One of the oldest ways humans have interacted with each other is through violence; brawling with those you found unfavorable was not uncommon across most of the world in the early days of civilization. For many centuries, this sort of fighting was spontaneous and messy, there were no customs attached to it and it served only one purpose. Over time, however, these scrimmages became more based on honor, in Europe especially they were not carried out at will, but scheduled, and civility came to the practice in the form of dueling. At least, it became as civilized as you can get when you’re killing someone. In Europe, the development of dueling coincided with the advent of newer sword technologies, such as when swords became more focused in the tip with the rapier. This development carried into the seventeenth century, when Europenas began colonization of the Americas, where a new development began.
Colonialism in America began at a pivotal point in the history of weaponry. The first recorded duel in America was fought in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 using swords. Sword based combat prevailed as the dominant method until about the middle of the eighteenth century, which saw the widespread use of firearms. Pistols had technically been in existence in Europe since the sixteenth century, but they were costly and difficult to use and enough of them couldn’t be made that they hadn’t seen any real use outside of occasional military application. But then, in the middle of the eighteenth century, the first industrial revolution occurred and essentially nullified these issues. Firearm technology was improving and they could be produced much faster and they saw widespread adoption very quickly. Duelists began using pistols much more commonly in Europe, and once they were beginning to be produced in America so did we.
Only a couple of decades after firearm usage spread the American Revolution occurred in 1776, and only a few decades after that, Florida was named a US territory in 1822. The same year that Florida became a territory was the year that Florida’s now capital city, Tallahassee was founded. Among many other things, Tallahassee had a rich dueling culture, mostly prevalent among the gentlemen of the city. Often, the city’s lawyers would begin duels in courtrooms and spill into the streets to settle them, almost always over money or honor. This continued for roughly a decade until the state of Florida declared dueling illegal in 1832. This didn’t really work, duelists would simply leave the borders of the city and duel there instead. Dueling continued by that method until 1839, when a famous duel known as Read-Alston came to be. This duel was significant as these two were political candidates for opposing parties, and the death of Alston made a mess in Florida’s election cycle.
Read-Alston marked the end of Florida’s tolerance of dueling, and guerilla efforts were made to stop anyone in Tallahassee. Larger police forces were created and were more observant of the city, laws were enforced more harshly, and justice was more sought after. Dueling in the 1840s still existed in Tallahassee and greater Florida, but not nearly to the same degree. As the world has gotten more peaceful and nonviolent, dueling has faded out as a custom across the country. Dueling eventually faded out into public obscurity as violence became more scrutinized. Now, its roots were used to form the sport of fencing, a non-violent way to appreciate the art of sword-based-combat.
Bonus Fun Fact: In Washington and Texas, dueling is still legal, however you will get charged with murder for staging one.
