Mellon Scholars Summer Program – Subject Guides
Herbalism as a form of Resistance, with mentions of Obeah
Overview:
Herbal medicine played an important role in the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants throughout the Caribbean and the United States. While often dismissed by colonial authorities as superstition or folk practice, herbalism represented a complex system of medical knowledge that drew from West African healing traditions and adapted to new environments in the Atlantic world. Through the use of medicinal plants, enslaved communities treated illness, assisted childbirth, and cared for both physical and spiritual well-being.
The sources in this guide demonstrate that herbalism was much more than a method of treating disease. Healers, midwives, and Obeah practitioners preserved and passed down knowledge that helped communities survive under slavery. In many cases, enslaved people trusted Black healers more than white physicians, whose treatments were often harsh and whose primary concern was maintaining the plantation labor force. At the same time, European doctors frequently relied on remedies and medical knowledge developed by enslaved people.
Herbal medicine also became a form of resistance. Enslaved women used plant-based remedies to manage their reproductive health, while spiritual healing traditions such as Obeah provided alternative sources of authority and community support outside colonial control. Together, these sources show how herbalism helped preserve culture, strengthen communities, and create spaces for autonomy within oppressive systems.
About the Author:
Aselah Davy is a rising sophomore at Swarthmore College with a strong passion for exploring Black history and culture. On campus, she works multiple jobs, including serving as an intern at the Black Cultural Center, working as a FLI intern, and tutoring students in the nearby Chester community. She is excited to be part of this program and hopes to deepen her understanding of topics connected to the Black experience and diaspora. In her free time, Aselah enjoys dancing, crocheting, and being adventurous by trying new things.
Keywords
Contributors:
- Rebecca Lee Crumpler
- Three fingered Jack
- Maroons
Subject Headings:
- African American herbalism
- Enslaved Herbalists
- Enslaved healers
- African – Herbal – Medicine
- Enslaved women — Health and hygiene
- Enslaved women — Medical care
- Obeah
- Maroons
- West-Indies healers
- Slavery and medicine
- Black midwives
- Reproductive resistance
- Caribbean medicinal plants
- Plantation medicine
- Spiritual healing
- Women’s health
- Herbal medicine – Jamaica – History
- Enslaved persons – Medical care – Jamaica
- Slavery – Medical aspects – Jamaica
- Medicinal plants – Haiti / Saint Domingue
- African American – Folk medicine
- Enslaved women – Health and hygiene – Saint-Domingue
- Maroons – Suriname
Access Terms:
- Medical Treaties
- Account Books
- Academic dissertations
- Anti-Slavery Literature
- Historical Works
Annotated Bibliography
Resources at LCP:
Thomson and Aikman. A treatise on the diseases of negroes, as they occur in the island of Jamaica. (Jamaica, 1820).
This medical treatise, written for plantation authorities, draws heavily on knowledge that originated with enslaved people, even though it presents itself as a formal guide for white physicians and slaveholders. The authors list our plant-based treatments commonly used amongst the enslaved for common illnesses such as fevers, digestive issues, and respiratory conditions. The work is framed by the desire to preserve enslaved labor, however, it unintentionally highlights remedies rooted in the knowledge of the enslaved.
James Grainger. An essay on the more common West-India diseases. (London, 1764).
Written by physician James Grainger, this book was intended to help plantation owners and overseers manage the health of enslaved people in the British Caribbean. Throughout the text, Grainger describes common diseases and recommends treatments using local plants and herbal remedies. What I found most interesting is that many of the remedies he discusses were already being used by enslaved Africans and reflected knowledge that developed outside of European medicine. Grainger frequently emphasizes the value of Caribbean plants and even suggests that cures for certain diseases could be found among the region’s vegetation. Although the book was written within the context of slavery and treats enslaved people as property, it unintentionally reveals the importance of herbal medicine and demonstrates how Black healing knowledge influenced medical practices in the Caribbean.
Hesketh J. Bell. Obeah; witchcraft in the West Indies. (London, 1889).
This source is a late 19th-century account describing Obeah practices in the British West Indies. It contains detailed observations of Afro-Caribbean spiritual and medical traditions, including the use of plants in healing, poisoning, and ritual practices. The author describes how enslaved Africans and their descendants used knowledge of local herbs and roots both for medicinal purposes and for covert forms of resistance, such as poisoning. The text also reflects European colonial attitudes, often portraying these practices as “sorcery” or superstition. Despite its biased perspective, the document provides historical evidence of traditional herbal knowledge.
Reference Books at LCP:
Randy M. Browne. Surviving slavery in the British Caribbean. (Philadelphia, 2017). Gift of the author, LCP Fellow.
In chapter 5 of this book, Randy Browne examines the role of Obeah practitioners in enslaved communities in present-day Guyana. Through the stories of healers such as Willem and Hans, Browne shows how many enslaved people turned to Obeah when plantation medicine failed to address widespread illness and death. Enslaved people often viewed sickness as both a physical and spiritual problem, meaning healing required more than just treating symptoms. Obeah practitioners were called upon to identify the spiritual causes of illness and restore balance. Although colonial authorities criminalized Obeah and portrayed it as dangerous witchcraft, many enslaved people saw practitioners as healers and trusted sources of knowledge.
Karol K. Weaver. Medical revolutionaries. ( Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006). Gift of the author.
This source explores how enslaved men and women in Saint-Domingue, present day Haiti used herbal medicine to treat illness and care for their communities. Weaver explains that enslaved healers combined African medical traditions, Indigenous Caribbean plant knowledge, and their own experimentation to create effective remedies for wounds, fevers, tetanus, and scurvy. The source is particularly valuable because it shows that European physicians often relied on enslaved herbalists for medical knowledge and attempted to incorporate their remedies into Western medicine. Weaver also discusses how enslaved women used avocado leaves, which were described as the “universal remedy” for female complaints. The leaves could be prepared to induce menstruation and terminate pregnancies, giving enslaved women a degree of control over their reproductive lives in a society that treated their bodies as property.
Marie Jenkins Schwartz. Birthing a slave. (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2006). Gift of Charles Rosenberg.
In this book, historian Marle Jenkins Schwartz explores the struggle for control over the reproductive lives of enslaved women in the American South. It mentions how white doctors often relied on invasive treatments such as bleeding and purging, while enslaved communities developed their own healing traditions that combined herbal medicine, midwifery, and spiritual practices. I found this source useful because it demonstrates how enslaved women and healers used secrecy to maintain some control over their bodies and health. By hiding illnesses and relying on Black healers enslaved people created forms of resistance that challenged white
medical authority.
Elaine G. Breslaw. Lotions, potions, pills, and magic. (New York: New York University Press, 2012). Gift of Charles Rosenberg.
This source examines the history of medicine in early America and highlights the different ways people understood illness and healing. In chapters 2,6,7, Breslaw explains that enslaved people often resisted plantation medicine because white doctors worked closely with slaveholders and frequently treated enslaved people as property rather than patients. Many enslaved people preferred their own healers, who combined herbal remedies with spiritual practices rooted in African traditions.
Jerome S. Handler. Enacting power: the criminalization of obeah in the anglophone Caribbean, 1760-2011. (Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 2012). Gift of Wynn Eakins.
This source examines the history of anti-obeah laws throughout the Caribbean and argues that colonial governments helped create the negative image of obeah as dangerous witchcraft. It talks in depth on the criminalization of the beach and how many countries in the Caribbean worked to criminalize practitioners of it. They realized its power and potential and decided to criminalize it. The authors demonstrate that obeah was actually a diverse set of spiritual and healing practices that often focused on diagnosing illness, providing protection, and promoting well-being. They show that enslaved Africans and their descendants frequently consulted obeah practitioners for healing and everyday problems, while colonial authorities criminalized these traditions through legislation.
Pichard Price. Maroon societies. (NY, 1973). First Edition.
This source helped me understand how the Maroons were able to build and maintain communities outside of colonial control in Jamaica. What stood out to me was that British writers often dismissed Maroon beliefs as superstition, yet they also acknowledged the important role Obeah played in keeping communities united and motivating resistance. I included this source because it shows that African spiritual traditions were about much more than healing, they were also a resistance to slavery. The source also provides insight into the Maroons’ survival skills, including how they hunted and managed the land, allowing them to live independently for years.
Reference Books at Temple University:
Roberts, Carolyn Elizabeth. To Heal and to Harm: Medicine, Knowledge, and Power in the Atlantic Slave Trade. (2017).
Through the stories of two women healers, Deddie and Amenah, chapter 4 of the article shows that African medical knowledge was already highly developed long before slavery. Reading about these women challenged the stereotype that African healing practices were primitive or based only on superstition. Instead, this source showed me that many of the herbal and spiritual traditions I encountered throughout my research have deep roots in West Africa and were carried across the Atlantic by enslaved people.
Fett, Sharla. Body and Soul: African-American Healing in Southern Antebellum Plantation Communities, 1800-1860. (1995).
In chapter 2, Fett examines healing practices among enslaved African Americans and argues that medicine was deeply connected to spirituality and community. Rather than separating physical illness from religious belief, enslaved people understood healing as part of a sacred worldview in which herbs and spiritual practices worked together to restore health. Fett demonstrates that enslaved people often trusted Black healers over white physicians and relied on knowledge rooted in African traditions. Through examples such as the enslaved woman Patience’s request for a black doctor and the use of herbal remedies like sassafras tea, the chapter shows how healing practices allowed enslaved communities to exercise authority over their own bodies.
