University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 1974 Anglo-American blood sports, 1776-1889: a study of changing morals. Jack William Berryman University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Berryman, Jack William, "Anglo-American blood sports, 1776-1889: a study of changing morals." (1974). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 1326. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/1326 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ANGLO-AMERICAN BLOOD SPORTS, I776-I8891 A STUDY OF CHANGING MORALS A Thesis Presented By Jack William Berryman Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS April, 197^ Department of History » ii ANGLO-AMERICAN BLOOD SPORTS, 1776-1889 A STUDY OF CHANGING MORALS A Thesis By Jack V/illiam Berryman Approved as to style and content by« Professor Robert McNeal (Head of Department) Professor Leonard Richards (Member) ^ Professor Paul Boyer (I'/iember) Professor Mario DePillis (Chairman) April, 197^ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Upon concluding the following thesis, the many im- portant contributions of individuals other than myself loomed large in my mind. Without the assistance of others the project would never have been completed, I am greatly indebted to Professor Guy Lewis of the Department of Physical Education at the University of Massachusetts who first aroused my interest in studying sport history and continued to motivate me to seek the an- swers why. He was always ready to listen to my problems and rendered his support and encouragement when it was needed most. Professor John Loy of the Department of Phys- ical Education at the University of Massachusetts originally suggested studying the topic of "blood sports" and offered valuable suggestions and ideas throughout the duration of the project. I am particularly appreciative of the assistance and constant concern for the topic by Professor Mario DePillis of the Department of History at the University of Massa- chusetts. His expert advice and encouragement was always given with the utmost courtesy and patience. He spent hours with the manuscript and worked diligently to help me complete my task. I am also grateful to Professors Paul Boyer and Leonard Richards of the Department of History at . iv the University of Massachusetts for their interest and pertinent suggestions My typist, Miss Janet Sims, did an excellent job putting the manuscript into appropriate form and always performed her chore with a friendly smile. Her work made the final stages of the thesis a pleasure. Finally, my deepest gratitude is due to my wife, Elaine. She spent hours typing, proof reading, and offer- ing moral support when it was needed. Besides adding to the family income and doing the usual household tasks, she always found time to assist me or to make time available for my research and writing. j V TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOvVLEDGMENTS iii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 A. Anglo-American Sports Before 1776 • 5 B. The Nature of Blood Sports 13 CHAPTER II. BLOOD SPORTS IN THE NEW NATION, 1776-1889 16 A. Cock Fighting 20 B. Bull Baiting 38 C. Bear Baiting 45 D. Dog Fighting ^9 E. Gander Pulling 52 F. Snatching the Rooster ....... 58 G. Rat Baiting 59 H. Cock Throv/ing and Badger Baiting. 62 CHAPTER III. THE ANIMAL IN ANGLO-AMERICAN THOUGHT BEFORE THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 66 CHAPTER IV. THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMANE THOUGHT ANTHROPOMORPHISM 7^ A. England 75 1. Literature 75 2. Religion 96 3. Law 105 B. America 112 1. Literature 113 2. Religion 132 » vi Page 3. Law 139 CHAPTER V. ACTION I THE FORMATION OF ANIMAL PROTEC- TION SOCIETIES, I8O9-I889 148 A. England 1^9 B. America I65 CHAPTER VI. THE CONCERN FOR THE WELL-BEING OF MAN ANTHROPOCENTRISM 179 CHAPTER VII. THE DECLINE OF BLOOD SPORTS AND THE RISE OF "SPORTS WITH A PURPOSE," I850-I879 18^1- CHAPTER VIII. SUMllARY AND CONCLUSIONS I98 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY. 20^1- BIBLIOGRAPHY 210 A. Primary Sources 210 B. Secondary Sources 220 CHAPTER i INTRODUCTION From earliest times until approximately the eigh- teenth century, most cultures viewed the animal as only an object placed on earth for the benefit and service of man» Accordingly, man exploited animals for labor or used them for food. The intriguing physical traits of many animals have fascinated man throughout history and such peculiar- ities have inspired people in all cultures to use animals for amusement and entertainment. Man has created special breeds of animals, as they have plants, for the psycholog- ical pleasure of sheer mastery over nature or the visual pleasure of pleasing form. But man also takes pleasure in cruelty and suffering, and the animal, because it reacts rather quickly, was a rather frequent victim of the darker aspects of human nature. Sports involving cruelty to animals reached a peak of popularity in eighteenth-century Europe, and English historians especially, have written vivid accounts of cruel sports involving the baiting, fighting, or torturing of animals. The strong religious tone of seventeenth-century American settlements, together with the overwhelming rich- ness of animal life in the New World, combined to prevent the direct importation of cruel Elizabethan and Jacobean 2 animal sports. But by the eighteenth century such sports had "become common in the colonies. Eventually these sports came to be called "blood sports," many of which had as their sole object the cruel treatment of animals. No sooner had blood sports become widespread in America than two general forms of opposition arose. One, which may be called anthropocentric, placed man at the center of the moral universe, and typically opposed blood sports not for the cruelty to animals but the dangers to the morals of men—gambling, brutr.lization of feelings, misuse of time, and so on. The second, or anthropomorphic form of opposition, saw the animal as a man-like creature with man-like feelings suid consciousness. Thus, the animal had "rights" not dissimilar to those of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. At its best the anthropomorphic view led to the growth of "humane societies" by the middle- of the nineteenth century; at its worst it has led to the sentimentalisra of pet cemeteries and poodles or chimpanzees dressed as humans. External to these two essentially moral attitudes of men and women was another factor that would eventually lead to the decline of blood sportsi many new and different sporting options. New sports or attitudes toward sport emphasized new goals like physical or mental or moral health or even the duty of helping build the "image" of one*s country. 3 And thus it was not merely legislation but the transformation of established moral beliefs that ultimately lead to the elimination of blood sports like cock fighting, gander pulling, bear and bull baiting, snatching the rooster, and cock throwing. The transformation began in the Jacksonian era, which witnessed the first great wave of American effort at amelioration or "reform," of humanitar- ian campaign, and of the general belief that society could be improved. Americans of the 1820s, 30s and ^Os believed that everyone was capable of moral redemption. Many thought they could achieve ultimate perfection. Most be- lieved that they could achieve their ends and even improve human nature by changing the environment, whether by diet, by architecture, or by sport. The traditional historical isms of the period--like transcendentalism, romanticism, and revivalism, reinforced the idealistic faith of the perf ectability of man. The more humane view of animals did not suddenly begin to hover over the scene in the Jacksonian period. There were, of course, precedents and forerunners. During the tv^o previous centuries individual clergymen, educators, government officials, editors, poets, artists, scientists, journalists, and moralists of every stripe had exerted a positive influence that cannot easily be assessed. But as with penal and temperance reforms, progress had to await organization into groups. There was nothing that could be called a humane movement until the organization in 182^ (England) and 1866 (United States) of. groups promoting kindness to animals. With the formation of animal protec- tion societies, there was some hope for altering the American tradition of blood sports; and that alteration, is, in turn, indicative of the transformation of American moral beliefs and social behavior. The eventual demise of blood sports was aided in part by their own popularity and easy accessibility. Humanitarians could easily find out about them and attack them. The abolitionist had little hope that the well- publicized maltreatment of a few slaves could lead to pre- ventive legislation; and even on the comparatively trivial level of temperance or teetotalism, legislative victories were local, sporadic, and impermanent. But in the instance of blood sports, preventive legislation—that final aim of reformers — often derived its initial stimulus from attempts to stop public exhibitions of barbarous sports. Aided by lurid stories of vivisection and by everyday scenes of cart drivers flogging their horseSf reformers could point to the fact that people took pleasure in the pain and death of animals, and to the fact that there were "inhuman sports." During the first three quarters of the nineteenth century it was two figures who did most to stop blood sports in the United States: Henry Bergh (1823-1888) and George Angell (I823-I909). By 1866, Bergh had succeeded in 5 founding the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a high point in the campaign against blood sports and cruelty in generals Bergh and Angell, at times in cooperation with one another, fought for laws prohibiting blood sports* Among other activities they disseminated humane literature, published journals pertaining to cruelty, formed the American Bands of Mercy, and founded the American Humane Education Society.