Violence In The Old West Research Paper
Outlaws and Violence in the American West
Many Americans consider the era of the Old West as one of the most fascinating chapters in our history. It's an era that is uniquely American, and people around the world identify America with the era of the Old West. There is much legend surrounding American History of the Wild West when it comes to American outlaws lawmen and violence. But what is the real history about violence in the west? In this paper I will talk about outlaws and lawmen as well as the portrayal of violence of the west and try to identify the myths and legends versus fact from which the American mind as drawn up. So what is an outlaw? Well an outlaw is pretty much just what it sounds like. Somebody who has broken …show more content…
When Virgil Earp, along with his brothers Morgan and Wyatt and their friend Doc Holliday, confronted five cowboys in the city of Tombstone over carrying firearms in town, violence erupted. This incident became known as the gunfight at the OK corral and only lasted about 30 seconds yet it’s forever immortalized in our history. We know this because of the countless movies and books written about the event. It’s interesting to note that even in this most famous gunfight of the violent West, only three people were killed. In any modern city today, such a minor incident would probably not even be front-page …show more content…
It is in everybody mind that two men meet a high noon in the middle of a busy street for everybody to watch and then when the clock strikes you draw your pistol and shoot. Though movies and television would like us to believe otherwise, it was very rare when gunfights occurred with the two gunfighters squarely facing each other from a distance in a dusty street. “This romanticized image of the Old West gunfight was born in the dime novels of the late 19th century and perpetuated in the film era, to such a point that this fictional version is what our mind’s eye quickly conjures up when we hear the word gunfight.” In actuality, the real gunfights of the Old West were rarely that "civilized.”
In fact, there are several misconceptions about these gunfights. The first of which is that very rarely, did the gunfighters actually plan a gunfight to occur, calling out their enemy for dueling action in the street. Instead, most of these “fights took place in the heat of the moment when tempers flared, and more often than not, with the aide of a little bottled courage.” They also didn’t occur at a distance of 75 feet, with each gunfighter taking one shot, one falling dead to the ground, and the other standing as a "hero" before a dozen gathered
Many Americans consider the era of the Old West as one of the most fascinating chapters in our history. It's an era that is uniquely American, and people around the world identify America with the era of the Old West. There is much legend surrounding American History of the Wild West when it comes to American outlaws lawmen and violence. But what is the real history about violence in the west? In this paper I will talk about outlaws and lawmen as well as the portrayal of violence of the west and try to identify the myths and legends versus fact from which the American mind as drawn up. So what is an outlaw? Well an outlaw is pretty much just what it sounds like. Somebody who has broken …show more content…
When Virgil Earp, along with his brothers Morgan and Wyatt and their friend Doc Holliday, confronted five cowboys in the city of Tombstone over carrying firearms in town, violence erupted. This incident became known as the gunfight at the OK corral and only lasted about 30 seconds yet it’s forever immortalized in our history. We know this because of the countless movies and books written about the event. It’s interesting to note that even in this most famous gunfight of the violent West, only three people were killed. In any modern city today, such a minor incident would probably not even be front-page …show more content…
It is in everybody mind that two men meet a high noon in the middle of a busy street for everybody to watch and then when the clock strikes you draw your pistol and shoot. Though movies and television would like us to believe otherwise, it was very rare when gunfights occurred with the two gunfighters squarely facing each other from a distance in a dusty street. “This romanticized image of the Old West gunfight was born in the dime novels of the late 19th century and perpetuated in the film era, to such a point that this fictional version is what our mind’s eye quickly conjures up when we hear the word gunfight.” In actuality, the real gunfights of the Old West were rarely that "civilized.”
In fact, there are several misconceptions about these gunfights. The first of which is that very rarely, did the gunfighters actually plan a gunfight to occur, calling out their enemy for dueling action in the street. Instead, most of these “fights took place in the heat of the moment when tempers flared, and more often than not, with the aide of a little bottled courage.” They also didn’t occur at a distance of 75 feet, with each gunfighter taking one shot, one falling dead to the ground, and the other standing as a "hero" before a dozen gathered