Dueling was a practice in which two men (usually of the "gentleman" class) met at an assigned place and time to either fight with swords or fire pistols at each other in defense of their honor. This practice, only sporadic during the colonial period in British North America, became widespread during the Revolutionary War (1775-83) and continued as an important component of the military and political world during the early republic. The duel followed a set ritual. First there was an insult in which one party intentionally or unintentionally traduced the honor of the other, either through action or words. The insult was followed by communication between the two parties, usually in the form of a note or notes concerning the offense and delivered by a second party. If there was a retraction, the matter was at an end. If not, the exchange continued until the appointed place and time were set when the two participants would meet for the ritualized combat, which in North America was usually with pistols.

Dueling had a long history in Europe, and English law considered any death by dueling murder. Of course neither this English legal tradition nor local statutes prevented duels, though they was relatively infrequent during the colonial period. In 1768 Henry Laurens challenged a judge from the vice-admiralty court to a duel after customs officials seized one of Laurens's ships. A duel in 1771 led to the death of Peter Delancy, and a young John Jay was ready to fight a duel in 1773.

What was a relatively rare practice before 1775, however, became almost commonplace in the military once the Revolutionary War broke out and there was the development of a professional officer corps in the Continental army. It was not just that these officers sought to model themselves on the behavior of the French and British; it was also that they were seeking some means in a democratic society to assert themselves as "gentlemen" who lived by a special code of honor that set them above the common man. Dueling also entailed bravado and helped to define an officer as both a man and a gentleman. In January 1779 one French observer wrote of the Continental army that "The rage for dueling . . . has reached an incredible and scandalous point . . . This license is regarded as the appanage of liberty". Despite being against the Articles of War, officers high and low fought duels: General John Cadwalader wounded General Thomas Conway in the mouth after the so-called Conway Cabal imploded. Lieutenant Colonel John Laurens fought a duel with General Charles Lee after the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778).

Dueling persisted after the war in both politics and the military. The most famous political duel was between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton (both had been Continental army officers) at Weehawken, New Jersey, on July 11, 1804. But there were many duels during this period, including one in which Henry Brockholst Livingston killed his opponent. Andrew Jackson shot Charles Dickinson (who had slandered his wife) to death after Dickinson had fired and Jackson recocked his own gun to shoot--an action that violated the dueling code and many duelists considered murder. Dueling became particularly popular with officers in the U.S. Navy to the point that it became a serious problem. In 1820 the naval hero Stephen Decatur was shot to death in a duel with James Barron.

There were many people who decried dueling as a practice, especially after the Burr-Hamilton affair. By the 1810s it had become a less accepted practice in the northern part of the United States, but dueling remained entrenched in the South as a means of defending honor and defining a gentleman.

Bibliography:

Joanne B. Freeman, Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001)

Free term papers are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can use our professional writing services to buy a custom written research paper, term paper, or essay on American Revolution at affordable price. CustomTermPapers is the best solution for those who seek help in writing term papers, essays, and research papers related to American Revolution and other relevant topics.