Medical Care in Chattel Slavery

Class 3 in Intro to Black Herbalism Praxis 101. Understanding the treatment, common pathologies, and landscape that served as the foundation for Black herbalism and intracommunity care.

Housekeeping: If reading text is not your thing, you’ll always find an audio recording of the lesson text at the bottom of the page. All lessons within this course are under copyright.

Blue Mass Pills. Man.

We’ve arrived to the nitty gritty! By now, you’ve likely done a little reading ahead (if you haven’t that is okay) and learned some things about the conditions in which we started to develop our own medical care.

We are starting with the care developed during chattel slavery in the United States as a reminder that this class is an examination of Black herbalism as developed in the United States specifically, not forgetting that the story could be similar in other parts of the diaspora. The period in question is largely between 1619 and 1860 with an emphasis on the 18th and 19th centuries.

We will also be keeping in mind the tools and knowledge of herbalism brought with us as well: our mission is two-fold. This brings to mind for me a quote by James Baldwin, you know the one. “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious…” however, the full quote deserves a spot here:

To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost, almost all of the time — and in one's work. And part of the rage is this: It isn't only what is happening to you. But it's what's happening all around you and all of the time in the face of the most extraordinary and criminal indifference, indifference of most white people in this country, and their ignorance. Now, since this is so, it's a great temptation to simplify the issues under the illusion that if you simplify them enough, people will recognize them. I think this illusion is very dangerous because, in fact, it isn't the way it works. A complex thing can't be made simple. You simply have to try to deal with it in all its complexity and hope to get that complexity across. - James Baldwin, 1961, Radio Interview

I feel like this class is a great deal of trying to get the complexity across. The complexity of the Black American experience is one very unique to us and almost always under attack. Considering that it is 2025 and this is still the story, imagine chattel slavery. With that, let’s dive into what was happening pathologically and medically.