Career
For a few years, Pryor worked at journalism, serving on the editorial staffs of the Washington Union in 1852 and the Daily Richmond Enquirer in 1854. The latter was one of the leading papers in the South for 50 years.
After getting involved in politics, Pryor was appointed by President Franklin Pierce as a diplomat to Greece in 1854. Upon his return to Virginia, in 1857 he established The South, a daily newspaper in Richmond. He became known as a fiery and eloquent advocate of slavery, states' rights, and secession; although he and his wife did not personally own slaves, they came from the slaveholding class. His advocacy of the institution was an example of how, in a "slave society" like Virginia, slavery both powered the economy and underlay the entire social framework.
In 1859, Pryor was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives; he filled the vacancy in Virginia's 4th District caused by the death of William O. Goode. He served from December 7, 1859 and was re-elected, serving to March 3, 1861, when the state seceded. In the House, Pryor became a particular enemy of Representative Thaddeus Stevens, a Republican from Pennsylvania in favor of abolitionism.
During his term, Pryor got into a fierce argument with John F. Potter, a representative from Wisconsin, and challenged him to a duel. Having the choice of weapons according to duel protocol, Potter chose bowie knives. Pryor backed out, saying that the knife was not a "civilized weapon." The incident was widely publicized in the Northern press, which portrayed Pryor's refusal to duel as a coup for the North — and as a humiliation of a Southern “fire eater”.
Read more about this topic: Roger Atkinson Pryor
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