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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 4141107" data-attributes="member: 2205">Psst!  I already said that that was the very end of the socially accepted dueling period.  The reason they did it was because there was a long tradition of it being considered the "right" thing to do.And you can't exactly say that what he did was illegal if the courts dismissed the charges against him, can you?No, you're inputting your own bias in there.  I've read plenty of sources on this, and they all seem to indicate that they were acquitted or had their charges dismissed because the juries viewed their acts as acceptable.  You're really straining to get around that basic fact which runs through the majority of historical duels; they were seen by society as acceptable, which is why they were engaged in.  They really only caused problems 1) when someone didn't follow the rules for proper dueling, which could lead to murder charges, or 2) when society started turning against dueling as an acceptable practice.Wyatt Earp was arrested because there were competing claims about how exactly the gunfight had been handled.  When unbiased testimony came forward and showed that the complaints about Earp's actions were likely made by witnesses biased against him, the charges were dropped.  Judge Spicer didn't criticise Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday for their role in the gunfight at the OK Corrall, he criticized Virgil Earp for his temporary deputizing of Wyatt and Holliday.  You also are apparently now conflating reaction to the OK Corrall and reaction to the Vendetta ride, which were too different things altogether.While that may have been true in some cases, many times they actually were charged and even brought to trial, and then acquitted or had the charges dismissed because their actions were considered acceptable in that society at that time.  You also very noticably forget to mention plenty of other famous duels; Samuel Martin challenged John Wilkes to to a duel in the House of Commons no less.  Prince Frederick, Duke of York fought a highly publicized duel with Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Lennox that was reported in the Times (granted, no one was killed in that case.)  Heck, Andrew Jackson went on to be elected President of the USA after killing an opponent in a duel.You're really having to twist things to say that dueling was viewed as evil and lawless by society.  That simply is not the case and the only way you can come to that conclusion is by ignoring tons and tons of evidence.</blockquote>

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