“Fascinating yet sobering; this volume highlights the important role that social and political causes of poverty and poor living conditions; beyond the presence of infectious pathogens themselves; play in disease epidemics and high mortality.â€â€”Megan A. Perry; editor of Bioarchaeology and Behavior: The People of the Ancient Near East “Hutchinson effectively argues that disease is not an event but a process and then wonderfully illustrates how the interaction of culture and illness shaped the history of the eastern seaboard from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries.â€â€”Marie Danforth; University of Southern Mississippi Disease and discrimination are processes linked to class in the early American colonies. Many early colonists fell victim to mass sickness as Old and New World systems collided and new social; political; economic; and ecological dynamics allowed disease to spread. Dale Hutchinson argues that most colonists; slaves; servants; and nearby Native Americans suffered significant health risks due to their lower economic and social status. With examples ranging from indentured servitude in the Chesapeake to the housing and sewage systems of New York to the effects of conflict between European powers; Hutchinson posits that poverty and living conditions; more so than microbes; were often at the root of epidemics.
#69682 in Books University Press of Florida 2007-10-07Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.90 x 1.00 x 6.00l; 1.15 #File Name: 0813032148336 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. I saw this book on the shelf in the Voodoo Museum in New Orleans and it seemed like a good oneBy Fruzsi DankoI was in New Orleans for a few days and I became very interested in all the voodoo and the Marie Laveau legend from the brief descriptions that I heard from tour guides. I saw this book on the shelf in the Voodoo Museum in New Orleans and it seemed like a good one.After I read it; I can definitely say that is was worth every penny! It is based on actual facts (unlike a lot of the other books about Marie Laveau) found in records and in addition to all the facts I learnt about Marie Laveau it gives a great view of the history of New Orleans in general. I loved it; it was a great read!2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Great Book!!By Mark ThiesVery entertaining with tons of good info.The author really did some research!!2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. ... about a subject who has eluded some of the better historians of that era and areaBy Gw JonesVery interesting reading about a subject who has eluded some of the better historians of that era and area.
