approved, and external
to him, because only the response observers he ordinarily understand
of can himself. The internal
and externalaspects honor are inalienablyconnected
of because honor servesas ethical mediator
between individual and the community by which he is assessed in which he also must
the and
locatehimself in relation to others.141 51
Honor is thereforeself-regarding character.
in One'sneighborsserveas mirrors that
return the image of oneself.This submission public evaluationpreventedoutrageous
to
haughtiness encouraged
and affability, for if one usedthe self as mirror as Narcissusdid, then
self-lovewould becomedestructive. is, for instance, themethat JaneAustenoften explored
It the

6. basedupon the behaviorof the claimant.In otherwords, honor is reputatiott. Hono, residesin the
individual as his understanding who he is and wherehe belongsin the orderedranks of
of
society.(When societyhaspretensions that thereare no ranks,honor must necessarily set
be
asideor drasticallyredefinedto mean somethingelse.)It is, at leastin traditionalterms,both
internalto the claimant,so that it motivateshim toward behaviorsocially approved, and external
to him, because only the response observers he ordinarily understand
of can himself. The internal
and externalaspects honor are inalienablyconnected
of because honor servesas ethical mediator
between individual and the community by which he is assessed in which he also must
the and
locatehimself in relation to others.141 51
Honor is thereforeself-regarding character.
in One'sneighborsserveas mirrors that
return the image of oneself.This submission public evaluationpreventedoutrageous
to
haughtiness encouraged
and affability, for if one usedthe self as mirror as Narcissusdid, then
self-lovewould becomedestructive. is, for instance, themethat JaneAustenoften explored
It the
in her novels:the incompleteness character
of divorcedfrom social convention.... internal
the
man and the externalrealitiesof his existence united in sucha way that he knows no other
are
good or evil exceptthat which the collectivegroup designates. reflectssocietyas society
He
reflectshim. (1a-15)
Honor in the antebellumNorth becameakin to respectability, word that includedfreedomfrom
a
licit vices that once were signalsof masculinity....
The Rev. Lyman Beecher's assault duelins
on
after AlexanderHamilton's fatal encounter with Aaron Burr met a widespread popular..rponr.l
The custom,which was basedon the ethic of honor, becameexceedinglyrare thereafter ttre in
free states. Theseand other signsof socialchangein the relatively short spanof one hundred
yearsindicatedthat honor in Yankeedomhad becomeanotherword for domesticand civic
virtue. No longer did it mediatebetweena rude, sometimes passionate public and a belligerent,
self-regarding manhood.
The older conceptscontinued,however,to thrive in the Old South.... was this
It
discrepancy betweenonce sectiondevotedto conscience and to seculareconomicconcerns and
the otherto honor and to persistent community sanctions that eventuallycompelledthe
slaveholdingstates withdraw. Pre-Civil War Southerners to calculatethe value of union
to had
when their claims 2012Ito respectwere met in the North with skepticism,condescension, and

7. Three dangers of the Honor Code
as practiced in the Antebellum South
•Pride and arrogance in the individual; elitism in society
•An inability to ignore insults, baseless accusations
•Dearth of creativity; an inability to think beyond “the way
it’s always been done”

8. Pride, arrogance, and elitism
•The disdain for Harrison the spy
•Buford: “[He] did not hate [Southerners].… The only one
who even irritated him were the cavaliers, the high-bred,
feathery, courtly ones who spoke like Englishmen and
treated a man like dirt” (42, 45).
•Chamberlain: The South was transplanting “the horror of
old Europe, the curse of nobility” to the New World.
“They were forming a new aristocracy…” (26, 27).
•Gamble: “Arrogant people, you know that? Came right at
us” (86, 89).

9. Inability to ignore insults, accusations

10. The Killer Angels, p. 133

11. serveas mirrors that
return the image of oneself.This submission public evaluationpreventedoutrageous
to
haughtiness encouraged
and affability, for if one usedthe self as mirror as Narcissusdid, then
self-lovewould becomedestructive. is, for instance, themethat JaneAustenoften explored
It the
in her novels:the incompleteness character
of divorcedfrom social convention.... internal
the
man and the externalrealitiesof his existence united in sucha way that he knows no other
are
good or evil exceptthat which the collectivegroup designates. reflectssocietyas society
He
reflectshim. (1a-15)
Honor in the antebellumNorth becameakin to respectability, word that includedfreedomfrom
a
licit vices that once were signalsof masculinity....
The Rev. Lyman Beecher's assault duelins
on
after AlexanderHamilton's fatal encounter with Aaron Burr met a widespread popular..rponr.l
The custom,which was basedon the ethic of honor, becameexceedinglyrare thereafter ttre in
free states. Theseand other signsof socialchangein the relatively short spanof one hundred
yearsindicatedthat honor in Yankeedomhad becomeanotherword for domesticand civic
virtue. No longer did it mediatebetweena rude, sometimes passionate public and a belligerent,
self-regarding manhood.
The older conceptscontinued,however,to thrive in the Old South.... was this
It
discrepancy betweenonce sectiondevotedto conscience and to seculareconomicconcerns and
the otherto honor and to persistent community sanctions that eventuallycompelledthe
slaveholdingstates withdraw. Pre-Civil War Southerners to calculatethe value of union
to had
when their claims 2012Ito respectwere met in the North with skepticism,condescension, and
finally, contempt.(20-21)

12. The Killer Angels, p. 64

13. The Killer Angels, p. 64

14. The Killer Angels, p. 64

15. The Killer Angels, p. 133

16. The Killer Angels, p. 133