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9780801886966 Academic Inspection Copy

Intensely Human

The Health of the Black Soldier in the American Civil War
  • ISBN-13: 9780801886966
  • Publisher: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS
    Imprint: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS
  • By Margaret Humphreys
  • Price: AUD $102.00
  • Stock: 0 in stock
  • Availability: This book is temporarily out of stock, order will be despatched as soon as fresh stock is received.
  • Local release date: 14/05/2008
  • Format: Hardback 224 pages Weight: 0g
  • Categories: History of medicine [MBX]
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Black soldiers in the American Civil War were far more likely to die of disease than were white soldiers. In Intensely Human, 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.

Preface1. The Black Body at War2. The Pride of True Manhood3. Biology and Destiny4. Medical Care5. Region, Disease, and the Vulnerable Recruit6. Louisiana7. Death on the Rio Grande8. Telling the StoryEpilogueNotesIndex

""Mary Humphreys has written a thoroughly researched and intrinsically valuable study which is assured to enrich knowledge and understanding of the racialized nature of Civil War treatment.""

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