Fluent Essays

Hist/PA/Soc 349 – Professor Key Paper #1 Due by September 26th Instructions: Choose ONE of the following prompts and write a 4-page paper (12pt font/double spaced) in response. 1. Real all four of the Salem witchcraft group readings from Week 2 (i.e. Boyer and Nissenbaum, Karlsen, Breslaw, and Norton). Write an essay that analyzes how historians have differed in their explanations for why the witchcraft prosecutions occurred in 1692. Which explanation or explanations do you find most convincing and why? (This last part is opinion, but it should NOT be the focus of your paper). Make sure you indicate the strengths and weaknesses of each historian’s view on the Trials. 2. Read Edward Isham’s biographical narrative (Week 5 course readings – which are available). Write a paper analyzing how and why Isham uses violence and how violence functions in the society he inhabits. How do you explain the importance of violence in the backwoods South? Be sure to use and cite Gorn’s “Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch’: The Social Significance of Fighting in the Southern Backcountry” (Week 5 course readings) in crafting your answer. Hint: How would Gorn (historian) use the life and times of Isham to back up his own argument. Requirements: · Essays must be typed in double-spaced, size 12, Times New Roman font with 1” margins on each side. · Essays should follow basic paragraph and paper considerations, including an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.) · Essays should include a clear thesis statement. · Essays must refer to and cite specific passages from required texts. I prefer Chicago Style citations; however, you may use any citation style so long as you conform to the requirements of that style. (Including parenthetical citations, e.g. author’s last name, page number. (Norton, 118). Try to include a quote per paragraph. If you do not use quotation marks and cite it can be considered plagiarism. Any plagiarism will result in a zero grade and possible further penalties. (see bottom of page.) · While essays should quote specific passages from the text, block quotes (quotations longer than 3 lines) should be avoided. · Quotes from the texts should be used to support your arguments, not to make them. · Essays should draw from information contained in lectures or other course readings when relevant. Students do not need to cite the lectures. · Only use the readings that are assigned. DO NOT use outside sources including: other articles/books or websites. · Essays must be submitted to D2L by the due date. Late essays will have 1/3rd of a letter grade deducted per day. Remember: All assignments will be run through turnitin.com – which checks for plagiarized material, including papers found for profit online. If you use a source’s words you must cite, if you do not, it can be construed as plagiarism. Please see the university’s policy on plagiarism (the link is on the syllabus). Exceeds Expectations Meets Expectations Fails to meet expectations Thesis Student articulates a clear and persuasive thesis that is situated in the appropriate historical literature Student articulates an identifiable and logical thesis Student fails to articulate an identifiable and logical thesis Organization Engaging, scholarly introduction and conclusion; coherent and consistent structure; sophisticated transitions; ideas and themes fully developed in separate paragraphs Functional introduction and conclusion; identifiable transitions (including topic sentences which relate back to thesis); few logical problems Poor or no introduction and/or conclusion; absence of connections between thesis and paragraphs; few or excessively long or short paragraphs. Evidence Analysis Substantial evidence; courses integrated to clearly and effectively defend the thesis; skilled analysis of sources in light of their historical context Sufficient evidence; sources credibly used to support a thesis; functional use of primary and secondary sources; analyzes sources in light of their historical context Use of only one or no sources; if present, sources not analyzed to support thesis; overlooks historical context of documents. Style Skillful attention to sentence structure and word choice; no grammatical errors that inhibit clarity; only minor errors in usage, punctuation, or spelling Proper sentence structure; few grammatical, mechanical and usage errors, slang, or clichés. Incoherent sentence structure and word choice; frequent grammatical, mechanical, and usage errors. Documentation Consistent attention to proper format for citation and proper use of sources; highest level of academic integrity. Sufficient attention to guidelines for citation and proper use of sources; no plagiarism. Lack of attention to guidelines for citation of sources; evidence of plagiarism. Salem Witch Trials HIST/PA/SOC 349 Overview of the Trials January, 1692: Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris, show strange symptoms Parris’s appointment as reverend had been controversial, and he hadn’t been paid for several months After symptoms could not be cured by prayer or medicine, Parris and others began to suspect witchcraft Betty, Abigail, and other children of families that supported Parris began accusing people of bewitching them OverView of the Trials Most women arrested for witchcraft initially are poor or marginalized As they begin accusing each other and other and the children continue their accusations, the trials sprawl to include more established members of the community Eventually, 20 people were killed (13 of them women), and over 200 were accused and jailed By January of 1693, many people (including Increase Mather) had grown skeptical of the proceedings Trials slow April,1693: Witch trials end Magic in Early Modern Society Magic was an important part of many folk traditions in English society Not just limited to peasants Magic was in some ways a local reaction to the uncertainty of life in the early modern period Two types of magic: White magic: magic that benefited the person using it or society as a whole (healing, love spells, etc.) Black magic (maleficium): magic that cursed or harmed another person (curses, sorcery) For much of the early modern period, only maleficium was considered witchcraft Woodcut illustration from the chapbook 'A Rehearsal both strange and true, of heinous and horrible acts committed by Elizabeth Stile, Alice Rockingham, Mother Dutton, Mother Devell, notorious Witches, apprehended at Windsor in the County of Berks,' 1579 Witchcraft as Satanic Pact Initially, many people did not believe that witchcraft, had a relationship to Satan The exceptions were elites and high church officials, who often said that witches got their power from a compact with the devil By the 17th century, this believe became more common Little differentiation made between white magic and maleficium Both were heresy Belief may have fueled increased number of witch hunts Nissenbaum and Boyer Wrote Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft (1974) Explained accusations of witchcraft as a result of social tensions over the future of the village Porters and their ilk in the eastern part of the village wanted more commercial orientation and closer ties to Salem Town Puritans in the western part of the village wanted more agrarian society and independence for the village Carol Karlsen Wrote The Devil in the Shape of a Woman (1987) Argued that accusations of witchcraft need to be understood as gendered Puritans didn’t believe that women were inherently evil; they posited instead that they were men’s helpmeets They were anxious about uncontrolled or independent women Witchcraft allegations were a reaction to these anxieties Elaine Breslaw Wrote Tituba: Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies (1996) (You read an article based on part of that book) Argued that Tituba’s testimony played a major role in escalating witchcraft allegations Tituba, an Indian woman from Barbados, tied together elements of Indian, Barbadian, and Puritan traditions in a way that played on anxieties of elite Puritans Tituba was assumed to have authority in matters of witchcraft because she was a Native American woman Mary Beth Norton Wrote In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. (2002) Argued that the Salem witch trials need to be understood in the context of events outside Salem itself, namely King Philip's War (1675-76) and King William's War (1688-99) Ongoing Indian Wars terrified New England colonists Many accusers in the trials were from regions (Maine) ravaged by the wars, and some of the accused were alleged to have aided Indians Allegations may have resulted from deep personal trauma Wars made the idea that New England was under attack from demonic forces seem plausible Crime in Colonial AMerica Trials in Colonial America Almost never involved a grand jury; magistrates had authority to determine which cases were pursued Seldom had trial juries except in capital cases Jurors were not expected to be unbiased until the 18th century Usually resulted in guilty verdicts Were public spectacles intended to act as morality lesson for those who observed them Penalties for Crimes Howard Schweber, "Ordering Principles: The Adjudication of Criminal Cases in Puritan Massachusetts, 1629-1650," Law & Society Review, Vol. 32, No. 2 (1998), 367-408. Neglect of Religion and Heresy Religious and civil authority were closely related Colonies often required church attendance and punished those who shirked their religious obligations or failed to honor the Sabbath New England colonies banished Jesuits and Quakers Quakers could be put to death if they returned Speech Crimes Jane Kamensky: Words had “Special powers and special dangers.” Blasphemy punished harshly Slander, including accusing someone of having a disease, challenging someone’s inheritance, or falsely accusing someone of a crime could be punished criminally Sex Crimes Crimes like sodomy and bestiality carried the death penalty under English law, but they were seldom prosecuted in England Puritans prosecuted large numbers of sex offenses Prosecuted for major crimes like sodomy, bestiality, and rape (though the latter was rare) Also prosecuted people for pre-marital or extra-marital sex Sex offenses resulted in death more frequently than any other category of offense in the 17th century Thomas Granger “And whereas some of the sheep could not so well be known by his description of them, others with them were brought before him and he declared which were they and which were not. And accordingly he was cast by the jury and condemned, and after executed about the 8th of September, 1642. A very sad spectacle it was. For first the mare and then the cow and the rest of the lesser cattle were killed before his face, according to the law, Leviticus xx.15; and then he himself was executed. The cattle were all cast into a great and large pit that was digged of purpose for them, and no use made of any part of them.” -William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation (1642). 18th-Century CHanges Colonies, even New England colonies, became more similar to England in their treatment of sex crimes Prosecutions for sex crimes lessened Punishments became less harsh Sexual mores relaxed somewhat Theft and Property Crime Often penalty of death under English law Chesapeake colonies executed people for stealing In the 17th century, New England did not execute thieves unless they were repeat or particularly egregious offenders In the 18th century, New England came to resemble English traditions more England instituted what were known as the “Bloody Codes” Prescribed death for even small thefts 18th century New England began to execute more people for property crimes Randolph Roth on Murder Rates Randolph Roth’s claims that homicide rates are lower when people: 1. Have faith that government is stable and capable of enforcing just laws 2. Trust in the integrity of legitimately elected officials 3. Have solidarity among social groups based on race, religion, or political affiliation 4. Have confidence that the social hierarchy allows for respect to be earned without recourse to violence. Murder Rates in the 18th Century Lower than in the 17th century Potential Explanations: Gender ratios in the Chesapeake colonies had stabilized King James II deposed in 1688 in Glorious Revolution Had been unpopular with colonists King Philip’s War (Metacom’s War) killed 600 people, mostly young men, in Southern New England and united the colonists against a common enemy As racial slavery solidified and became more codified, white colonists were united by common interest Violence redirected toward slaves Pillory John Waller being pelted to death at Pillory. (Image taken from The Newgate Calender (1824-1828) Ducking (or Cucking) Stool Ducking stool currently on display in Leominster, England Whipping Late 18th Century Changes Greater concern with fate of individual sinners Greater concern with redemption narrative Less emphasis on crime as detrimental and dangerous to the whole physical body of society. U.S. Copyright Law (title 17 of U.S. code) governs the reproduction and redistribution of copyrighted material. Downloading this document for the purpose of redistribution is prohibited. The Confessions of A Poor White Life of the Old South Edited by Charles C. Bolton and Scott P. Culclasure Introduction by J. William Harris The University of Georgia Press Athens & London EDWARB ISIÀM © 1998 by the University of Georgia Press Athens, Georgia 3 0 6 0 2 All rights reserved Designed by E r i n Kirk New Set in 11 on 14 Bulmer by G 8c S Typesetters Printed and b o u n d by E d w a r d s Brothers, Inc. T h e p a p e r in this b o o k meets the guidelines for p e r m a n e n c e and durability of the C o m m i t t e e on P r o d u c t i o n Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. P r i n t e d in the United States of America 02 0 1 00 9 9 9 8 C 5 4 3 2 1 L i b r a r y of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data I s h a m , E d w a r d , d. 1860. T h e confessions of E d w a r d Isham : a p o o r W h i t e life of the O l d South / edited by Charles C . Bolton and Scott P. Culclasure ; i n t r o d u c t i o n by J . William H a r r i s , p . cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 - 8 2 0 3 - 2 0 2 1 - 8 (alk. p a p e r ) . ISBN 0 - 8 2 0 3 - 2 0 7 3 - 0 ( p b k . : alk. paper) 1. Isham, E d w a r d , d. 1860. 2. W h i t e s — S o u t h e r n States—Biography. 3. P o o r — S o u t h e r n States—Biography. 4. Murderers — S o u t h e r n States—Biography. 5. W h i t e s — S o u t h e r n States — Social conditions. 6. S o u t h e r n States — Social conditions. I. Bolton, Charles C. II. Culclasure, Scott P. III. Title. F 2 1 3 . I 8 5 1998 9 7 5 ' . 0 3 ' 0 9 2 — d c 2 1 [b] 9 8 - 4 3 5 9 British Library Cataloging in Publication Data available Frontispiece b y J o h n M c L e n a n (1859) I Autobiography of Edward Isham, Alias "Hardaway Bone" Was born in Jackson County Georgia1 was 5 years old at the time of the cold Friday and Saturday. My father2 was dissi- pated and spent what property he had and moved first to Biles Mills, then to Carroll County Georgia and went to digging gold. Every one dug where he liked and could get a location. I lived with my father in the suburbs of a little town called Pine Mountain town.3 I went to school five days to a man named Scroggins and never went again. I recollect when 10 years old fighting a boy named Jake Blakenship, and hurting him with a rock. I went home scared and told my father and he told me I was a fool for being scared. I then fought a boy called W m Garthard 4 and bit him severely and then hit him with a rock. I also fought with William Compton. I had long hair and he held me by it, and beat me severely. I went home to my father and he cut off my hair so I could have a fair chance and I went back and whipped him. T h e next difficulty I had was at Hickstown town with two boys named McQuister and I whipped them both. I was then growing up and began to work for myself in the mines and made money. Tom Godfrey and I quarreled about water for washing gold and he came to cut down a dam I had made and we fought. H e struck me with his shovel and I threw rocks. His friends came and I ran off to my fathers and got his rifle and fired on Godfrey but some one knocked up the gun and I missed him. H e then struck me with a shovel and we were parted. McCurdy one of his friends went to town for a warrant to Squire Ruffin and I pursued him. I found him at the Squires and fell on him with a hickory stick but was arrested by the Squire and sent to Car- rollton to jail—was put in at midnight. On the next day, I broke out 12 | Edward I sham by prying up the floor and creeping out under the house. I went home by dusk, ate my supper and fled. I went to DeKalb County to my uncle Charles Icems,5 a farmer and remained there some time. I went up to Nance's creek6 andjoined the Methodist Church at Cen- trals meeting house. John M. Smith was the preacher. I got into a difficulty with a negro about a fishing pole and tried to cut him but was prevented, for this they turned me out of the church. I went with my Uncle and a party swimming in Nances creek. We all got drunk and I had a fight with Wash Smith, a free negro, who choked me very severely. We went on towards home and stopped at Henry Islys Grocery. There the free negro got drunk, and I drank no more and got sober and watching rfty chance I fell on him with a rock and beat him very severely but we afterwards made friends. I left next morning and went to Forsythe County Georgia to my Uncle Hardin Millers7 and dug gold. There while working on the road,8 a man accused me of stealing milk from his spring house and I tried to kill him with my axe but was prevented. I went then to a little cross road town called "Shake rag town" and got to gambling with one Rogers, who tried to cheat me and we had a fight but nei- ther was hurt. I then went back to John Millers and then started for Carroll. On the way I stopped at a muster at Howells Mills 9 in Cocke County.10 There two men were quarreling and one refused to fight because he was sick, the other pressed on him and I volunteered to be his second, so they went to fighting and during the fight one Gus. Wood, a great bully, attempted foul play and I struck him with a heavy hickory stick and hurt him badly. T h e men were then parted and the other party gathered in force to mob us and we fled. I was not yet grown at that time. I went back to the mines in Carroll County and in a short time I was at a Grocery in Pinetown and got into a difficulty with Thomas Wallace and hit him with a glass tumbler. I then took a stick from my bro in law and beat him severely. I was not arrested. About this time I used to visit a girl named Jane Mobley and we were intimate. A young man named T h o m p s o n was court- ing her and one night he eavesdropped me and next day told Jane what I had said to her. I was half drunk and went down to the Gro- cery and T h o m p s o n and I fought about it and were parted but got Autobiography \ 3 at it again and fought til he hollered. I then made him go with me to Jane and acknowledge he told her a lie. While fighting Thompson one of my friends struck at Thompson a rock and hit me and hurt me badly. I continued to dig for gold and made money. I went up to "Cross Ankles" to a horse race and heard my brother had a difficulty with one Maxdale and there was a warrant out for him. My brother lived in Macon county Alabama, so I went back with him. A fellow named Jim Cordry went along and got into trouble and we started back. On the way at "Silver Hill" Tallapoosa11 a county I got into a difficulty with one Bratch Ward and we fought desperately, his sons and nephews joined him, and Jeff Chambers1 2 a friend of mine joined me. We fought at a grocery, and we finally whipped them and they shut themselves up in the grocery. In the fight I acci- dently struck Chambers, with a heavy stick and nearly killed him. I helped him home. T h e other party gathered a crowd to kill us and we fled to the woods. I then came back to Carroll County and com- menced mining. I got into a difficulty about water again and had a fight with rocks with a party who tried to brake my dam and I whipped them off. T h e y went for a warrant for me and while they were gone I broke up their rockers and shovels and fled to DeKalb county again to my Uncle James Icems. I stayed a month or so and returned. Everybody was afraid of me and no officer would attempt to take me. I con- tinued to visit Jane Mobley in Pinetown, and at a frolic there Jim Fletcher and I fell out about her but Jim was afraid of me but Jims fa- ther 13 who had just got out of the penitentiary for killing a man sent me word, he intended to kill me at sight. I replied I was tired fight- ing and did not wish any difficulty. I was afraid of old Fletcher and thought he would kill me. In the meantime while mining a man named Porterfield and I fell out about a spike and in a fight he stabbed me on the shoulder. I fol- lowed him to Hargroves1 4 store to kill him but was prevented. In a few days I went to Hickstown town to sell my gold and on my return near home I met old Fletcher in his wagon. He stopped and said now was the time to settle our "fuss." I told him I did not want to fight, but he commenced to get down and seeing a pistol in his 12 | Edward I sham bosom I ran up and struck him over the head with a 4-lb bowie knife and then ran. He rose and snapped his pistol. I then turned and threw my knife at him but missed. I went then to my brothers and got a double barreled gun and went up to see Jane Mobley. While there my brother came running and told me that Fletcher and a crowd were after me, so I escaped to the woods. I then went to Cocke county1 5 and from there to DeKalb, stayed 3 months and re- turned to the mines and went to work. Everybody was afraid of me. They took out warrants for me and I fled to Walker county on the Tennessee line but returned shortly again. I went with my Brother to whip one Adams intending to kill him with a rifle if he resisted but he was not at home. We then went to Macon county Alabama to one Hutchinsons1 6 and remained a short time. While in Alabama be- fore, I was engaged to [a] girl who married Peter Windley after I went away. I saw her and she and I agreed to run off and we did so. Her name was Mary,17 she was 20 yrs old and very pretty. We came to Carroll county, to my mothers in Pinetown. My father had taken up with another woman and left my mother alone. I went up to Walker county to hunt a house, and split rails for James Fulcher1 8 at 25 cts pr hundred, til I got money enough to bring my mother and Mary up there. Here I raised one crop but getting into several fights, at a logrolling and at Gordons Grocery, I sold out and went up to Chattanooga to work on the Rail Road. While working there I got into a difficulty with some Irishmen boat hands about some lewd women and left the Road and went aboard the "Sam Markin"19 on the Tennessee river as fireman. I worked there sometime, and was on the boat when the volun- teers from Mexico returned.2 0 We were anxious to get to Chat- tanooga soon and I made a bet with Charlie Harris engineer about when we would get there. I won. Next day we quarreled about it and he struck me with a board and I stabbed him under the collar bone with my pocket knife. T h e boat hands took Harris part and I fled. They swore vengeance on me and whenever the boat came to town I would leave to avoid them. I took to gambling for a living and lost all I had even to my pistol and knife. I then took up with a man named Napper, a wild fellow who lived Autobiography \ 4 over the line in Walker county, who had a farm and some negroes. He gave me a pistol and knife to fight Harris. Harris never attacked me. While riding one of Nappers horse [s] to water one day I saw him and one Jake Floor2 1 fighting and I ran up and hit Floor with a brick bat and ended the fight. I then took Nappers horse and fled to Georgia but in a short time returned and found there was something wrong with Mary, she did not treat me kindly and I became jealous. I pretended to leave home one day, but rode up to "Bald Hill" where I could see my cabin and watched. I saw my wife start for water but stopped in a cabin on the way—so I slipped up there, it was about dusk, and I saw a fellow named Noah Vineyard sitting on a bed with her and his arms around her. I went round to the door and spoke and Mary ran out and went off. Vineyard denied anything wrong but I told him he must fight. He said he would fight me in town, so we started for town and while riding along, he threw suddenly two rocks at me and struck my hat. I drew my revolver and fired three times at him but never hit him. I then j u m p e d off and pursued him with my bowie knife. In the race he fell and commenced begging and said he was badly shot so I left him and went over to Nappers and sent a man to see about it and found out he was not shot at all. I stayed at Nappers til Christmas and we were all invited to a "Treat" at Gordons Mills22 in Walker County. We played Chuck Luck2 3 all day and all got drunk. I fought one Scott Victory and got soundly beaten. Napper and Tracy fought and I interfered. Tracy struck me and I struck at him with my bowie knife and scabbard, forgetting in the excitement to unsheathe it. This saved his life and all made friends. I stayed with Napper a few months drinking, hunting and gambling. I then went to Chattanooga and stayed with my mother. She sold cakes and whiskey and boarded work hands for a living. I had but little to do with Mary. There were warrants out for me and I fled to Ringgold Georgia 24 stayed 3 or 4 months drinking & gam- bling, then returned. On Sunday while drunk I went to a [ ] 2 5 House and got into a difficulty and a fellow named Bernice slipped up behind me and knocked me down with a rock. It knocked me senseless and next morning I came to at my mothers, not knowing who did it. I was hurt badly and it scared me very much. I reflected 12 | Edward I sham on my course and for awhile was disposed to do better, but warrants issued for me and I fled to Ringgold and became very intimate with a gambler named Riese [?]. We went to a House and got into a fuss and a warrant issued and I was tied and carried to jail but Napper sent over in five or six days and bailed me. I stood my trial and had to pay the cash. I then moved my mother down to Ringgold.26 She sold cakes for a living and I gambled. Mary (Windley wife) had mar- ried Hiram Brown2 7 and they had moved to Ringgold too. We never had anything to do with one another. I went up on the first train of cars to Tunnel hill.28 Got drunk at a grocery. A friend of mine named James got into a difficulty with a man named Parrigan and being too drunk to fight, I took his place and fought Parrigan. I then went back to Carroll Co. to Pinetown. At Cross Ankles I was play- ing marbles for money and a fellow from North Carolina was drunk and kicked out the marbles. I was going to fight him but he drew a bowie knife and I left him and went back to Pinetown and came back to the grocery where he was. He was dancing and swearing he could whip any one. Jef. Chambers my old friend was there and told me to watch him knock that fellow down but I told him to hold on, he had imposed on me and I intended to whip him. Just then he danced on my toes and said are you the man that was playing marbles. I said Yes, and immediately struck him with a rock I had in my pocket and knocked him down; but he was too much for me. I couldnt hurt him any more; but Chambers and my friends kicked him and hurt him badly and he hollered. I then left him and went back to the mountain to work. I worked four or five months and made a con- siderable amount of gold. I gambled every night and fought chick- ens on Sundays. We had a regular cockpit made for the purpose. One day two men named Morgan and Gray came from Hicks- town town to Pinetown and swore they could whip any Democrat in Pinetown and they intended to whip the Icems before they left. I was eating supper and some one told me the news. I got a piece of a shovel handle which I had sawed off for a bludgeon and went up to the grocery—Warner Lyon's — and asked Morgan if he had said what I heard. He said he did and I knocked him down with the shovel handle. Gray then j u m p e d on me, and a friend of mine named Autobiography \ 7 Murphreyjoined in the fight. T h e candles were knocked down and we fought for a long time in the dark. Grays eye was knocked out by a weight thrown by some of us, and he ran and we pursued him with rocks and he left town very badly hurt. Morgan ran out the back door in the meantime and es- caped. I was then boarding with a man named Price and was keep- ing his daughter. A warrant was issued for me but the officer was afraid to take me. I concluded to leave and a brother in law of mine named Wm Bivings29 and I started to Cobb Co to dig gold. Near to Powder Springs3 0 while traveling in the wagon we met "Gray" and being afraid he would get a crowd and kill me, I j u m p e d on my bro in laws horse and ran. I went to Marietta and from there to my Uncle John Everetts31 in Cobb Co Georgia. I got there early in the morning. Soon after eating I discovered 8 or 10 men with guns com- ing after me and I slipped out and ran. I came to Vickerys creek32 and swam it, which chilled me and stiffened me. I went on til I came to Chattahooche3 3 and tried to swim it but couldnt and came out, and went down to Covins ferry and crossed over to an Aunt of mine and waited til Bivings came. He went to work in the mines but I con- cluded to leave and went up to Lumpkin Co 34 and stayed four or five months. While there I took up with a woman named Thirs. Mur- phy 3 5 and had a severe fight with a man who had been keeping her. I became intimate with two men named Ball Gilbert and Jim Gilbert. T h e y had a feud with a grocery keeper named Thomas Ball. We went up to his grocery one day and broke up everything he had decanters, glasses and barrels and his fiddle. H e went down to De- loneger3 6 and got a warrant for us. T h e y caught Ball Gilbert and put him in jail. I was going down next day to hear about it and overheard some officers who were after us and hurried back and told Jim Gilbert and we went off to the woods. Ball Gilbert broke jail but he and T h o m . Ball compromised, and Gilbert worked, to pay the dam- age, for Ball. I was there a few days after and while Ball was away from home, made his wife sell me a pair of shoes and paid her a bill on a broken bank. I never counterfeited any and knew nothing about it. I then left went to my Uncles in DeKalb and he bought me tools and I went to Cobb Co to dig gold. We had to cook for ourselves 12 | Edward I sham and, while at my Aunts one day, I met a pretty girl named Mary Dagget and hired her to cook for me, and we took up together. I made very little gold and concluded to leave. I took this girl with me to DeKalb to Isleys old grocery and there left her and went back to Pinetown in Carroll and went to work. My Bro in law bought up a drove of beeves and hired me and Bill Clemmens to drive them to Montgomery Alabama. We drove them there but found them due sale (I had three brothers John lived in Macon Co Ala, James and William, my name is Edward). From Montgomery Bill Clemmens and I went down to Macon to my Brothers, built a little shantie on the river and rafted lightwood to Montgomery. While there I took up with Mandy Hatch, (a sister to Mary Wind- ley, whom I took from her husband Peter Windley and a sister in law of my brother John). We used to meet at a spring of nights. Bill Clemmens and Bivings watched me one night and we came near fighting about it. Shortly after this, I shot a mans hog that used to eat our things at the shantie and he took out a warrant for me and I left and went over to my brothers; but John was very angry because I had taken up with his sister in law and we got into a quarrel. He struck me with a chair and cut my head badly. I went over to Frank- lin37 and got Dr. Wilburn to sew it up. H e put seven stitches in it. I then went down to the shantie and Bivings gave me some money and I took the cars 38 and made my way back to DeKalb Georgia. I then took my sister, Bivings wife, and we went back to Pinetown. My fa- ther was living there with another woman. Shortly after that I had a difficulty at Hickstown town with a circus company but had no fight. Also with Allen Fletcher who had the bowie knife I struck his father with [ ] 3 9 but we did not fight, friends interfered. I was then in my prime, about 24 years old, was a great wrestler and could not be thrown down. My thumb was then off. It was blowed off one Christmas morning, before breakfast by the busting of a gun when I was only 10 years old.40 I next got into a difficulty with Dick Fen- ley,41 a great bully and we agreed to have a set fight. My old friend Jef. Chambers was my second. Fenley bit my finger very badly, the prints are there now and tore Autobiography \ 9 my flesh off my bosom with his long nails. I bit him too and gouched one eye nearly out; but they parted us before either hollered, though Dick got the best of the fight. When we were done I j u m p e d on Fen- leys son, who had shown some foul play, and beat him til he hollered but he gouched one of my eyes very badly. T h e bite on the finger got very bad and I could not work for a long time. After some months I went to my mothers at Ringgold, and con- tinued to gamble and drink. I was at Brown's grocery one day and an Irishman wanted to bet five dollars he could whip any man in town. His name was Clark. I took him up and we fought. He was too drunk and I whipped him and got the money. I then helped a friend named James Gordon in a fight at the same grocery and was arrested and Gordon paid the fine and got me off. I took up with Caroline Brown a sister of Hiram's (Mary's husband) and she became preg- nant. I then quit her and married Rachel Webb,42 the daughter of a widow in Ringgold. I drank very hard and got completely out of money and concluded to go back to the mines in Carroll. I worked made some money and sent for my wife, and we went to house- keeping in Pinetown. A man named New4 3 claimed the place I was working but I made him leave and we became mortal enemies, but nothing passed between us for some months. I could hear of his threatening to kill me. One Saturday evening I went up to Biving's grocery, and when Biving was shutting up, I was closing the shut- ters and heard "New" say "stand aside." I looked round and saw him coming with his gun and cocked it but just then my father ran up and caught the gun and the crowd interfered. I then made at "New." I had a rock in my pocket and I took it out and struck him a severe blow. We then parted but afterwards stripped off and took a fair fight and I whipped him. We were both arrested next morning but compromised and "New" paid all costs, and we made friends. I then went to work, and continued sober and civil for some months and made a good deal of money in the "diggings" but I then got too intimate with a free girl and took her to "Warner Lyons" gro- cery one night and there got into a difficulty with Betsy Wedding a girl Lyons was keeping. This made a feud between us, and I went back one night to get some liquor and they wouldnt let me in. I saw 12 | Edward I sham her on one side of the door with a double barreled gun and Lyons on the other and heard Lyons tell her not to be afraid but to shoot as "he passes back up town." This enraged me and I went to Bill Williams and borrowed his rifle and watched for three hours by moonlight to shoot "Lyons" but couldnt get a chance. I then went to his door and told him I would see him in the morning. In the morn- ing, I took an axe helve and went up street to Lyons grocery and pushed off his hat and cussed him but he wouldnt fight and I left him. (No preacher could ever live or preach in Pinetown, one lived there once and they tore down his fences and run him off. There never was any school there.) I then went to work, kept sober and made some money and was peaceable for six months. While sitting in my house one Saturday evening I heard a noise up at the grocery and went up. I found two Smiths and a hired hand of mine named Hendricks4 4 quarreling. I started to take Hendricks off and Smith threw a rock at me. I returned another and hit on the burr of the ear and every body thought he was dead. I ran down home got my money and left but came back and found out about midnight that he had come to. A warrant was issued for me and I went off to DeKalb Co. I then concluded, I would slip back and get my wife but "New" my old enemy discovered me at my bro in laws and told it. While asleep that night, the house was surrounded by about 30 men and the bailiff one "Slaughter" took me prisoner. They took me that night to Hickstown. I tried to get an opportunity to escape but failed. Next morning, I told the guard I wished to step aside and I watched my opportunity and fled. T h e y fired three pistol shots at me without effect. I went to Marietta, took the cars and came to Ringgold and sent down for my wife. My mother had moved back to Chattanooga and we went over there.45 I gambled and drank very hard and spent all my gold. I there took up with one "Ann Baldwin" and finding out she had some money, I concluded I would get it. I won a little money rolling ten pins and sent my wife to her mothers, who was then living in Walker County Georgia. I went with this girl to walk one day and met a man who had been her old beau. He tried to take her away and I struck him with a rock and hurt him severely. "Anne" and I then went on to her fathers and as we came up he came Autobiography \ 11 to the door and cursed me for being with his "gal" and fired a horse pistol at me but missed. I then threw a rock at him but struck the door, then put at him with a knife but he shut the door on me. In a few days "Anne" and I ran off and went down to Pinetown—and from there to Atlanta Georgia. I had a quarrel with her in a few days, and with some money I got from her, I took the cars and went to [my] wife on Hiwassie Rail Road.46 I found her sick, but when she recovered we moved 5 miles above Chattanooga on the Nashville Rail Road 47 and went to work. I was civil and worked hard for about six months, until one day I met an old enemy named McAustin at a grocery and we had a fight. I was very drunk and he got my head between two bars of iron and would have killed me but I hollered and they took him off. I then borrowed Joe Dobbins rifle and watched on the RRoad for three or four days to shoot him. He found it out and one of his friends came to me and begged me off from it as McAustin had a wife and three children. I got into a fight with a Runnels about that time and hit him over the head with the rifle and hurt him very badly but did not kill him. About this time my wife had a child, which was born dead. She was an easy good tempered woman and never quarreled with me. I quit work on the Rail Road and went to gambling. I met a fellow named Jim Waters and he beat me and we then made a bargain to go "halves in cards and in our fighting." So we followed up and down the Rail Road between the river and Chattanooga, playing cards with the hands or any one we met. I dressed well, had plenty of money, and supplied my wife with all necessaries; but took up with a woman named "Beck Caldwell" with whom I stayed more than my wife, but she never complained. I got into a fight one night about her with a fellow named Moore, he had a revolver and rock and I had a little pocket pistol. He hit me with a rock, and I snapped the pistol. We then fought on. I snapped the pistol three times on his side but it would not fire. I then took the muzzle in my hand and beat him severely. It was a desperate fight and we were both hurt. T h e Mar- shall while trying to arrest us had his arm broken by a rock from the crowd but the police finally took us. Moore was fined twenty dollars but I got off. 12 | Edward I sham Waters and I continued to play cards on the Rail Road and won a great deal of money. We once had a "big game" with a gambler named Smith and won $100 and came near getting into a big row. Waters and Smith played with a bowie knife beside them. I finally became tired of this and went down to Pinetown to see Jane Mob- ley but she had moved. I followed her to Campbell county and we agreed to run off; but she found out I had a wife and we parted. I came back to Chattanooga and Tate Miller a grocery keeper and Waters and I cheated a fellow named "Napper" out of $250 by pack- ing cards, and we fell out about dividing the money. Waters and I finally concluded to move to Arkansas. I bought a gun and went off without paying for it but the fellow pursued me and took it back. We then went on with our wives to Johnston County Arkansas.4 81 worked here splitting rails, hunting deer and bees and enjoyed my- self better than ever before in my life. I stayed there six months and got along very well. Waters had a "set fight" with a fellow named "Steve Thompson" the greatest bully in the county and I was his second. "Waters" whipped him and it created a feud between their friends. T h e Blacks were on Thompsons side and hated me very badly. I moved down on the river and followed the business of getting lightwood for the boats, so did the Blacks and it made us worse enemies. One day while sitting in my cabin Pete Daily and another fellow of Black's crowd came by and my dog barked at them and Daily said he could whip the dog and me both and we had a fight. T h e other fellow hit me with a stick while we were fighting and my wife ran him off with the axe. I then went down to Jim Iverys and while there old Black and three others … Oxford University Press and American Historical Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The American Historical Review. http://www.jstor.org "Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch": The Social Significance of Fighting in the Southern Backcountry. Author(s): Elliott J. Gorn Source: The American Historical Review, Vol. 90, No. 1 (Feb., 1985), pp. 18-43 Published by: on behalf of the Oxford University Press American Historical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1860747 Accessed: 17-08-2015 04:12 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected] This content downloaded from 150.135.135.70 on Mon, 17 Aug 2015 04:12:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=oup http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aha http://www.jstor.org/stable/1860747 http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp "Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch": The Social Significance of Fighting in the Southern Backcountry ELLIOTTJ. GORN "I WOULD ADVISE YOU when You do fight Not to act like Tygers and Bears as these Virginians do-Biting one anothers Lips and Noses off, and gowging one another- that is, thrusting out one anothers Eyes, and kicking one another on the Cods, to the Great damage of many a Poor Woman."' Thus, Charles Woodmason, an itinerant Anglican minister born of English gentry stock, described the brutal form of combat he found in the Virginia backcountry shortly before the American Revolution. Although historians are more likely to study people thinking, govern- ing, worshiping, or working, how men fight-who participates, who observes, which rules are followed, what is at stake, what tactics are allowed-reveals much about past cultures and societies. The evolution of southern backwoods brawling from the late eighteenth century through the antebellum era can be reconstructed from oral traditions and travelers' accounts. As in most cultural history, broad patterns and uneven trends rather than specific dates mark the way. The sources are often problematic and must be used with care; some speculation is required. But the lives of common people cannot be ignored merely because they leave few records. "To feel for a feller's eyestrings and make him tell the news" was not just mayhem but an act freighted with significance for both social and cultural history.2 The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation provided generous support for my research on violence. Many people read and commented on the manuscript, among them David Brion Davis, Jean Agnew, Kai Erikson, Fred Hobson, Gerald Burns, John Endean, and Allen Tullos. I thank them all for their aid. I also wish to thank the anonymous readers and the editors of the American Historical Review whose comments proved invaluable. My wife, Anna, critiqued and edited the text, while our baby, Jade, gouged and chewed the pages-and those were the least of their contributions. l Woodmason, "Burlesque Sermon," in Richard J. Hooker, ed., The Carolia Backcountry on the Eve of the Revolution (Chapel Hill, 1953), xi-xxxvi, 158. The "Burlesque Sermon" was written in the late 1760s or early 1770s. For the quotation that appears in the title of the essay, see "A Kentucky Fight," New York Spirit of the Times, December 12, 1835, p. 2. 2 Harden E. Taliaferro, Fisher's River Scenes and Characters (New York, 1839), 198. Let me state explicitly that this is a study in male culture, but it is informed by central insights of recent women's history-that gender definitions are malleable, that they have a formative impact on the past, and that to ignore them is to misrepresent social and cultural development. 18 This content downloaded from 150.135.135.70 on Mon, 17 Aug 2015 04:12:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp "Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair alnd Scratch" 19 As EARLY AS 1735, BOXING was "much in f;ashion" in parts of Chesapeake Bay, and forty years later a visitor from the North declared that, along with dancing, fiddling, small swords, and card playing, it was an essential skill for all young Virginia gentlemen.3 TIhe term "boxing," however, did not necessarily refer to the comparatively tame style of bare-knuckle fighting familiar to eighteenth-century Englishmen. In 1746, four deaths pr-ompted the governor of North Carolina to ask for legislation against "the barbarous and inhuman manner of boxing which so much prevails among the lower sort of people." The colonial assemnbly responded by making it a felony "to cut out the Tongue or pull out the eyes of the King's Liege People." Five years later the assembly added slitting, biting, and cutting ofi noses to the list of offenses. Virginia passed similar legislation in 1748 and revised these statutes in 1772 explicitly to discourage men from "gouging, plucking, or putting out an eye, biting or kicking or stomping upon" quiet peaceable citizens. By 1786 South (Carolina had made premeditated mayhenm a capital offense, defining the crime as severing another's bodily parts.4 Laws notwithstanding, the carnage continued. P'hilip Vickers Fithian, a New Jerseyite serving as tutor for an aristocratic Virginia famnily, confided to his journal on September 3, 1774: By appointment is to be fought this Day near Mr. Lanes two fist Battles between four young Fellows. The Cause of the battles I have not yet known; I suppose either that they are lovers, and one has in Jest or reality some way supplanted the other; or has in a merry hour called him a Lubber or a thick-Skull, or a Buckskin, or a Scotsmani, or perhaps one has mislaid the other's hat., or knocked a peach out of his Hand, oI- offeIred hlim a diram without wiping the mouth of the Bottle; all these, and ten thousand moIe qllte as trifling and ridiculous are thought and accepted as just Causes of immediate Quarrels, in which every dliabolical Strategem for Mastery is allowed and practiced. The "trifling and ridiculous" reasons for these fights had an unreal quality for the matter-of-fact Yankee. Not assaults on persons or property but slights, insults, and thoughtless gestures set young southerners against each other. To call a man a "buckskin," for example, was to accuse him of the poverty associated with leather clothing, while the epithet "Scotsman" tied him to the low-caste Scots-Irish who settled the southern highlands. Fithian could not understand how such trivial offenses caused the bloody battles. But his incomprehension turned to rage when he realized that spectators attended these "odious and filthy anmusemnenits" and that the fighters allayed their spontaneous passions in order to fix convenient dates and places, which allowed time for rumors to spread and crowds to gather. The Yankee concluded that only devils, prostitutes, or monkeys could sire creatures so unfit for human society.6 3 Williaim Gooch to thc Bishol) of Lon(don], JLl'v 8, 17 35, in (. NMcLarciin Bryden, e(l., "'IhCe Virginial (Clergy: Governor Gooch's Letters to the Bisho) of Lonldoni, 1727-1749, fromii the FLilhamI N uLnscr-ipts,- 1ogs'mla Mazgazios oJflotors and Biogarplh', 32 (1924); 219, 332; and P'hilip Vicker s Fithi'ani to John Peck, AuguLst 12, 1774, inI Fithian, Journal and Letters, ed. Hloloiter Dickinson Farish (Williamslburg, Va., 1943 ), 212. TFom Parratinore, "(GoLgitg inI Early North Carolina," Nodst Carolinia Folklorej oarn(l, 22 (1974): 38; Jane Carson, Colonial VsI,rosiiTa (it Pl/a' (WilliamisbuLrg, Va., 1965), 166-67; and Jack Kenniiy Williamiis, 1oges inI VillaMin': (orime and RIettiblbtiotn itl Antte-Bellomrti Soot/h C(irolisia (ColUmnia, S.C., 1959), 33. 1 h'e SoLth Carolina law included finigers and eyes but excluded nioses anlld ears. 5 Fithian, Journaloe assd Letters, 240-4 1. 6 Ibid.; anid Rhys Isaac, TIse Tsrasmssfosrsatioii o/ VoVisrsia, 1740-1 790 (Chapel Hill, 1982), 44. This content downloaded from 150.135.135.70 on Mon, 17 Aug 2015 04:12:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp Descriptions of these "fist battles," as Fithian called them, indicate that they generally began like English prize fights. Two men, surrounded by onlookers, parried blows until one was knocked or thrown down. But there the similarity ceased. Whereas "Broughton's Rules" of the English ring specified that a rounld ended when either antatgonist fell, southern bruisers only began fighting at this point. Enclosed not inside a formal ring-the "magic circle" defining a special place with its own norms of conduct-but within whatever space the spectators left vacant, fighters battled each other until one calle(d enough or was unable to continue. Combatants boasted, howled, and cursed. As words gave way to action, they tripped and threw, gouged and butted, scratched and choke(d each other. "But what is worse than all," Isaac Weld observed, "these wretches in their conmbat endeavor to their utnmost to tear out each other's testicles."7 Around the beginning of the nineteenth century, men sought original labels for their brutal style of fighting. "Rough-and-tumble" or simply "gouging" graclually replaced "boxing" as the name for these contests.8 Before two bruisers attacked each other, spectators might demand whether they proposed to fight fair- according to Broughton's Rules-or rough-and-tumible. Honor dictated that all techniques be permitted. Except for a ban on weapons, most nmen chose to fight "no holts barred," doing what they wished to each other without interference, until one gave up or was incapacitated.", The emphasis on maximum disfiguremnent, on severing bodily parts, made this fighting style unique. Amid the gener-al mayhem, however, gouging out an opponent's eye becamiie the sine qua nori of rough-and-tumble f-ighting, imuch like the knockout punch in modern boxing. TIhe best gougers, of course, were adept at other fighting skills. Somne allegedly filecd their teeth to bite off an enemy's appendages more efficiently. Still, liberatinig ani eyeball quickly became a fighter's surest route to victory and his mnost prestigious accomplishment. To this end, celebrated heroes fired their fingerniails hlard, honed them-i sharp, anid oiled them slick. " 'You have conme off badly this timie, I doubt?' ' declared an alarmed passerby on seeing the piteous condition of a renowned fighter. " 'Have I,' says he triumphantly, shewing ftoin his pocket at the samne time an eye, Weld, TraveLs Througrh the Sttes of Nort/li Asmeti (, 1 (3d e(liL., 1Lndon, 1800(): 191. Weldl claillc(l he s Aw for or five IIIeII castrated an(ld co(nfined to their' sick l)eds (IIinilng hiS trlVs sin Virginia ai(nd Maryland. Thle Comport Edition oJfthle OxfOrd otig/il Dirtiooisi (Ne.xw Yo)rk, 1971), 1: 1180, 2: 2582. T'Thomas Ashe, Tsrave/.i ini Amserica (LondoI, 1809), 86. IhoImas AllnlhreC, vvfio serve(d iII Vir-gillial (Lrillg thlC ReVOILtion, oA)served that hightecrs agreed ahIead of tinc on wh ihch tactics to alhv, then ahided hy theii OW11 rleCs: Allb)rey, Tsraels Throligh thl l nter)ior Pariti of Alierria, 2 (1789; iepnint c(fiL, Bostoii, 182'3), 215-1 8. Gouginig aniother mani's evc was IIot native to thlC C(uhiIICS hnt d(l nlteCe(ldeits in the iiiotlhCr CiOLnnt,y. A few repor-ts lacecl the practice in Lancashire and \o'rikslire; tlet Iocwlaild its aisri t lensandilats ill l'isterde .IS) used these taetics. GOLIgimg Wlas c(imion emll(ogll iII EllgliSh Irillng figlhtS t1hat the 1838 'RlIICS of the Lonclo Prize Ring" bannccl it BLit Whilt had heemn anl ocasimioal practiCC iIe BFI3itiII Wias CIesCdto( tO LIIliqsln highltimxg styVle in the Americain SoL II. See Dr. Bearlsley, "(O)1 ttme l'sc and(1 bInSe of Po)n)UlaII Sl)OI-tS ami LXCeises, Resemnbling r hose of the Greeks an(d Roniaiiiis," NicholoOi's Ph/on osofi/orl blogozoir, 15, ex(cerptel in Poitf/ lo, 1, ser. 4 (1 8 16): 407-09; JeInie Hlinlinaia, Amser sica S)ortsi 1 785-1835 (1)DU rlmiam, N.(., 193 1), chap. 10(; New I oris Spirit (f th/i Tiunwi JcmlI 4 1840). 20(7; Henry Adams, Te Formatiote +(rso, e(l. Hlerhert Agar (1 iloix, 1918), 28; "'Kick and(t Bite' in Lancashire," New(, Y'ork SportingA lXogozin, Novemnber I83-1, ). 188; Jolmi Ford(l, Pr'iegJliti'l,g: ThueAge oJ'Regeors Boximoniai (New York, 1971), 1 16-18; 1J C. FLII-IiS, '/1e A 4su1esA (Ii.iS A Sori sl liji.toe ofthle U n'sitedl Stites, 1587-1914 (Ncrw York, 1969), 216; JaIncs (J. Lex hum. The .Siotds I.ih: A1 Sooil lijitoi (Ghac'l Hill, 1962), 263-66; Am-thlLr K. Miu Frme, 7/is Ps ouitier Xliod (New \Y-k, 1957), 11 1; and Parraniiru c, "G(,olgilg in Nor tlh Cal olilmlia, 6.O This content downloaded from 150.135.135.70 on Mon, 17 Aug 2015 04:12:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp "Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch" 21 which he had extracted during the combat, and preserved for a trophy."''0 As the new style of fighting evolved, its geographical distribution changed. Leadership quickly passed from the southern seaboard to upcountry counties and the western frontier." I Although examples could be found throughout the South, rough-and-tumbling was best suited to the backwoods, where hunting, herding, and semisubsistence agriculture predominated over market-oriented, staple crop production. Thus, the settlers of western Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee, as well as upland Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, became especially known for their pugnacity.'2 The social base of rough-and-tumbling also shifted with the passage of time. Although brawling was always considered a vice of the "lower sort," eighteenth- century Tidewater gentlemen sometimes found themselves in brutal fights. These combats grew out of challenges to men's honor-to their status in patriarchal, kin- 000~~~~:-A0SE; 2; : iCt~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. s .f........ . The "Hands of Celebrated Gougers. Drawings reproduced from Richard M. Dorson, Davy Crockett: American Comic Legend (New York, 1939), 42. based, small-scale communities-and were woven into the very fabric of daily life. Rhys Isaac has observed that the Virginia gentry set the tone for a fiercely competitive style of living. Although they valued hierarchy, individual status was never permanently fixed, so men frantically sought to assert their prowess-by grand boasts over tavern gaming tables laden with money, by whipping and 10 Anburey, Travels Through the Interior Parts of Amernca, 203; Parramore, "Gouging in North Carolina," 57-58; and Adland Ashby, A Visit to North America (London, 1821), 73. In colonial days, an eye could be saved by calling out "king's curse"; Guion Griffs Johnson, Antebelum North Carolina: A Social History (Chapel Hill, 1937), 16-17. 11 The tradition lingered in pockets along the coast. A Florida grand jury member watched outside the courthouse as his son fought another boy. Not yet a decade old, the youngster received some manly advice when the battle ended: "Now you little devil, if you catch him down again bite him, chaw his lip or you never'll be a man." Henry Benjamin Whipple, as quoted in John Hope Franklin, The Militant South (Cambridge, Mass., 1956), 11-12. 12 Tom Parramore, the most thorough student of rough-and-tumble fighting, offered only southern sources and argued that gouging spread as far as the Louisiana Territory early in the century; "Gouging in North Carolina," 56, 58. Gouging was occasionally practiced above the Ohio, but it was not elevated to a characteristic fighting style. Lumbermen in the northern forests practiced some of the rough-and-tumbler's arts, but they were noted for marking a fallen opponent by stomping his face with caulked boots, leaving scars similar to those This content downloaded from 150.135.135.70 on Mon, 17 Aug 2015 04:12:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp 22 EliiottJ. Gorn tripping each other's horses in violent quarter-races, by wagering one-half year's earnings on the flash of a fighting cock's gaff. Great planters and small shared an ethos that extolled courage bordering on foolhardiness and cherished magnificent, if irrational, displays of largess. ' 3 Piety, hard work, and steady habits had their adherents, but in this society aggressive self-assertion and manly pride were the real rrmarks of status. Even the gentry's vaunted hospitality demonstrated a f'amily's community standing, so conviviality itself became a vehicle for rivalry and emulation. Rich and poor might revel together during "public times,'" but gentry patronage of sports and festivities kept the focus of power clear. Above all, brutal recreations toughened men for a violent social life in which the exploitation of labor, the specter of poverty, and a fierce struggle for status were daily realities.'4 During the final decades of the eighteenth century, however, individuals like Fithian's young gentlemen became less inclined to engage in rough-and-tumbling. Many in the planter class now wanted to distinguish themselves from social inferiors more by genteel manners, gracious living, and paternal prestige than by patriarchal prowess. They sought alternatives to brawling and found them by imitating the English aristocracy. A few gentlemen took boxing lessons f'rom professors of pugilism or attended sparring exhibitions given by touring exponents of the manly art.'5 More important, dueling gradually replaced hand-to-hand combat. The code of honor offered a genteel, though deadly, way to settle personal disputes while demonstrating one's elevated status. Ceremony distinguished anti- septic duels from lower-class brawls. Cool restraint and customary decorum proved a man's ability to shed blood while remaining emotionally detached, to act as mercilessly as the poor whites but to do so with chilling gentility.'I6 produced by smrallpox. "The ltitmberjack code," as folklorist Richard Dorsoni calleti it, grew out of' a pattern of' living sinilar to that of the rough-anti-tumblers. Drinking, treating f'rienids, imilpttlsive pleasuLre seekillg, hel-oi labor, and ViCiOttS fightiing were part of all-miiale peer groLps tIn the niorthernl woods; personal ht)nt)r anti valtor were the touchstones of ltltnberjactk life. See Dorson, BloodtopperS antd Bearwalkeri: Folk Traelitions of the Upper Peninsula (Catmbridge, Mass., 1952), clhap. 9; Fiurnas, The Amenria in, 215-16; and(i Alan Lotinax, Illkougs of /Naort/h America (New York, 1975), 106-07, 1 19-20. Fred Harvey Hattington has pointet( outt inI private correspon- deuice that leaders of' New Yor-k City gangs in the mid-nineteenth cenlttLrv were somiietimies ref'erred to as gougers or routgh-and-turmblers. Moreover, in 182 1, Ohio passedc a law againist gottging OLtt eyes, b)iting off' facial parts, anii so ftrth. Nevertheless, miieni in the East and MitIdle Wecst rlid iot glorify malylyhemii aitI mutilation in practice and folklore to the same extetit as rid the souLthernii backwoodstmen. See Gabriel FLrtrmani, "The Customs, Amusemenits, Style of Living antI Manniers of the People of thel ' United States fromii the Fir-st Settlemienit to the Presenlt lite," New Y'ork Historial Society, NewN, York, N.Y., MS. 2673, typescript copy, pp. 303-05; and Elliott J. Gorn, " I he Manily Art: Bar-e-Kinuckle lPrize Fighting antI the Rise of Amierican Sports" (Ph.D. dissert.ation, Yale University, 1983), chap. 5. 3 Isaac brilliantly evoked life in mid-eighteenth-CentUry Virginia. Sc-c Traifo-'rmationi of J'irginia, chaps. 5, 6. On play, competitiveniess, anct prowess in southesrni CtltrtIe, sCee . H. Breenl, "Hor-ses anld (Gentletmen: Ihe Ctiltural Signifiharte of' Gambling aimionig thhe Gentry of Virginia," William (alnd AJary Quiarterl/. 3nd ser., 34 (1977): 256-57; C'arson, Colonial Uirgnmaim (it Play, cha1p. 3; Hollimiats, Amiericcani Sporius, chap. 12; C. Vaininl Woodward, "Ihe Southerni Ethic in a PLiritanl World," inl his Aimeiicao Coonteipoiolt (Bostoni, 1971), 13-46; andcl Bertram Wyatt-Browni, Sothern IIonor: Ethliis and(l Behcaior in the 01(c Soutthl (Newt York, 1 982). Oni these tlhemies, see Breeni, "Horses and (,Gentlemen," 256-57; Isaact, Transflormah .otio of)1 7siginia, 94-104; and Wyatt-Browni, Soutthern-l Monor, chaps. 2, 3, 6, 11, 13. 15 Isaac traced this chanige; Traf,n,Joorinationi of 1ngingiaim, pts. 2, 3. Also sece Lotlise Jordian Wtalmsley, Sport Attittudes and Practices of'Representative Anisricas Befoire 1870 (Farmiville, Va., 1938), 296; anId (Gorn, "I'lhe Manlyx Art," 141-54. l6 Isaac, Transformation f VirginTia, 319, 322. Also see D)ickson BrUtre, 1i"oli nte and Cu'ltuiie in tlne Attbehelluni South (Austin, 1979), introdUlt(0tion antd chap. 1; Wyatt-Boswn, Souithler-ni Iaotiol, nlal). 13; antI Johnson, Antebellum Nortl Uairolinci, 42-46. This content downloaded from 150.135.135.70 on Mon, 17 Aug 2015 04:12:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp "Gouge and Bite, Pull H-alir arid Scr(atch" 23 Slowly, then, rough-and-tumble fighting found specific locus in both human and geographical landscapes. We can watch men grapple with the transition. When an attemnpt at a formal duel aborted, Savannah politician Robert Watkins and United States Senator James Jackson resorted to gouging. Jackson bit Watson's finger to save his eye.7 ~Similarly, when "a low fellow who pretends to gentility" insulted a distinguished doctor, the gentlenman responded with a proper challenge. "He had scarcely uttered these words, before the other flew at him, and in an instant turned his eye out of the socket, and while it hung upon his cheek, the fellow was barbarous enough to endeavor to pluck it entirely out."'8 By the new century, such ambiguity had lessened, as rough-and-tunmble fighting was relegated to inldividuals in backwoods settlemeents. For the next several decades, eye-gouging matches were focal events in the culture of lower-class males who still relished the wild ways of old. "I SAW MORE THAN ONE MAN WHO WANTED AN EYE, and ascertained that I was now in the region of 'gouging,"' reported young Timothy Flint, a Harvard educated, Presbyterian minister bound for Louisiana missionary work in 1816. His spirits buckled as his party turned down the Mississippi from the Ohio Valley. Enterpris- ing farmers gave way to slothful and vulgar folk whom Flint considered barely civilized. Only vicious fighting and disgusting accounts of battles past disturbed their inertia. Residents assured him that the "blackguards" excluded gentlemen from gouging matches. Flint was therefore perplexed when told that a barbarous- looking man was the "best" in one settlement, until he learned that best in this context meant not the most moral, prosperous, or pious but the local chamipior who had whipped all the rest, the rnan most dexterous at extracting eyes.'9 Because rough-and-tumble fighting declined in settled areas, somne of the most valuable accounts were written by visitors who penetr-ated the backcountry. Travel literature was quite popular during America's infanicy, and many profit-minded authors undoubtedly wrote with their audience's expectations in mind. Imnages of heroic frontiersmen, of crude but unencumbered natural men, enthralled both writers and readers. Some who toured the new republic ini the decades following 17 William Oliver Stevenis, Pistols at Tenr Paces (Bostoni, 1 940), 33-37; (;eorge G. Smith, The Story of (eorgia and the Georia People, 1 732-1860 (Atlanta, 1 900), 184; antld "Jones' Fight," Neztw Vnr-k Spinnt of thle Timties, January 25, 1840, pp. 559-60, i-eprinted in ibid., JuLnIe 15, 1844, p. 181 . Ihe anlLthol of "Jonies' Fight" was anonymoutts, hot clearly the story was derived f'rom oral traditioni. Althotughi dLeslillg hecame a m ark of genitlemranily statuLS, SoC)ial elites sometim-ies backslid inito street brawling dturinig the antehellum period. For eXamlples, see WilliamIs, Vogues in Villainy, 23. 18Anburey, Travels Throagh the Iinterior- Partos a/Amttieiica, 201-02. Goulgers occasionally threatened their social betters. An Eniglish tr-aveler- in Virginiia recalled that his patty Hed fromii a stiall gang-headcd hy a "veteran cyclops"-that tried to provoke a battle. In KentUcky, year-s later, Adlland Ashby clar-ed niot ot)ject to the company of one he considered beneath him. tIo (to so0, he feared, miight cost anl eye; ViWsit to North Amernca, 73. Also see the Marquis de Chastellux, Travels in Nor-th Amnerica int the Yetars 1 780-1782 (New York, 1828), which was "translated by ani English genitleman who resided in America at that periotl" (translator's note is on pages 292- 93). 19 Flint, Recollections ojfthe Last Ten Years (Bostoni, 1 826), 97-98. I he r-ight and left baniks of the Ohio became a common symhol of the contrast between slave anid free states in the writinigs of foreign travelers. America's miost perceptive visitor, Alexis de Tocqueville, included this nmotif. See DeiaiorraryN, in Amternca, ed. Phillips Bradley, 2 vols. (New York, 1945), 1: 376-79. This content downloaded from 150.135.135.70 on Mon, 17 Aug 2015 04:12:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp (24 ElliottJ. Gorn the Revolution had strong prejudices against America's democratic pretensions. English travelers in particular doubted that the upstart nation-in which the lower class shouted its equality and the upper class was unable or unwilling to exercise proper authority-could survive. Ironically, backcountry fighting became a symbol for both those who inflated and those who punctured America's expansive national ego. Frontier braggarts enjoyed fulfilling visitors' expectations of backwoods deprav- ity, pumping listeners full of gruesome legends. Their narratives projected a satisfying, if grotesque, image of the American rustic as a fearless, barbaric, larger- than-life democrat. But they also gave Englishmen the satisfaction of seeing their former countrymen run wild in the wilderness. Gyouging matches offered a perfect metaphor for the Hobbesian war of all against all, of men tearing each other apart once institutional restraints evaporated, of a heart of darkness beating in the New World. As they made their way from the northern port towns to the southern countryside, or down the Ohio to southwestern waterways, observers concluded that geographical and moral descent went hand in hand. Brutal fights dramatically confirmed their belief that evil lurked in the deep shadows of America's sunny democratic landscape. And yet, it would be a mistake to dismiss all travelers' accounts of backwoods fighting as fictions born of prejudice. Many sojourners who were sober and careful observers of America left detailed reports of rough-and-tumbles. Aware of the tradition of frontier boasting, they distinguished apocryphal stories from personal observation, wild tales from eye-witness accounts. Although gouging matches became a sort of literary convention, many travelers compiled credible descriptions of backwoods violence. "The indolence and dissipation of the middling and lower classes of Virginia are such as to give pain to every reflecting mind," one anonymous visitor declared. "Horse-racing, cock-fighting, and boxing-matches are standing amusements, for which they neglect all business; and in the latter of which they conduct themselves with a barbarity worthy of their savage neighbors."92( Thomas Anburey agreed. He believed that the Revolution's leveling of class distinctions left the "lower people" dangerously independent. Although Anburey found poor whites usually hospitable and generous, he was disturbed by their sudden outbursts of impudence, their aversion to labor and love of drink, their vengefulness and savagery. They shared with …