I never thought about the civil war, I was describing the regional differences when it comes to a fight.
In my personal experience as a Texan and in conversation with northern transplants to the south, one thing the yankee has to learn is that a good southern boy won't trade street jive with him, instead the southerner goes quiet, and violent, once he has decided the fight is on.
Several yankees told me that they thought they had won the peacock strutting with a southerner, only to find out after the beating that (white)southerners don't do the peacock thing.
As a kid, in the Southwest, we never talked sh*t to each other, we just fought. When we moved to New York, all they would do is talk. Hence, I beat the crap out of some kids, and got beat as well. Ultimately, though I found out that being a rude smart-a$$ is just being a New Yorker, and they were expecting a response in kind, sorta like a heckler in the audience expecting insults hurled right back at 'cha. It was the quality of the insults that determined whether you won the 'fight'. Personally, I found popping the smart-a$$ in the mouth much more enjoyable, but that's just me.