title: Mortality in the slave and white populations of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, 1850.
abstract: A review of mortality from the 1850 census mortality schedules of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana has provided a snapshot of the health conditions of African-American slaves. The cause of death was abstracted from the mortality schedule and categorized according to the ninth revision of the Manual of the International Classification of Diseases. Children under the age of 9 accounted for 44% of the total mortality. Sixty-four percent of all deaths recorded occurred in the slave population. Sixty-two percent of the slave deaths occurred in the male population. Leading causes of death were helminthiasis, whooping cough, fever, cholera, and pneumonia. Reports of mortality due to Cachexia Africana (dirt eating) among slaves are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Policy Studies, University of Texas School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: René
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: F I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000266:history*; D002423:Cause of Death; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000266:history / Q000401:mortality; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D012924:Social Conditions / Q000266:history; D044465:White People / Q000266:history