you won't see it unless we point to it, so, here, have a document, joanne freeman. it's handy and you can write a book. strikingly, amazing powerful document. for these three potential american duellists in the 1850s, dueling still had power. and all these men didn't end up fighting duels, their willingness to duel served as proof of their character in the same way it served for hamilton. and to some degree the simple fact that they were willing to duel tamed some of their southern colleagues. they were slightly less willing to bully northerners after the three men make their declaration. that was not enough to make a difference, and the years between 1855 and 1860 were the most violent years in the history of congress, and of course we all know what came next. now, i want to close by answering an obvious question. i'm asked it all the time. when did this change and how? that's what happens after the civil war. it certainly doesn't go on. part of the answer as to when does it change and how has to do with the fact after the civil war, this is going to be very logica

next, historian joanne freeman talks about the logic behind the american dueling culture before and afteralled "code of honor" that led to dueling and explains the political strategies behind these confrontations. she is the author of "the field of blood, violence in congress and the road to the civil war." this was part of the great lives lecture series hosted by the university of mary washington. [ applause ] >> hello, everybody. good evening. welcome to tonight's "great lives" presentation. i would like to first thank the program sponsor, the law firm, for their generous support, not this year but for several years now. it's this kind of corporate support along with matt from so many of you as individuals that enables the great lives series to thrive. so i would like to ask our good friends from the law firm to stand so we can acknowledge them. where are you? i know you're there. [ applause ] also, a special group with us tonight that i would like to knowledge, that is the simpson circle, a group composed of former mary washington b.o.v. members. they are here tonight and we would like

. ♪ [distant conversation] announcer 1: next historian joanne freeman talks about the logic behind thefter the civil war. she describes the so-called "code of honor" that led to dueling and explains the political strategies behind these confrontations. she is the author of "the field of blood, violence in congress and the road to civil war." this talk was part of the william crawley "great lives" lecture series hosted by the university of mary washington. [applause] william: hello everybody. , good evening. welcome to tonight's "great lives" presentation. i would like first to thank the program sponsor, the herschel law firm, for their generous support not this year but for several years now. it is this kind of corporate support along with many of you individuals that enables the great lives series to thrive. so i would like to ask our good friends from

next, joanne freeman talks about the logic behind the american dueling culture before and after the civil war. she describes the code of honor that led to dueling and explains the political strategies behind these confrontations. she is the author of "the field of blood, violence in congress and the road to the civil war." the greatwas part of lives lecture series hosted by the university of mary washington. [applause] >> hello, everybody. good evening. welcome to tonight's "greatatatt lives" presentation. i would like first to find the the program sponsor, the law firm, for their generous support, not this year but for several years now. it is this kind of corporate support, along with that from so many of you as individuals that enables the great lives series to thrive. so i would like to ask our good friends from the law firm trust so we can acknowledge them. [applause] also, a special group tonight that i would like to knowledge, that is the simpson circle, a group composed of former mary washington members. bmv members. they are here tonight and we would like to have them stand so we

joanne freeman, i would like to mention at the outset that one of her most commendable qualifications is that she received her phd from the university. that's right, uva. [laughter] in any case, not long after receiving that degree, she was recognized already as one of the nations top young historians. she has subsequently has widespread recognition as a scholar of the revolutionary and early national periods of american history. she is the author of numerous articles on those subjects which will appear in print in proper academic journals including the "william and mary quarterly, among others. she has written op-ed pieces for the new york times and appeared on numerous documentaries on pbs, the history channel and radio programs on npr and the bbc. you may have seen her in the past week on the history channel series on george washington. she has written several books, including a study of alexander hamilton. and her first major book titled "affairs of honor: national politics in the new republic" won the national book award from the society of historians of the early american republ

have a document, joanne freeman. it is really handy and you can read a book. amazingly, a powerful document. for these three duelists in the 1850's, dueling still had power. and although they did not end up fighting duels, their willingness to do all served as proof of their character much in the same way it had served for burr and hamilton. the simple fact they were willing to duel tamed some of their southern colleagues down. they were slightly less willing to bully northerners after the three men made their declarations. but even that was not really enough to make a difference in the years between 1855 and 1860 were the most violent years in the history of congress, and of course, we all know what came next. i want to close by answering an obvious question, which i am asked all the time, which is, when does this change and how? what happens after the civil war? this certainly does not go on. part of the answer as to when does it change and how, has to do with the fact that after the civil war, the dynamics of congress shifted. now, northerners had power. fo

next, historian joanne freeman talks about the logic behind the american dueling culture before and afterhe civil war. she describes the so-called "code of honor" that led to dueling and explains the political strategies behind these confrontations. she is the author of "the field of blood, violence in congress and the road to the civil war." great livest of the lecture series hosted by the university of mary washington. [applause] >> hello, everybody. good evening. welcome to tonight's "great lives" presentation. i would like first to find the program sponsor, the law firm, for their generous support, no

next, joanne freeman talks about the logic behind the american dueling culture before and after the civil. she describes the code of honor that led to dueling and explains the political strategies behind these confrontations. she is the author of "the field of blood, violence in congress and the road to the civil war." the greatwas part of lives lecture series hosted by the university of mary washington. [applause] >> hello, everybody. good evening. welcome to tonight's "greatatatt lives" presentation. i would like first to find the