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A review by alchemistra
The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation by Daina Ramey Berry
4.0
The basic premise of this book describes how humans were viewed as literal chattel during the slave trade in the Americas. As such, the book describes acts that can only be described as grotesque and abhorrent in today's day and age. Back when I read the book, there were a few quotations or sections of the book that stuck out to me, where I felt the need to pause and flesh out my own thoughts on the matter. Below are these compiled (and edited and clarified) thoughts. As such, this will be less of a review and more of the reflections that I had when I read the book.
~
Cultivating a corpse: "[S]ome early American physicians did part of their training in Europe, where members of the upper-class elite killed and dissected poor citizens who had few legal avenues of protection."
This sentence is shorthand for "murder," if that wasn't already clear. As everyone knows, doctors are supposed to treat ill people and try to maintain their health, Hippocrates oath and all. They're obviously not supposed to go around slaughtering them. This incongruity can be further characterized when you see that medical students willingly (some, even with their own hands) began illegally obtaining cadavers, eagerly anticipating deaths by execution to obtain them. While I understand the necessity for dissection and learning the anatomy of the human body, and the lack of avenues for doing so, such behavior is still appalling and particularly inhumane for a specialty dedicated to preserving humanity and saving people. That top tier medical schools all over the United States relied on such a trade exposes a deep, festering sore in the history of American medicine. How can institutions so reliant on and with such firm foundations in an ignominious institution like slavery, be the cornerstone, the supposed hallmark of compassion and learning?
Something else this book shows is how fundamental slavery was, not just to enslavers, but to all of American society as well. Americans were dependent on slaves agriculturally, from their food to the clothing on their backs. American doctors, professors, etc.--virtually every non-abolitionist southerner with any say in government and/or prestige and power owned slaves. The enslaved cooked, they were janitors, some even were skilled at certain trades. All of this generated profits and revenue. But for whom? Certainly not the enslaved, who did not receive any recompense for anything they toiled for. Instead, the benefit was for the free Americans, and more specifically, the wealthy white American men controlling everything.
Valuation of elderly adults in life: "In 1850, blacks lived an average of 21.4 years, compared to whites, who lived about 25.5 years"
This quote is a little bit random in that it's less relevant to the actual book, and more so a personal gripe I have. I see this type of statistic everywhere. I really do want to clarify to anyone who sees this statistic--this does not mean that most people didn't live over the age of thirty during this time, which is the definition that used to be handed to us students by our primary and secondary teachers. Those who passed the age of five were likely to reach to old age, reaching their 60s (and sometimes even older). However, infant mortality rates, childbirth, death rates from illness, war, etc. lowered the average age so significantly it appears that most people would drop dead after reaching their 20s. Children were most susceptible to infectious diseases, hence the low rates of life expectancy. Another common reason involves infant and maternal mortality rates during childbirth, which were (and still are, in many places) one of the most prolific killers of mankind. Apart from that, most people who survived childhood tended to live beyond 21. To address the actual quote, inherent in this statistic is the inequity that blacks (free or enslaved) dealt with compared to whites (poor or wealthy).
In terms of monetary valuation, slavery always impacted the genders of the enslaved differently. For one, women were almost always consistently valued less, at every stage of their life. Even when women were at their prime, they would consistently be valued hundreds of dollars fewer than men. Women could be seen as either a liability or an advantage, depending on the enslaver. Enslavers who didn't want "breeding" women considered them to be hassles and sold them. Enslavers who wanted to expand their numbers of slaves oftentimes wished to do so domestically. This would mean making American slave women "breed" oftentimes forcibly, as slave men and women didn't have any agency in regards to having children. Of course, having a high value as a slave is not some sort of accolade by any means, but it certainly goes to show how misogyny seeped into every corner of life.
While enslaved men and women were affected differently by slavery, their experiences represent a conscious, deliberate effort as to how best to rob their humanity. For women, it was by forcing them to sever ties with their own blood, those who they had themselves given birth to, nursed, and helped raise. It was by raping, assaulting, and by enslavers imposing themselves sexually to render mute these women, to show they had no power in any single facet of their lives. Not over rearing their children, nor over their own bodies. This does not mean men were not affected by sexual violence. Some men, too, faced rape and sexual assault. Others, when protesting or trying to prevent the rape or assault of their female loved ones, suffered as a result. They were executed, murdered, mutilated, lashed, beaten--all sorts of humiliating, degrading tortures were inflicted upon them. Of course, when the women tried standing up for themselves, they would meet the same gruesome ends. One instance depicted in the book describes the attempts of the lady who killed her continual rapist. No slave could fully escape from these traumas dispensed on them; their psyches were permanently scarred.
Ultimately, the book is yet another proof of how the institution of slavery in America robbed the humanity of all those involved. It's something thatis should have been antithetical to American values. This whole "all men are created equal" creed that we hear about all the time? Doesn't seem like it was an aphorism that was truly held by so many of those who loudly proclaimed these words, unfortunately. Even the Founders, the very same people who penned such stirring sentiments, exposed their hypocrisy by allowing slavery to continue. In the end, slavery was a system that wrought havoc on all those involved. The slaves and many of their descendants experienced unfathomable cruelty and pain, alongside everything else I've mentioned above, and much that no one can ever put to words. It's a ridiculously long stretch of blight in our histories, one that continues to have ramifications. The degradation of these people was thorough, it was complete.
~
Cultivating a corpse: "[S]ome early American physicians did part of their training in Europe, where members of the upper-class elite killed and dissected poor citizens who had few legal avenues of protection."
This sentence is shorthand for "murder," if that wasn't already clear. As everyone knows, doctors are supposed to treat ill people and try to maintain their health, Hippocrates oath and all. They're obviously not supposed to go around slaughtering them. This incongruity can be further characterized when you see that medical students willingly (some, even with their own hands) began illegally obtaining cadavers, eagerly anticipating deaths by execution to obtain them. While I understand the necessity for dissection and learning the anatomy of the human body, and the lack of avenues for doing so, such behavior is still appalling and particularly inhumane for a specialty dedicated to preserving humanity and saving people. That top tier medical schools all over the United States relied on such a trade exposes a deep, festering sore in the history of American medicine. How can institutions so reliant on and with such firm foundations in an ignominious institution like slavery, be the cornerstone, the supposed hallmark of compassion and learning?
Something else this book shows is how fundamental slavery was, not just to enslavers, but to all of American society as well. Americans were dependent on slaves agriculturally, from their food to the clothing on their backs. American doctors, professors, etc.--virtually every non-abolitionist southerner with any say in government and/or prestige and power owned slaves. The enslaved cooked, they were janitors, some even were skilled at certain trades. All of this generated profits and revenue. But for whom? Certainly not the enslaved, who did not receive any recompense for anything they toiled for. Instead, the benefit was for the free Americans, and more specifically, the wealthy white American men controlling everything.
Valuation of elderly adults in life: "In 1850, blacks lived an average of 21.4 years, compared to whites, who lived about 25.5 years"
This quote is a little bit random in that it's less relevant to the actual book, and more so a personal gripe I have. I see this type of statistic everywhere. I really do want to clarify to anyone who sees this statistic--this does not mean that most people didn't live over the age of thirty during this time, which is the definition that used to be handed to us students by our primary and secondary teachers. Those who passed the age of five were likely to reach to old age, reaching their 60s (and sometimes even older). However, infant mortality rates, childbirth, death rates from illness, war, etc. lowered the average age so significantly it appears that most people would drop dead after reaching their 20s. Children were most susceptible to infectious diseases, hence the low rates of life expectancy. Another common reason involves infant and maternal mortality rates during childbirth, which were (and still are, in many places) one of the most prolific killers of mankind. Apart from that, most people who survived childhood tended to live beyond 21. To address the actual quote, inherent in this statistic is the inequity that blacks (free or enslaved) dealt with compared to whites (poor or wealthy).
In terms of monetary valuation, slavery always impacted the genders of the enslaved differently. For one, women were almost always consistently valued less, at every stage of their life. Even when women were at their prime, they would consistently be valued hundreds of dollars fewer than men. Women could be seen as either a liability or an advantage, depending on the enslaver. Enslavers who didn't want "breeding" women considered them to be hassles and sold them. Enslavers who wanted to expand their numbers of slaves oftentimes wished to do so domestically. This would mean making American slave women "breed" oftentimes forcibly, as slave men and women didn't have any agency in regards to having children. Of course, having a high value as a slave is not some sort of accolade by any means, but it certainly goes to show how misogyny seeped into every corner of life.
While enslaved men and women were affected differently by slavery, their experiences represent a conscious, deliberate effort as to how best to rob their humanity. For women, it was by forcing them to sever ties with their own blood, those who they had themselves given birth to, nursed, and helped raise. It was by raping, assaulting, and by enslavers imposing themselves sexually to render mute these women, to show they had no power in any single facet of their lives. Not over rearing their children, nor over their own bodies. This does not mean men were not affected by sexual violence. Some men, too, faced rape and sexual assault. Others, when protesting or trying to prevent the rape or assault of their female loved ones, suffered as a result. They were executed, murdered, mutilated, lashed, beaten--all sorts of humiliating, degrading tortures were inflicted upon them. Of course, when the women tried standing up for themselves, they would meet the same gruesome ends. One instance depicted in the book describes the attempts of the lady who killed her continual rapist. No slave could fully escape from these traumas dispensed on them; their psyches were permanently scarred.
Ultimately, the book is yet another proof of how the institution of slavery in America robbed the humanity of all those involved. It's something that