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"Death is nothing in comparison to dishonor": Sarah Morgan’s diary and women’s roles in southern honor

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Date Issued:
2013
Summary:
In their studies of the code of honor in the Old South, historians such as Bertram Wyatt-Brown and Edward L. Ayers consider women incapable of possessing honor. However, the diary of Sarah Morgan, a young woman living in Baton Rouge and New Orleans during the Civil War, reveals the many ways that women actively engaged in the code of honor and even considered themselves to be honorable. In her diary, Sarah Morgan described her own reverence for any honorable gentleman and the ways in which women like her preached the ideologies of the code of honor to men. Women reinforced the code of honor by urging men to die rather than dishonor their family names, punished dishonorable men with their disdain while they celebrated their honorable heroes, and even adopted a feminized version of the code so that they too could possess honor.
Title: "Death is nothing in comparison to dishonor": Sarah Morgan’s diary and women’s roles in southern honor.
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Name(s): Radaker, Brooke
Strain, Christopher B.
Harriet L.Wilkes Honors College
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Thesis
Date Created: Spring 2013
Date Issued: 2013
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 71 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: In their studies of the code of honor in the Old South, historians such as Bertram Wyatt-Brown and Edward L. Ayers consider women incapable of possessing honor. However, the diary of Sarah Morgan, a young woman living in Baton Rouge and New Orleans during the Civil War, reveals the many ways that women actively engaged in the code of honor and even considered themselves to be honorable. In her diary, Sarah Morgan described her own reverence for any honorable gentleman and the ways in which women like her preached the ideologies of the code of honor to men. Women reinforced the code of honor by urging men to die rather than dishonor their family names, punished dishonorable men with their disdain while they celebrated their honorable heroes, and even adopted a feminized version of the code so that they too could possess honor.
Identifier: FA00003531 (IID)
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Thesis (B.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, 2013.
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Sublocation: FAU Digital Library
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00003531
Restrictions on Access: All rights reserved by the source institution
Restrictions on Access: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.
Is Part of Series: FAU Honors Theses Digital Collection.

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