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Medicating Slavery: Motherhood, Health Care, and Cultural Practices in the African Diaspora

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Medicating Slavery: Motherhood, Health Care, and Cultural Practices in the African Diaspora W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2005 Medicating slavery: Motherhood, health care, and cultural practices in the African diaspora Ywone Edwards-Ingram College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the African History Commons, American Studies Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Edwards-Ingram, Ywone, "Medicating slavery: Motherhood, health care, and cultural practices in the African diaspora" (2005). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623482. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-sncj-bn72 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. ® UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with with permission permission of the of copyright the copyright owner. owner.Further reproductionFurther reproduction prohibited without prohibited permission. without permission. MEDICATING SLAVERY: MOTHERHOOD, HEALTH CARE, AND CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the American Studies Program The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Ywone Edwards-Ingram 2005 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy XL wone Edwards-Ingr Approved by the Committee, September 2004 Grey Gupdaker, Chair m / L ./ /v MarieyRT Brown Chandos M. Brown Brad L. Weiss L. Daniel Mouer Virginia Commonwealth University ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To Family, Friends, and Well-wishers 111 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................ vi List of Tables................................................................................................................vii List of Figures............................................................................................................ viii Abstract..........................................................................................................................ix Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2 The Scenario ....................................................................................................... 2 The Multi-level Approach...............................................................................14 The Interpretive Approach ............................................................................. 17 The Historical Evidence .................................................................................. 21 Archaeological Studies....................................................................................25 Chapter One: Overviews ............................................................................................ 33 “Folk” Medicine and Well-being Practices in the Diaspora ......................33 The Virginia Situation .....................................................................................46 Plants and their Usage ....................................................................................54 Chapter Two: The Interplay of Race and Gender in Virginia ............................... 64 The Bases of Social Differentiation ............................................................... 64 Motherhood and Childcare ............................................................................ 84 Enslaved Women: Reproduction and Production .......................................96 Wrestling with Enslaved Mothers: The Enslavers’ Dilemma or Whose Fight was it Anyway?.................................................................104 Chapter Three: The Interplay of Race, Gender, and Time in Nurturing ............117 Breastfeeding and N ursing............................................................................117 Nurturing the Enslaved ................................................................................. 126 Foods and Social Relations ...........................................................................135 Chapter Four: Slave Quarters, Gardens, and Plants .............................................152 Slave Quarters: Implications for Health and Well-being ......................... 152 Gardens and Plant Use ...................................................................................161 New Contributions to the Analysis ..............................................................169 The Archaeobotanical Analysis.....................................................................177 Plants and Punishment ................................................................................. 183 Things from Plant Materials .........................................................................185 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter Five: Medicating Slavery: A Medley of Materials and Deeds in the Diaspora ...............................................................................................188 A Multivariate Medicinal Practice ...............................................................188 Enclosing and Endowing Power ..................................................................201 The Symbolic Use of Colors and Cloths......................................................207 The Symbolic Use of Plants..........................................................................211 The Number N ine ..........................................................................................213 Mortuary Practices: Solidarities and Contentions .................................... 217 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 227 Appendices Appendix A: Notes on the Three Slave Quarters .......................................232 Appendix B: Archaeobotanical Analysis .....................................................237 References Repositories: Manuscripts ............................................................................241 Repositories: Inventories, Artifacts, and Other Archaeological Data 241 Published and Unpublished Primary Sources ........................................... 241 Published and Unpublished Secondary Sources .......................................248 V ita..............................................................................................................................269 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have always had a “community” of interests. But more fortunately, I have always had a community of people who are interested in me. Grey Gundaker, my dissertation advisor and a prominent member of “my community,” has worked tirelessly and relentlessly to guide this dissertation; I am very grateful to her for displaying wisdom and strength. Special thanks to my other committee members, Marley Brown, Chandos Brown, Brad Weiss, and L. Daniel Mouer, for their many suggestions that have improved my work. Marley Brown deserved additional praise for his unwavering support over the years. I am very grateful to my co-worker Gregory Brown, of the Department of Archaeological Research of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, Virginia, for his help in formatting and editing this manuscript. He was indispensable as he dealt with technical matters, on several occasions, with speed and precision. Several other members of this Department, including Heather Harvey (she supplied the digitized maps), Joanne Bowen, Andrew Edwards, Stephen Atkins, Stephen Archer, Kelly Ladd, Tom Goyens, Marie Lopez, and Meredith Poole, offered encouragement and assistance. Other co­ workers Lorena Walsh, Linda Rowe, and Patricia Gibbs of the Department of Historical Research, supplied me with historical data and maintained an avid interest in my work. Jane McKinney of the Anthropology Department of the College of William and Mary helped in copy-editing the dissertation and also offered useful suggestions. Family members, both in the United States and in Jamaica, shared in the ups and downs of the dissertation process. They took the time to care and offered their love and support. My husband, James Ingram, has been a tower of strength and steadfast in helping me to realize my goal. He has always encouraged me to keep on track, even in the toughest times. My cheerleader and daughter, Taysha (Sammy), performed her “I know you can do it” routine to keep me on track. I suspect that she enjoyed doing this as a role reversal tactic for the many times I have given her a similar
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