Medicine, Science, and Making Race in Civil War America

by Leslie A. Schwalm

This social and cultural history of Civil War medicine and science sheds important light on the question of why and how anti-Black racism survived the destruction of slavery. During the war, white Northerners promoted ideas about Black inferiority under the guise of medical and scientific authority. In particular, the Sanitary Commission and Army medical personnel conducted wartime research aimed at proving Black medical and biological inferiority. They not only subjected Black soldiers and refugees from slavery to substandard health care but also scrutinized them as objects of study. This mistreatment of Black soldiers and civilians extended after life to include dissection, dismemberment, and disposal of the Black war dead in unmarked or mass graves and medical waste pits. Simultaneously, white medical and scientific investigators enhanced their professional standing by establishing their authority on the science of racial difference and hierarchy.  Drawing on archives of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, recollections of Civil War soldiers and medical workers, and testimonies from Black Americans, Leslie A. Schwalm exposes the racist ideas and practices that shaped wartime medicine and science. Painstakingly researched and accessibly written, this book helps readers understand the persistence of anti-Black racism and health disparities during and after the war.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Race

223 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 14, 2023

About the author

Dr. Schwalm is a social historian of 19th Century U.S. History at the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Iowa City, Iowa).
Academic profile: http://clas.uiowa.edu/history/people/...

Reviews

[Emmy M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read through this semi quickly for my research BUT... This was a very powerful read. I think that people forget the amount of racism that has been systematically added to medicine and science.

I thoroughly enjoyed the arguments around the survey aspect of the civil war and how they contributed to the rhetoric of white saviorism, and racialized ideology of health. They were well thought out arguments and very heavy with evidence to back it up

Overall I think that the atrocities committed by white northerners during the civil war is not talked about enough and this book does a great job remedying that.

[Jason S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and concise account of civil war medicine and the role that it played in using the bodies of African Americans for "race science" experiments, including mutilation of bodies and dissection instead of burial. A very detailed account using a wide variety of sources.