In Sickness And In Health: Well-being Of Enslaved Laborers At The Hermitage Plantation

Summary

Prior to the nineteenth century, the practice of medicine was as much an art as it was a science in the Western world. By the antebellum period, European, African, African American, and Native American medical theory and practices intermingled on Southern plantations because of centuries of interaction. This study of the material culture of health and well-being at the Hermitage highlights the extent to which consumption, cultural beliefs, and incipient scientific discourse intersected to shape health care practices in the antebellum South.  Health, like most aspects of slaves’ lives, was a sphere that slave owners attempted to control. Enslaved laborers were often forced to submit to this control, yet they continued to engage in their own health practices, even when faced with severe consequences. This analysis emphasizes issues of racialization, medicalization, and exploitation while emphasizing the dual nature of enslaved laborers as people and commodified labor.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018   •
• The Past, Present, and Future of Archaeological Research at The Hermitage: Legacies of Larry McKee and Sam Smith

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 412