How did the use of slave cadavers influence medical education?

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the use of slave cadavers significantly influenced medical education. Slavery provided a readily available source of bodies for anatomical dissection, as the demand for cadavers in medical schools increased. Slaves were often targeted, as their bodies were seen as disposable and their deaths often went unnoticed or uninvestigated. While the enslaved were used in medical experiments, dissections, and training, this practice also had broader implications. The utilization of slave cadavers normalized a dehumanizing perspective towards enslaved people, reinforcing notions of their inferiority and reinforcing the belief that their lives were expendable. This exploitation had a lasting impact on medical education and can be seen as a reflection of the larger systemic racism that permeated society during that time.

This mind map was published on 21 August 2023 and has been viewed 116 times.