TP ,
The Conservative *
FREEDOM AND THE NEGRO.
Dr. J. Addisou Hodges , of Richmond ,
Virginia , read a paper before the Amer
ican Medico-Psychological association ,
last week upon the subject "The Effect
of Freedom upon the Physical and
Psychological Development of the
Negro. " The following is the address in
part :
Naturally , in the investigation of the
racial history and tendencies of this
people , there must be much of interest
to enchain the attention of the student
of sociology aud political history , but ,
relegating to others the task of discuss
ing the many vexed questions embraced
in the so called negro problem , the
alienist and student of scientific medi
cine may well inquire with me : What
Has Beeii the Effect of Freedom Upon
the Physical and Psychological Develop
ment of the Negroes of the South ?
Has it been damaging or otherwise ?
Has the negro since emancipation , the
critical and epochal period of his history ,
improved his physical health and men
tal and moral condition , or has he re
trograded both physically and mentally ?
Nepro of the Past.
To answer this question intelligently
and authoritatively , it is necessary to
know accurately the health of the negro
prior to emancipation , and , also , some
thing of his mode of life , as well as
something of his natural and inherited
tendencies. Indeed , it is doubtful , says
Dr. Miller , if any race of men 'ever
lived under better hygienic restraints , or
had governing their lives , rules and reg
ulations more conducive to physical
health and mental repose. Their habits
of life were regular , their food and
clothing were substantial and sufficient
as a rule , and the edict of their masters
restrained them from promiscuous ex
cesses and the baneful influences of un
restricted indulgences. '
Under these environments the negro
'had no thought for the morrow'nor
did the claims of family and household
press upon him to worry and affect his
mind ; neither did avaricious dreams nor
ambitions hopes as to the possibilities of
the future stir his brain , but 'secluded
from the madding crowds ignoble strife , '
he spent his quiet and peaceful days , an
humble life in an humble home , with a
master to care for every want of self
and family , and in health and in sick
ness. '
The negroes , unadulterated with alien
blood , had no heredity of disease , and to
some extent were considered immune to
the climatic diseases of the South , and
thus under the restraining and inhibitory
influences of the institution of slavery ,
they developed into magnificent speci
mens of physical manhood.
Trail M of Character.
Independence of thought and action
with them was more theoretical than
practical ; they were accustomed to obey
the dictates of their owners , whatever
those dictates may have been ; privation
and want those frequent causes of de
generacy were unknown to them ; their
environment , it is true , was narrow ;
but a marvellous attachment to the fam
ilies of their masters prevailed , because
of a general sense of obligation to the
latter for their sustenance These con
ditions of life , and the resultant traits
of character that were formed , were
largely the conservators of that healthfulness -
fulness of mind and body which char
acterized the negro slave.
Certain of the diseases which are now
the bane of the negro's existence was
then comparatively unknown , and this
is notably true of insanity and tuber
culosis. According to the testimony of
travellers and natives , consumption and
mental disease are almost unknown
among the savage tribes of Africa.
Among the slaves of the southern states ,
also , these diseases appear to have been
conspicuously rare according to the ex
perience of individual observers. In
fact , there are many intelligent people
of competent authority and of full ac
quaintance with the negro , who unhesi
tatingly state that they never saw a con
sumptive or insane negro of unmixed
blood in the south prior to emancipation.
This fact I believe to be so well estab
lished , although owing to the lack of
authoritative statistics taken at that
time , it cannot be verified by actual
figures , that I will not add to this dis
cussion by the introduction of addition
al personal testimony to this effect , but
will enquire what is and has been the
history of the negro as to these diseases ,
insanity and consumption , since emanci
pation.
Abundant testimony from , reliable
sources is not wanting to establish the
fact that negroes now no longer enjoy
immunity from these maladies , but that
they are dying much more rapidly from
them than the whites.
Increase of IiiBiuiity.
No one in this day places a too implicit
confidence in statistics , and in the
figures that I shall cite they have only a
relative significance , but as a just com
parison between the whites and the
blacks in the different census enumera
tions , they have a reconciled value , and
show unmistakably that brain diseases
have become more common in the ne
groes as compared with the whites.
In speaking of the increase of insanity
in the colored population of Georgia , Dr.
Powell , superintendent of the Georgia
Lunatic Asylum , makes the following
comments : 'There has been a radical
change in the susceptibility to certain
diseases , notably insanity , phthisis and
similar maladies in this class of our pop
ulation , from which they were almost
entirely exempt up to 1867. The census
of 1800 will show that there were only
44 insane negroes in the state of Georgia ,
or one insane negro to every 10,584 of
the population , and consumption in the
full blooded negro was rarely seen. The
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census of 1870 shows 129-insane negroes
in this state , or one to every 4,225 of the
population. The census of 1880 gives
411 colored insane , or one to every 1,704
of the population ; while in 1890 there
were 910 colored insane , or one to every
948 of the population. '
By other authorities it has been
claimed that the increase of insanity
among the negroes in Virginia has been
for 25 years at the rate of 100 , or more ,
per cent , every ten years.
As a summary of the foregoing , it
may be briefly stated that "in the re
turns from death from consumption in
the last five years , the colored death rate
is very nearly triple that of the whites , "
and that the increase in insanity among
the negroes now nearly approximates
that of the whites , this alarming in
crease in the former being especially
notable , if we remember that in one
hospital in this state at present there are
105 more insane negroes than there were
in the entire United States in 1860. The
testimony that has been adduced , then ,
appears to me ample and conclusive as
to the following points : (1) ( ) That in
sanity and consumption were compara
tively infrequent in the negro race be
fore the war ; (2) ( that both of these
diseases have disproportionately in
creased in the same race since the war ;
(3) ( ) that the causes that give rise to one
of these diseases also produce the other ,
and (4) ( ) that the negro race is especially
liable to certain forms of nervous dis
eases. The question now naturally
arises , what is the cause for this rapid
and remarkable transformation in the
health of these people during the short
period of three decades ? Why should
insanity and consumption develop side
by side , and at an equal pace ? Have
the changes in the environments of the
negro had aught to do with this state of
things , or , in other words , what is the
relation of freedom to these diseases ?
Laws of Slavery.
To arrive at a correct solution of these
questions , and to appreciate the effects
of the changed political and social re
lations , because of freedom , on the men
tal , moral and physical constitution of
the negro , it is necessary to know his
manner of life during the ante-bellum
and post-bellum periods of his history.
Up to 1865 it was to the interest of the
owners of Southern slaves not to allow
them to violate the laws of health ; there
fore , their hygienic surroundings were
carefully and cautiously guarded from
their youth through life. Their lives ,
from necessity , were regular and system
atic , and they were absolutely restrained
from all dissipation and excesses , and
when sick they promptly had from the
family physician the very best medical
attention and nursing , and were care
fully treated in every respect until pro
nounced fully restored by the physician.
Freedom came to him , and a change
came over his entire life. Freedom re-