Dysaethesia aethiopica

Dysaethesia aethiopica was a term to describe a mental illness. It was believed to be why Afro-American slaves were lazy. American physician Samuel A. Cartwright described the condition in 1851. Today, dysaethesia aethiopica is considered an example of pseudoscience.^[1] Many people think it is an example of scientific racism.^[2]

Cartwright made a statement that the illness caused people to break everything they touched. They walked about as if they were in a daze, or half asleep. They often argued with people in charge and caused disturbances. They did not feel pain, and did not react when physically punished. It affected people who did not have white (or European) people to look after them.^[3]

References[change | change source]

↑ Mark Michael Smith (1997). Mastered by the Clock: Time, Slavery, and Freedom in the American South. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. p. 155. ISBN 0807846937. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
↑ Pilgrim, David (November 2005). "Question of the Month: Drapetomania". Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
↑ "Africans in America/Part 4/'Diseases and Peculiarities'". pbs.org. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 22 April 2011.

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[1] Mark Michael Smith (1997). Mastered by the Clock: Time, Slavery, and Freedom in the American South. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. p. 155. ISBN 0807846937. Retrieved 2007-10-07.

[2] Pilgrim, David (November 2005). "Question of the Month: Drapetomania". Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2007-10-04.

[3] "Africans in America/Part 4/'Diseases and Peculiarities'". pbs.org. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 22 April 2011.

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