Samuel Adolphus Cartwright (November 3, 1793 – May 2, 1863) was an American physician who practiced in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

in the

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United States. Cartwright is best known as the inventor of the 'mental illness' of drapetomania—the desire of a slave for freedom—and as an outspoken opponent of

germ theory The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can cause disease. These small organisms, which are too small to be seen without magnification, ...

Biography

Cartwright married Mary Wren of Natchez, Mississippi, in 1825."Samuel A. Cartwright and Family Papers"
Mss. 2471, 2499, Inventory, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, Special Collections, Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University Libraries, Baton Rouge,

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, page 4. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, he was a physician in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

and served in camps near Vicksburg and Port Hudson. He was assigned with improving the sanitary conditions for the soldiers.

Slavery

The Medical Association of Louisiana charged Cartwright with investigating "the diseases and physical peculiarities of the negro race". His report was delivered as a speech at its annual meeting on March 12, 1851, and published in its journal. The most sensationalistic portions of it, on drapetomania and dysaesthesia aethiopica, were reprinted in '' DeBow's Review''. He subsequently prepared an abbreviated version, with sources cited, for ''Southern Medical Reports''. "If they nonetheless became dissatisfied with their condition, they should be whipped to prevent them from running away." In describing his theory and cure for drapetomania, Cartwright relied on passages of Christian scripture dealing with slavery. Furthermore, Cartwright described the condition of 'genu fluxit', in which slaves exacted awe and reverence towards their master. The condition could be lost though if masters were to treat their slaves overly harshly and deny basic privileges. Rather than just arguing to treat slaves negatively overall, he desired to treat slaves somewhere in the middle, similar to how one would treat a child. Cartwright also invented another 'disorder', '' dysaesthesia aethiopica'', a disease "affecting both mind and body." Cartwright used his theory to explain the perceived lack of work ethic among slaves. Dysaesthesia aethiopica, "called by overseers 'rascality'," was characterized by partial insensitivity of the skin and "so great a hebetude of the intellectual faculties, as to be like a person half asleep." Other symptoms included "lesions of the body discoverable to the medical observer, which are always present and sufficient to account for the symptoms." According to Cartwright, dysaesthesia aethiopica was "much more prevalent among free negroes living in clusters by themselves, than among slaves on our plantations, and attacks only such slaves as live like free negroes in regard to diet, drinks, exercise, etc." — indeed, according to Cartwright, "nearly all ree negroesare more or less afflicted with it, that have not got some white person to direct and to take care of them."

Cultural depictions

*Cartwright was referenced in the 2004 film '' C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America''. In the film, after the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

wins the

, Cartwright's work forms the basis for the fictional ''Cartwright Institute for Freedom Illnesses'', a medical school incorporating his theory on drapetomania and other "negro peculiarities". *Cartwright is also portrayed in the 1971 Mondo exploitation film '' Goodbye Uncle Tom'' alongside many other figures from the time. Notably, Cartwright is stated to be

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in the film, which he was not in reality. *Cartwright is mentioned and appears, along with other historical personalities, in Season 7 of the series

Outlander_(TV_series) ''Outlander'' is a historical drama television series based on the book series of the same name by Diana Gabaldon. Developed by Ronald D. Moore, the show premiered on August 9, 2014, on Starz. It stars Caitríona Balfe as Claire Randall, ...

, based on the books by Diana Gabaldon.

Publications

* * * * *

References

Citations

Sources

*
Samuel Adolphus Cartwright
, ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'', Vol. 1 (1988), p. 157 *''Dictionary of American Medical Biography", Vol. 1 (1984) * * * * * Mary Louise Marshall, "Samuel A. Cartwright and States' Rights Medicine," New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, XC (1940–1941).

External links

Drapetomania
the original article as printed in ''The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal''. (

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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, Samuel A. 1793 births 1863 deaths Writers from New Orleans People from Fairfax County, Virginia Confederate States Army surgeons 19th-century American writers People from Huntsville, Alabama American proslavery activists People from Natchez, Mississippi Proponents of scientific racism People of Louisiana in the American Civil War Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Activists from Alabama American slave owners