Scandalous Gossip

 I took this course because I am keenly interested in the power of "small" events and how they can precipitate larger historical affairs or circumstances, or at a minimum, give us an idea of what things were like where (and in the time) the small event was happening.  As the old saying goes, "the devil is in the details," and in a study like Scandal at Bizarre, one can see a relatively small or otherwise insignificant event and its connection or relation to larger historical developments / trends of the time in question.  It is in the detail of these microhistories that we can see valuable context and a greater, richer, more detailed understanding of historical events as a whole.  Such is Cynthia Kierner's examination of this single event as it relates to and reflects the political, moral, and societal landscape in the fledgling United States in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.  The scandal has rightly been seen as, among other things, "a revealing barometer of the power and perils of patriarchy" at the outset of our nation.  For me, language plays a starring role.  The power of the printed and spoken word (engendered and gentrified) dominates in multiple forms: the printed newspaper broadside, letters and personal correspondence, romantic courtroom orations, and seemingly the most powerful - gossip.  The power of gossip in a culture of honor can be extreme, and involve people at all levels of society (Presidents, gentry, slaves), as evidenced in Scandal.  Rumors, substantiated or not, can ruin reputations and families (dynasties).  Likewise, the manipulation of public opinion through the press and courts, for example, can be used by a class (in this case Virginia Gentry) to fight to preserve social order and standing, and to exercise gentry privilege.  Scandal at Bizarre contrasts the declining influence of the gentry with their persistence to fight those who would limit the gentry's authority of status.  As Dr. Kierner points out, Richard was taken off to jail, charged, and brought into court (challenges to his gentry privileged status), yet he mounted a "stellar" legal defense which demonstrated a persistence of gentry privilege.  It is particularly fascinating to see the role gossip played and how its use gave agency to an otherwise disenfranchised set of actors (the bonded, women, and those lower in the social pecking order), and how that contrasts with how the gossip was manipulated by elite whites to suit their own needs.  Dr. Keirner posits that the initial gossip of Nancy's 1792 experience at Glentivar gave power to slaves' words, but their attempt to shame Randolph Harrison failed, as the gossip perpetuated by slaves was susceptible to the elite white agenda.  The slaves in this case exercised agency initially, but that agency was usurped by white gentrified authority, contrasting the slaves' agency with their ultimately disenfranchised standing.  The study of this type of contract (contradiction?) is a fascinating way to see the honor culture in the early U.S. and to examine the decline of Gentry society.