Physical Health Problems Of Malnutrition

During the 19th century, medicine was not very advanced, and when it came to treating slaves, the treatments were even less developed. Slaves were viewed as property during the 1800’s, causing the healthcare of the slaves to be considerably less advantageous than that of their slaveholders. Slaves often lived and worked in unhealthy environments, resulting in a greater susceptibility to disease (“In the Letters Written by Slave Owners”). Many slaves were overworked, malnourished, and left to drink excrement infested water. With little access to physicians, slaves frequently treated one another back to health. When slaves would treat one another, they would more than likely use herbal remedies. These herbal remedies included, “snakeroot, mayapple, red pepper, boneset, pine needles, comfrey, and red oak bark” (“Slave Medicine”). If slaves were not being treated by one of their own, “the responsibility for the health of slaves often fell to

Slaves were packed below decks of ships, and men were chained up because they were known to be more stronger. Sickness and diseases spread easily because of the filth and heat. African Americans Impacted our country greatly when they were brought here. One important thing they brought was knowledge of land civilizations. They knew how to grow rice, harvest navel and tend to the cattle.

Antebellum south had many issues, but one of the most pervasive of the time was the wide spread of disease and insufficient medical treatments. During that time the most widespread diseases included yellow fever, cholera, smallpox and malaria these diseases had almost a sixty percent mortality rate (“Antebellum Louisiana 1: Disease, Death and Mourning” ). Although medical advances and science were minimal there were attempts and different practices in attempt to heal the sick. Methods of treatment included different techniques, some dabbled with herbs, others bleed and other yet relied on ancestor and religious spirits. Slave owners did not seek physician treatment for slaves unusually it was dire thus leading to the slave community taking

According to our textbook, the mortality rate on slave ships was varied quite a bit. It was usually only around 15%, but sometimes was so high that by the time the ships reached their intended destination, half or more of the slaves aboard the ship were dead (Roark, Johnson and Cohen, The Atlantic Slave Trade and the Growth of Slavery). According to Olaudah Equiano 's autobiography, this was due to a number of things. First, the living conditions on the slave ships was horrendous and as a result many slaves either got sick or contracted diseases. This was a big problem because European slave traders would pack the slaves into very small holds on the ship which resulted in overcrowding. This coupled with the hot weather these ships operated resulted in the illnesses and diseases spreading faster which caused many slaves to die quite rapidly. The second reason for the high mortality rate of slave ships was due to the fact that many slaves killed themselves trying to escape. Slaves frequently tried to escape the ship by jumping off the ship into the water. The problem was that many slaves did

From Alexander Falconbridge, a doctor who served on the British slave ships, “They are frequently stowed so close, they can only lie on their sides… The exclusion of the fresh air is among the least tolerable,,, the floor of their rooms was so covered with blood and mucus because of the flux, that it resembled a slaughter-house” (Doc C). This document describes the heinous conditions that these slaves stayed in. Considering that this is coming from a doctor of the ships, you could look at this as a reliable source. A doctor has no reason to lie about the state of a ship, and even in the same document there’s a comment on how doctors wouldn’t work there if they didn’t need the money. So there may be a chance for bias, but it is highly unlikely. You can find many documents talking about it, but there’s one document that shares a different perspective. According to Thomas Phillips, a captain of one these slaves ships, “There happened such sickening and mortality among my poor men and Negroes. Of the first we buried 14, and of the last 320… The

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was “responsible for the forced migration of between 12 - 15 million people from Africa to the Western Hemisphere from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 19th century.” (Edser). Slaves from Africa, that were transported through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, were captured or purchased, held in confinement for months, and then shipped on large cargo vessels, where they ran the risk of acquiring multiple diseases, scurvy, and malnutrition. These people were not treated like humans, but instead animals. They were naked, shackled together with chains, stored on the floors with little to no room to move because of the stuffed conditions. With these horrid conditions, which lasted a few months, there would be no surprise that when their freedom became lessened, their natural reaction was to

When the convicts came from Britain, they brought many diseases with them. During the convicts’ time on the First Fleet, many

Slave masters used to whip slaves, starve them to death, prevent them from having human living conditions, and treat them like they were cattle. The slave's children were born into a world with no future or hope. Lack of good nutrition, poor living conditions and hygine contributed to the spread of disease. Imagine sick children dying while their parents could not call any doctor to help save them. While the slaves were suffering, the plantation owners and traders were enjoying their increasing wealth. Here is a picture of the slave

Many slaves worked in very unsanitary areas with many illnesses spreading around from place to place. Very few had a good percentage of surviving these rough conditions (“Diseases…”). Some even

Slaves are often exposed to difficult working conditions and even deadly locations just to clear a swamp, a land and even forests. In this case, the slaves are also exposed to deadly animals, malaria, dengue and other diseases. The life span for female slaves is relatively shorter than male slaves because illnesses and diseases are passed on from one person to another.

Since many slaves were forced to work during hot and humid summer days without any proper care, food, and clothing this caused them to be prone to illness. Sicknesses such as yellow fever, malaria, and many other diseases caused the deaths of many slaves working on plantations. The alarming amount of wide spread disease was a big fear amongst plantation workers because many slaves were scared that they too would catch something and die due to the lack of medications and care. For slave owners the lives of slaves held no true value and were not viewed as equals to the white race, as Marie St Claire, a slave owner states in Uncle Tomes Cabin when she says, “putting them on any sort of equality with us, you know, as if we could be compared, why, it' impossible!“ (151). Slaves were left to fend for themselves, unattained to their needs any slaves watched others die right in front of their very own eyes.

Slave like conditions - Many victims are forced to live in deplorable conditions; becoming malnourished from lack of proper nutrients/unhealthy diet.

Slaves suffered some bad conditions that I personally would never want to suffer through. Their diets were horrible, and were barely enough for them to survive considering their workload. They lived in slums that left them susceptible to bad weather and health conditions. These factors together made some slaves ill. They did not normally receive treatment for these illnesses either. They would also be forced to do work while sick. Not just that, but they also had the threat of sale looming over their heads all of the time. Even if they had one of the "nicer" type of masters, they knew if the farm came under financial difficulty that they could find themselves out on the auction block.

If the slaves survived the crossing, they expected an uncertain fate on the sugar cane fields of the Caribbean, the tobacco plantations of Virginia or the rice fields of South Carolina. When the slave ships reached the American colonies and bases, the slaves were refreshed by the ship's physician. The slaves were allotted with vitamin-rich food, hair and beard were cut, and the bodies were rubbed with palm oil. Wounds and physical blemishes were overpainted, a process called bleaching. There were basically three areas where slaves were sold. First, ritual slavery, that is, slaves used in agriculture and plantation management. Secondly, urban slavery, that is, slaves forced to work in the household, in crafts, in port and in the transport industry.

Slaves in North and South America could be identified by their skin colour, which led to racism. The conditions on the slave traders’ ships were very unhealthy and cruel, leading to the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of the slaves that were transported across the Atlantic. Just like convicts and free settlers, slaves developed new creoles and accents during the long periods of time spent together with people with unfamiliar languages and cultures on the ships.