« What Dangerous Men » : La pratique de la médecine sur l’île de la Dominique à la fin du xviiie siècle

• Main Author: Mélanie Cournil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Société d'Etudes Anglo-Américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles 2018-12-01
• Series: XVII-XVIII
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/1718/1333

In the 18th century the emergence of chattel slavery in the British West Indies attracted many colonists keen on starting a transatlantic career. Clerks, managers, overseers, accountants and other professionals swelled the ranks of those already benefiting from slave labour. Among these men, doctors held ambiguous positions as they provided care to slaves in an attempt to soften the destructive and debilitating effects of the plantation system. This article focuses on three Scottish doctors, who worked as colleagues in the sugar colony of Dominica in the 1790s. It will compare their different medical practices and study the impact of the slave system on their scientific approach and their personal motives. In so doing, it will expose the enduring violence of that colonial society.