History Lectures

I heard a couple of history lectures today on C-Span (again, don't ask). There were a couple of really great points.

One focused on the southern sense/culture of "honor" as a cause of secession and, ultimately, the Civil War. A questioner asked how that sense of "honor" might also be seen in the modern world/culture of Islam. Pretty good one.... More on that later next week.

The other asked about the sense of "honor" and more current times. The lecturer talked about a colleague of his who played football at U of Colorado and, rumor had it, had returned an int for a TD in the Orange Bowl. Finally, to set matters straight, the colleague showed a tape of the game...with his return. What struck the original history prof was that throughout the game, when players of either side made good/great plays, they just got up and went back to the huddle to await the next play. No showmanship. Cool.... Does that mean the players of the past cared less about winning, about doing well? I wouldn't think that at all. But it does tell us a lot, doesn't it?

I was also struck by a reference to southern defense of its position in a speech by the Alabamian Yancey. He talked about the right to rebel of Russian serfs, of hogs readied to be slaughtered, and, hence, of the southern states to secede. He was silent and and the prof didn't note it about the right of slaves to rebel. Hmmm.... But he was pretty darn good on why southerners, 80% or more of whom didn't own slaves, went to war over it, risking life and limb, property, everything.