ABSTRACT
Brutality/punishment is a signal feature of the system of enslavement in North America. Overseers are considered the primary source of brutality/punishment of enslaved Africans. Overseers were responsible for making sure labor was performed; ensuring that the labor was productive and efficient; reporting medical conditions immediately to the slaveowner; and providing security for the Whites. The prevalence of medical care provided to enslaved Africans, does not take into account the extent of punishment and brutality. While enslaved Africans' oral histories frequently acknowledge physical altercations with slaveowners and overseers, few cases document the resultant need for medical inquiry or care. In Northup's case the whip compounded the fever and impending illness, creating an increased risk/need for medical care. The antebellum scholarship which fails to address the physical violence against enslaved Africans serves to deny an important component of the totality of what medicine and enslavement meant to Africans in the United States.
