Words mean different things to different people and also change in usage over time. While most Twenty-first Century North Americans might agree a hundred and fifty years ago the definition of honor included concepts we might find objectionable today. Honor was used to justify horrifying inhumanities and shocking miscarriages of justice such as the Caning of Charles Sumner. The present consequences of past concepts of honor will be explored along with indications of future attitudes. Based on the work of Bertram Wyatt-Brown.