For the Health of the Enslaved
Slaves, Medicine and Power in the Danish West Indies, 1803-1848
Distributed for Museum Tusculanum Press
352 pages
|
7 color plates, 3 halftones, 5 maps, 40 tables
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6 3/8 x 9 1/2
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© 2012
- Contents
- Review Quotes
Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
Subject and Research Questions
Definitions
Methods and Structures
Hypotheses and Theories
The Source material
Historiography
Chapter 2: Context
Danish, British and French West Indian History, Geography and Ecology
Demography in West Indian Enslaved Populations
The Development of Western Medicine and the Health Service on St Croix
The Medicine of the Enslaved: Obeah and Herbs
Chapter 3: Diseases, Therapies, and Causes of Death
The Diseases of the Enslaved Workers and the Doctors’ Therapies
Seasonal Morbidity
Causes of Death among Enslaved Plantation Workers, 1842–47
Slave Laws and Health Factors
Chapter 4: Three Case Studies of the Health Policy of the Danish Colonial Administration
The Puzzle of Nutrition: Requirements, Rations, Crops and Natural Resources
Smallpox, Inoculation and Vaccination
Midwives, Obstetrics and Births
Chapter 5: Conclusion
The Medical World, Morbidity, and Mortality among the Enslaved Workers on St Croix
Appendix
List of figures, tables and calculations
Bibliography
Index
Chapter 1: Introduction
Subject and Research Questions
Definitions
Methods and Structures
Hypotheses and Theories
The Source material
Historiography
Chapter 2: Context
Danish, British and French West Indian History, Geography and Ecology
Demography in West Indian Enslaved Populations
The Development of Western Medicine and the Health Service on St Croix
The Medicine of the Enslaved: Obeah and Herbs
Chapter 3: Diseases, Therapies, and Causes of Death
The Diseases of the Enslaved Workers and the Doctors’ Therapies
Seasonal Morbidity
Causes of Death among Enslaved Plantation Workers, 1842–47
Slave Laws and Health Factors
Chapter 4: Three Case Studies of the Health Policy of the Danish Colonial Administration
The Puzzle of Nutrition: Requirements, Rations, Crops and Natural Resources
Smallpox, Inoculation and Vaccination
Midwives, Obstetrics and Births
Chapter 5: Conclusion
The Medical World, Morbidity, and Mortality among the Enslaved Workers on St Croix
Appendix
List of figures, tables and calculations
Bibliography
Index
Review Quotes
Justin Roberts | Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History
“Few scholars have the necessary language skills to explore sugar slavery in the Danish and Dutch West Indies. In For the Health of the Enslaved: Slaves, medicine and power in the Danish West Indies, 1803-1848, Niklas Thode Jensen offers us a rare opportunity to learn about aspects of sugar planting and its impact on the enslaved in St. Croix, the primary sugar island in the Danish West Indies.”
Karol K. Weaver | Bulletin of the History of Medicine
“Jensen succeeds in filling a tremendous gap in medical history and Caribbean history—namely, the state of health of the enslaved in the Danish West Indies. . . .[His] fine book will appeal to a variety of readers. Historians of medicine will find an excellent examination of slave health and colonial medicine. Scholars of the Caribbean will welcome this outstanding investigation into the medical world and disease environment of the Danish West Indies. Finally, students of slavery will appreciate Jensen’s investigation into the lives and deaths of enslaved workers in this part of the world.”
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