The Handshake

Recently someone asked me "Whatever happened to the good ol' handshake?" when referring to a business agreement.  It began me thinking about why the handshake has lost it's meaning as a pact between two men, and when this diminishing value began to occur.

 

1st we must go back to the believed origin of the handshake, commonly it's thought that it began in Medieval England between Knights and Kings.  Each would display outwardly their open empty hands to show that they present no concealed weapons and mean no harm to one another, they would then grasp each other's hands in a showing of agreement.  What's left out of this common story, or so often not told, is that if one of the two later felt harmed then the result may be a duel, war, and death.  The handshake was backed up every time by the possibility of death, that's a strong agreement!

 

At least in America, duel's lost their approval in the 1800's.  Laws were enacted so that gentlemen wouldn't kill each other over a business agreement and instead people started to fight their battles in court.  Today the courtroom is the battleground where two men duel over a broken agreement, and of course since now there are third parties around the more proof that there even was an agreement becomes evidently important.

 

Makes sense, I don't think I've ever seen a lawyer shake hands in court.  No good lawyer would ever show up to court without a concealed weapon.

 

Tim