Exactly, and to suppose that an educated, cultured and abnormally hygienic
man of Jefferson's stature hung out in the slave quarters to satisfy some
middle-aged sexual urge is ridiculous on its face, at least to another educated,
cultured, middle-aged hygienic man.
J.D. Southmayd
_www.southmayd.net_ (http://www.southmayd.net) is my web site.
In a message dated 5/15/2008 3:39:03 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Jeffrey --
I am well aware of the appalling hygiene and diseases of slaves in
the 18th century, but that is hardly the limit. As I have written
elsewhere I think one of the things that brought Franklin and
Jefferson together was their personal cleanliness, which was notable
in an age when even the wealthy stank. Going to a gathering even of
the mighty must have been like sticking one's head in the laundry of
a basketball team after the game. Franklin who, to me, is the most
interesting of all the Founders was, at one point reputed to be the
only man in Philadelphia who bathed daily, and certainly one of the
very few who actually had a purpose built bathtub. Slaves, being at
the bottom of the social hierarchy naturally got the least, and
suffered the most. But disease and death were commonplace whatever
one's rank. Just look at the number of 18th century planters who had
multiple wives, because so many women died in childbirth. The common
state of hygiene in the colonies was far worse, and the medical
options less, than would have been found in a comparable setting in
the Roman empire.
-- Stephan
On 15 May 2008, at 13:41, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Stephan;
>
> I am not sure that you found offensive about my post. Perhaps you
> should
> read the following on slave hygiene to get a better feel for my
> point vis-a-vis
> Mr. Jefferson and Ms. Hemmings:
>
>
> The Health of Slaves on Southern Plantations (Louisiana State
> University
> studies) by William Dosite Postell; and
>
>
> (http://www.amazon.com/This-Species-Property-Culture-Galaxy/dp/
> 0195022459/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210873126&sr=8-31) This
> Species of Property:
> Slave Life and Culture in the Old South (Galaxy Books) by Leslie
> Howard Owens;
> and
>
>
>
>
> Medicine and Slavery: The Diseases and Health Care of Blacks in
> Antebellum
> Virginia (Blacks in the New World) by Todd L. Savitt.
>
>
> J.D. Southmayd
> a/k/a J South
>
>
>
>
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