ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes that there is indeed a higher rate of homicide in the South than in the North, and able to cast substantial on some of the explanations of this fact. Slavery is an improbable explanation because it is in the nonslave regions of the South that homicide rates are highest today. Relationships between region and homicide rate for whites are stronger when only cities that are overwhelmingly white are examined. To link homicide rates more directly to agricultural practices, our colleague Andrew Reaves examined homicide rates of different regions within the South. If it is the residue of the culture of honor that fuels high homicide rates in the South, one would expect that argument- and conflict-related homicide, as opposed to felony-related homicide, would be more common in the South. The argument- or conflict-related homicides are the ones that should involve issues of honor and protection at their base.
