Courageous Freedom Seekers were said to have contracted a disease... Drapetomania!

The Gist of Freedom is pleased to present author Dr. William Katz!

According to Cartwright, the illness resulted from masters who “made themselves too familiar with [slaves], treating them as equals” and prescribed “whipping the devil out of them” as a “preventative measure.” In his work, Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race, Cartwright’s justification for drapetomania is primarily Biblical, citing the idea that slaves must obey their masters