Intensely Human
Subtitle: The Health of the Black Soldier in the American Civil War
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: December 28, 2007
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9780801886966
Subjects: American history: c 1800 to c 1900; Black studies; Civil war; History Of Medicine; c 1800 to c 1900; U.S. History - Civil War And Reconstruction (1860-1877); Medical; History - Military / War; USA; Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor; Military - United States; United States - Civil War; History / United States / General; Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General; History; Civil War, 1861-1865; Health aspects; Participation, African American; Social aspects; United States
Description: Black soldiers in the American Civil War were far more likely to die of disease than were white soldiers. Historian Margaret Humphreys explores why this uneven mortality occurred and how it was interpreted at the time. In doing so, she uncovers the perspectives of mid-nineteenth-century physicians and others who were eager to implicate the so-called innate inferiority of the black body. In the archival collections of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, Humphreys found evidence that the high death rate among black soldiers resulted from malnourishment, inadequate shelter and clothing, inferior medical attention, and assignments to hazardous environments. While some observant physicians of the day attributed the black soldiers' high mortality rate to these circumstances, few medical professionals--on either side of the conflict--were prepared to challenge the "biological evidence" of white superiority. Humphreys shows how, despite sympathetic and responsible physicians' efforts to expose the truth, the stereotype of black biological inferiority prevailed during the war and after.