Journal of American Studies

http://journals.cambridge.org/AMS

Additional services for Journal of American Studies:

Email alerts: Click here

Subscriptions: Click here
Commercial reprints: Click here
Terms of use : Click here

Resisting Reproduction: Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old

South

LIESE M. PERRIN

Journal of American Studies / Volume 35 / Issue 02 / August 2001, pp 255 - 274

DOI: 10.1017/S0021875801006612, Published online: 23 October 2001

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0021875801006612

How to cite this article:

LIESE M. PERRIN (2001). Resisting Reproduction: Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South. Journal of American
Studies, 35, pp 255-274 doi:10.1017/S0021875801006612

Request Permissions : Click here

Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/AMS, IP address: 203.64.11.45 on 13 Mar 2015

 Journal of American Studies,  (), , – #  Cambridge University Press
DOI : .\S Printed in the United Kingdom

Resisting Reproduction :
Reconsidering Slave
Contraception in the Old South
LIESE M. PERRIN

The practices of abortion and infanticide seem worthy of at least a fleeting

mention in most studies of slave women in the United States, yet few
historians mention the use of contraception. Those who do, usually
conclude that little is known about the subject, but that it is probably not
particularly significant. This article will discuss the use of contraception
among slaves and will concentrate, in particular, on the use of cotton
roots as a form of birth-control. Evidence that the cotton root was used
for this purpose is taken mainly from the Works Progress Administration
(WPA) narratives, edited by George Rawick." As yet, the author has come
across only a few references to the use of cotton roots as a form of
contraception in any other source. The WPA narratives are a controversial
source, but, in sifting through every single interview, the multiple
references to such an intimate practice were striking and demanded

Liese Perrin is based at the Research and Development Services Office at the University
of Warwick, Coventry  .
Material from this article was first presented at the  British American Nineteenth-
Century Historians Conference at Madingley Hall, Cambridge where I received extremely
helpful comments from several delegates. I am grateful for the financial assistance secured
by my Head of School whilst at the University of Birmingham, a graduate travel grant
from the University of Birmingham, a Research Fellowship from the Virginia Historical
Society and a Summer Fellowship from the Institute for Southern Studies all of which
facilitated two vital research trips to the United States. My thanks also to Mark Smith,
Andrew Miles, Mike Tadman, Emily West, Jay Kleinberg, Peter Ling, John David Smith
and Leonard Schwarz for reading and commenting on various drafts of this article. Lastly,
I am very grateful to Rob Perrin for his advice on the scientific content.
" George P. Rawick, ed., The American Slave : A Composite Autobiography, Vols. –
(Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Publishing Company, –).

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin
attention. This article forms part of a chapter from a thesis which looks
at the work of slave women in the American South.#
A thorough reading of the WPA narratives reveals not only that slave
women used contraception, but also that it may have been very effective.
In the context of slave women and work, this is a significant discovery,
as the evidence, which is detailed below, suggests that slave women not
only understood that their childbearing capacity was seen in terms of
producing extra capital, but that they were sufficiently opposed to this
function to actually avoid conception. The use of contraception can be
seen not only as a form of resistance, but also, more specifically, as a form
of strike, since reproduction was an important work role for most slave
women.
Historians who have examined birth-control among slave women,
generally view it as a form of slave resistance. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese
mentions abortion and infanticide as possible forms of gender specific
resistance in the antebellum South in passing, but does not include
contraception in that discussion. She concludes, ‘‘ those who argue for
resistance against reproduction – if it occurred with any frequency – must
take into account the well-documented attachment of slave mothers to
their children. ’’$ In his study of slaves in Barbados, Hilary Beckles
concludes that, ‘‘ There is as yet no concrete evidence that slave women
practised what has become known as ‘gynaecological resistance. ’ ’’%
Deborah Gray White cites several cases of women who were considered
by their masters to be infertile during slavery. These women went on to
have several healthy children after they were freed, and White considers
this as proof that some kind of contraception or abortion was being
practised. However, she concludes that :
it is almost impossible to determine whether slave women practised birth control
and abortion. These matters were virtually exclusive to the female world of the
quarters, and when they arose they were attended to in secret and were intended
to remain secret.&

# Liese M. Perrin, ‘‘ Slave Women and Work in the American South ’’ (University of
Birmingham : Ph.D. diss., ).
$ Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, ‘‘ Strategies and Forms of Resistance : Focus on Slave Women
in the United States ’’, in Gray Y. Okihiro, ed., In Resistance : Studies in African,
Caribbean, and Afro-American History (Amherst, Mass. : University of Massachusetts
Press, ), –, .
% Hilary McD. Beckles, Natural Rebels : A Social History of Enslaved Black Women in
Barbados (London : Zed Books Ltd., ), .
& Deborah Gray White, Ar ’n ’t I a Woman ? Female Slaves in the Plantation South (New
York : W. W. Norton, ), .

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

 Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South 
Jessie Rodrique briefly discusses slave contraception in an article
concerning the black community and the birth-control movement.
‘‘ Alum water ’’ is mentioned as a contraceptive, and the use of turpentine,
camphor and rue as abortifacients is also noted. However, the issue of
slave contraception is not the main focus of this chapter, and therefore
very little space is devoted to it.' Richard Steckel, in discussing the issue
of the health of slave women, devotes a good deal of space to the various
reasons why the infant mortality rates were so high, but, although he
mentions infanticide, abortion and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
among his explanations for foetal and infant mortality, he fails to mention
birth-control in his discussion.( And in the same collection of essays,
Cheryll Ann Cody also neglects contraception, despite the fact that her
essay is entitled ‘‘ Cycles of Work and of Childbearing, ’’ and focuses
primarily on the patterns of pregnancy and childbirth among slave
women.) In her earlier Ph.D. thesis, Cody addressed the issue of birth-
control only briefly, dismissing it as an unlikely practice among slaves.
Cody argued that, while birth spacings on the Ball family plantations in
South Carolina were longer than those for other historical populations,
this was explained by long periods of lactation. Although Cody
acknowledged the dubious contraceptive effect of lactation after six
months, this line of thought was not pursued.*

CONTRACEPTION STUDIES
It is true that historical evidence concerning contraception is sometimes
difficult to acquire. Birth-control was frowned upon in most western
countries at least from the emergence of Christianity until the middle of
' Jessie M. Rodrique, ‘‘ The Black Community and the Birth Control Movement ’’ in
Darlene Clark Hine, Wilma King, and Linda Reed, eds., We Specialize in the Wholly
Impossible (New York : Carlson Publishing, Inc., ), –.
( Richard H. Steckel, ‘‘ Women, Work, and Health under Plantation Slavery in the
United States, ’’ in David Barry Gaspar and Darlene Clark Hine, eds., More than Chattel :
Black Women and Slavery in the Americas (Bloomington and Indianapolis : Indiana
University Press, ), –.
) Cheryll Ann Cody, ‘‘ Cycles of Work and of Childbearing ’’ in David Barry Gaspar and
Darlene Clark Hine eds., More than Chattel : Black Women and Slavery in the Americas
(Bloomington and Indianapolis : Indiana University Press, ), –. Cody
concentrates on how different types of work and the time of year affect the pregnancy
and childbirth patterns of slave women. While she does briefly discuss some of the
other factors which may have influenced these patterns, she does not mention birth-
control.
* Cheryll Ann Cody, ‘‘ Slave Demography and Family Formation : A Community Study
of the Ball Family Plantations, - ’’ (Ph.D. diss., University of Minnesota,
), .

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin
the twentieth century. Therefore, few people left documentary or oral
evidence concerning its use. Elsewhere, the use of contraception was also
forbidden for a variety of cultural and religious reasons. Although it
would be wrong to think that people had little knowledge of contraception
before the twentieth century, knowledge and use was probably limited,
therefore contributing to the lack of surviving evidence. However, it is far
from impossible to discover how contraception developed over time.
Several lengthy studies of the history of contraception have been
published, all containing detailed and intimate information."! Although
lactation was regarded as the most common form of contraception for
women before the twentieth century, in fact, women had been devising
and using a wide range of birth-control methods for hundreds of years.
Barrier contraceptives such as plugs made from cedar gum and crocodile
dung were used in Ancient Greece and Egypt. Suppositories and pessaries
consisting of such varied substances as peppermint and honey were also
commonly used. Oral contraceptives containing copper sulphate and
hawthorn among other ingredients were used in these societies, as well as
in Rome. ‘‘ Natural ’’ ingredients such as willow, poplar and rue were also
thought to be effective, and were still being used in Europe in the Middle
Ages.""
Histories of contraception such as those by Bernard Finch and Hugh
Green, and, more recently, by Angus McLaren and John Riddle contain
almost no information regarding the practice of birth limitation by
African women, perhaps because there is little documentary evidence in
existence. However, Barbara Bush, in her study of slave women in the
Caribbean, refers to G. W. Harley ’s  book entitled Native African
Medicine."# Harley discovered that, among Mandingo women, the root of
the cotton tree, which grew in abundance in parts of Africa, was used as
an abortifacient during the first trimester of pregnancy. Elsewhere, Bush
explains that African women depended on motherhood for a sense of
social identity, and that they were often ostracised if they were found to
be sterile. Bush suggests, however, that :
A real desire for motherhood does not … mean that African women shunned
birth control. They may have brought knowledge of abortion and contraception
with them to the Caribbean. Apart from wide birth spacing through long
"! For example, see : B. E. Finch and H. Green, Contraception Through the Ages (London :
Peter Owen, ) ; Angus McLaren, A History of Contraception from Antiquity to the
Present Day (Oxford : Blackwell Publishers, ) ; John M. Riddle, Contraception and
Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance (Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard
University Press, ). "" McLaren, A History of Contraception.
"# Barbara Bush, Slave Women in Caribbean Society, †…€–ˆƒˆ (London : Currey, ).

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

 Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South 
lactation, ritual abstinence, abortion, and other elaborate forms of contraception
are more widespread in traditional African societies than is generally recognized."$
Bush explains that although it is generally thought that African societies
did not encourage birth limitation, it was practised.
There are several reasons why men and women might have wanted to
have some control over their fertility. In times of drought or famine
families may have wished avoid having any more mouths to feed. There
was a fine line between having enough children to help produce food, and
having too many which resulted in not being able to feed them all.
Contraception was also a means by which taboos might be broken
without any visible evidence. In many African tribes, sexual intercourse
during the period in which the wife was breast-feeding was forbidden.
Although lactation would have reduced the chance of a woman becoming
pregnant anyway, it was far from fail-safe, so some other form of birth-
control may also have been used. If a woman did become pregnant while
still breast-feeding, she sometimes chose to abort the child, as it was
considered to have been conceived under unsuitable circumstances. Bush
is not the only person to suggest that African health remedies were
transferred with the slaves to America and the Caribbean.
Although he does not mention contraception, Charles Joyner talks in
more general terms about the origins of medical knowledge among slaves.
In his study of slaves in the South Carolina lowcountry, he explains that :
‘‘ Africans had brought their highly esteemed pharmacopoeia with them
to South Carolina as part of their oral traditions. They found the
semitropical lowcountry environment similar enough to that of West
Africa that such knowledge was easily adapted to somewhat new flora and
fauna. ’’"% This further supports the possibility that African women took
knowledge regarding abortion and contraceptives, as well as many other
types of medicine, with them when they were enslaved and shipped to the
US. In particular, it seems that their understanding of the properties of
cotton roots was especially useful. In parts of Africa, wild cotton plants
did grow, but the main source of cotton was from cotton trees, which
were much bigger than the cotton plants found in America. Despite this
slight difference in appearance, when slave women found themselves
knee-deep in the cotton fields of the American South, it was not difficult

"$ Barbara Bush, ‘‘ Hard Labor : Women, Childbirth, and Resistance in British Caribbean
Slave Societies ’’ in David Barry Gaspar and Darlene Clark Hine, eds., More than
Chattel : Black Women and Slavery in the Americas (Bloomington and Indianapolis :
Indiana University Press, ), –, .
"% Charles Joyner, Down by the Riverside (Chicago : University of Illinois Press, ), .

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin
for them to recognize the plant and continue using cotton roots as a
natural form of birth-control. While some of the evidence contained in the
WPA narratives is quite clear regarding the use of birth-control,
occasionally it is less explicit. Admittedly, in these cases, a degree of
speculation is involved, as it is when using evidence from other sources.
None the less, it is vital that unusual fertility patterns are highlighted,
even if the causes remain unclear.
The only study which explicitly mentions the use of cotton roots as a
form of contraception is that by Herbert Gutman. He describes the report
of a Tennessee doctor, John T. Morgan. The report revealed that slave
owners were aware that slave women used a variety of natural remedies
in order to avoid or terminate pregnancies, including the roots and seeds
of the widely available cotton plant. Gutman suggests, though, that :
‘‘ These are medically questionable as successful emmenagogues ; it was
their use, not their value, that reveals most about the Tennessee slave
women. ’’ Gutman provides several more references to the ingestion of
cotton roots as a form of contraception, stating :
In the s, the Bostonian George Stetson attributed the alleged decline in the
southern black population to ‘‘the root of the cotton plant … known to all negro
women as a powerful emmenagogue, … everywhere obtainable … [and] ex-
tensively used. ’’ … Even later … the sociologist Hylan Lewis learned from
elderly North Carolina blacks about such birth control devices as ‘‘a brew from
the roots of a cotton plant … ’’"&
Gutman concludes that more work needs to be carried out in order to
further understand the use of abortifacients and contraception among
slaves.
COTTON ROOTS
The WPA narratives contain several interviews which give details of
various substances which were used as contraceptives and abortifacients.
Lu Lee, an ex-slave and midwife, from Texas, described how pregnant
women ‘‘ unfixed ’’ themselves by taking calomel and turpentine, and
explained that, when the turpentine manufacturers became aware of this
practice, they changed the recipe, thus rendering turpentine useless as an
abortifacient. Lu Lee revealed that indigo, another plant which was
frequently grown on plantations, was also used to cause miscarriages."'
"& Herbert G. Gutman, The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, ‡…€–‰‚… (New York :
Pantheon, ), note, –.
"' Lu Lee, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Texas Narr., Supplement, series , Vol.  (part ),
.

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

 Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South 
In particular, the WPA narratives contain several references to the use
of cotton roots as a contraceptive. Furthermore, it is clear that this
practice was intended to be a form of slave resistance. Interestingly, men
as well as women made reference to the use of birth-control among slave
women, and, from their responses in the interviews, it seems that
knowledge of the use of birth-control was fairly widespread among the
slave population. It is also clear that some thought that contraception
posed a threat to the continuation of the race.
William Byrd, an ex-slave also from Texas believed that : ‘‘ the negro
race would have been depopulated cause all the negro womens they had
become wise to this here cotton root. ’’ He went on to describe the use of
the cotton root, saying : ‘‘ They would chew that and they would not give
birth to a baby. All of their Masers sho ’ did have to watch them, but
sometimes they would slip out at night and get them a lot of cotton roots
and bury them under their quarters. ’’"( William Coleman, who was a slave
in Tennessee, confirmed William Byrd ’s view and added that it was a long
time before the masters discovered what the slave women were doing. He
explained with reference to the master : ‘‘ When he did he would almost
kill a negro woman if he caught her chewing cotton-root, but still that did
not do much good, they would slip and chew it in spite of all he could do
about it. ’’")
Anna Lee, also from Texas, believed that there would not have been
any more slaves left except older ones, due to the use of contraception, and
she concluded that by the end of slavery, ‘‘ slaves had done quit
breeding. ’’"* Figures estimating the birth-rate of slaves in  would not
support this claim, although Jacqueline Jones, among others, believes
that the birth-rate did decline slightly between  and .#!
Mary Gaffney was born in , so she was nearly  years old when
freed. She explained that her master in Texas forced her to marry a man
who she hated. She refused to sleep with her husband and when her
"( William Byrd, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Texas Narr., Supplement, series , Vol. 
(part ), .
") William Coleman, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Texas Narr., Supplement, series , Vol.
 (part ), .
"* Anna Lee, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Texas Narr., Supplement, series , Vol.  (part
), .
#! Jacqueline Jones, Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow : Black Women, Work and the Family,
from Slavery to the Present (New York : Vintage Books, ), . Jones says : ‘‘ At the
regional level, a decline in slave fertility and increase in miscarriage rates during the
cotton boom years of  to  reveals the heightened demands made upon women,
both in terms of increased workloads in the fields and family break-ups associated with
the massive, forced migration of slaves from the Upper to the Lower South. ’’

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin
husband complained to the master, Mary was whipped. After this, Mary
relented, but she explained :
Maser was going to raise him a lot more slaves, but still I cheated Maser, I never
did have any slaves to grow and Maser he wondered what was the matter. I tell
you son, I kept cotton roots and chewed them all the time but I was careful not
to let Maser know or catch me.#"
Mary Gaffney went on to have several healthy children after the end of
slavery.
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
It appears, then, that the cotton root, in particular, may well have been a
very effective contraceptive. One of many substances found in all parts of
the cotton plant is gossypol, described by scientists as a ‘‘ poisonous
pigment. ’’## This serves as part of the plant ’s defence against herbivores,
and one result of this defence is a reduction in the reproductive rates of
its predators. Gossypol has been tested and used as a male contraceptive
in China since at least . It was found to be extremely effective. Indeed,
there has sometimes been only partial or even no recovery from the
contraceptive effects of the substance. Science News reported that
approximately  percent of Chinese men in a study carried out in Beijing
failed to regain fertility when they stopped using a gossypol-based
contraceptive.#$ In , the results of research using Brazilian men as
volunteers also concluded that gossypol was a potent male oral
contraceptive, and it is to be marketed there soon. Furthermore, when
tested in the form of a topical solution on both female rats and humans,
it proved to be an effective female contraceptive too.#% Gossypol appears
to inhibit the development of sperm, and some scientists have suggested
that the mobility of sperm may also be restricted. It is thought that
gossypol also interferes with the menstrual cycle, possibly by restricting
the release of certain hormones. Research continues into the use of
gossypol as both a male and, in particular, a female contraceptive, in order
to find ways to counteract one of the more serious side effects which leads
to reduced potassium levels, causing fatigue.
In light of such evidence, it is reasonable to suggest that ex-slaves found
#" Mary Gaffney, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Texas Narr., Supplement, series , Vol. 
(part ), .
## Campbell et al., Journal of American Chemistry Society,  (), –.
#$ ‘‘ Cottonseed contraceptive update ’’ Science News (July  ), .
#% See, for example : K. Ratsula, M. Haukkamma, K. Wichmann, T. Luukkainen,
‘‘ Vaginal Contraception with Gossypol : a Clinical Study, ’’ Contraception,  :  (),
–.

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

 Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South 
the chewing of cotton roots to be a very effective form of birth-control.
It is conceivable that this was widely known by women in Africa many
years before they were enslaved. In certain parts of Africa, the cotton tree
was a potent symbol of fertility, and fertility ceremonies were often
performed at the foot of these trees. It would seem that the chewing of
cotton roots was not some random practice which just happened to result
in a decrease in fertility, but a very deliberate action, practised by slave
women who fully understood the consequences of chewing the root. That
it was a deliberate action is supported by reports of other types of birth-
control being practised by slaves.

ABSTINENCE
Slave men and women appear to have practised abstinence, often with the
deliberate intention of denying their master any more human capital.
Sarah Shaw Graves, an ex-slave from Missouri explained to a WPA
interviewer that she and her mother were sold from Kentucky to Missouri
when Sarah was a child, leaving Sarah ’s father behind. Sarah ’s mother
was heartbroken at being sold away from her husband, and she therefore
devised a way to protest at her treatment and gain revenge on the man
who had bought her. Sarah explained, ‘‘ Mama said she would never
marry again to have children … so she married my step-father, Trattle
Barber, ‘ cause he was sick an ’ could never be a father. ’’#& This is a clear
case of resistance to the system of slavery, but in particular to the practice
of breaking up families through the trading of slaves.#' Sarah ’s mother
not only managed to avoid having children with another man, whom she
did not love, but she also managed to deny her new master any more
slaves.
In another case, Virginia Yarbrough, an ex-slave from Texas, explained
how one slave woman on her plantation managed to persuade the man she
was forced to live with to practise abstinence. The slave woman, Nancy,
was told by her master to live with a slave man named Tip. Virginia
explained :
Dat gal Nancy ’tested dat fellow Tip. She won ’t ’llows him to come neah her.
Tip tol ’ his Marster ’ bout it an ’ de Marster gives de gal a whuppin’ an ’ tol ’ her
dat him owned her an’ dat she must do as him wants. De cullud fellow feels sorry
#& Sarah Shaw Graves, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Missouri Narr., series , Vol. , .
#' See Michael Tadman, Speculators and Slaves : Masters, Traders, and Slaves in the Old South
(Madison : University of Wisconsin Press, ), – for a discussion regarding the
effect of forcible separations on slaves.

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin
’bout de gal gettin’ de whuppin’ so Tip sez to Nancy : ‘‘ Ise don ’t want to see
youse whupped so Ise sleep on de flooah an’ youse use de bunk but youse must
promise never tell de Marster. ’’ ‘‘ Ise sho promise, hope to die, ’’ she sez.
After three more months, Virginia explained, the master realized that the
couple were not going to produce any children, so he allowed Nancy to
live with the man of her choice. The master allowed her to have this
choice because he thought she was not able to bear children. However,
Nancy did have children with this second man. Virginia concluded : ‘‘ De
Marster never did learnt how come thar warnt any chils bo ’n wid de furst
man. ’’#( Once again, Nancy was protesting at the fact that she was not
free to live with the man of her choice. By abstaining from sexual
intercourse, she was able to resist her master ’s wishes and live and have
children with the man she loved.

INFANTICIDE AND ABORTIFACIENTS

It is possible that some slave women were deliberately misleading when
relating details of pregnancy and childbirth, in order to avoid revealing
information about contraception and about abortifacients. Frank Fikes
explained that his mother had eaten the first ripe watermelon on the
plantation just before he was born. He explained, ‘‘ She thought she had
the colic. She said she went and ate a piece of calamus root for the pain
and after eating the root for the pain behold I was born.’’#) Although it
is possible that Frank ’s mother did not realize that she was about to give
birth, it is just as likely that the ‘‘ calamus ’’ root was taken specifically to
help with labour pains, and possibly even to bring on the labour. The
same root might also have been used as an abortifacient in other cases.
Some slave owners were aware of the use of such substances, and were
also paranoid about infanticide. In , South Carolina planter Davison
McDowell recorded in the ‘‘ Crimes and Misdemeanours ’’ section of his
plantation journal : ‘‘ [Summer]  – Sibby Misscarried, believe she did
so on purpose. Stop her Christmas [treat] & lock her up. ’’#* Although he
gave no details about how he thought Sibby had caused her miscarriage,
it is clear that he felt that she had deliberately lost the baby, and that she
deserved to be punished. Strangely, though, he has exactly the opposite
reaction in another case. On Thursday  July , he recorded : ‘‘ Lost
#( Virginia Yarbrough, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Texas Narr., Supplement, series ,
Vol.  (part ), –.
#) Frank Fikes, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Arkansas Narr., series , Vol.  (part ), .
#* Davison McDowell, Plantation Journal, –, South Carolina Library (SCL),
University of South Carolina.

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

 Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South 
poor Willoughby in child bed  days after the birth of her child believe
it proceded from her having eat a quantity of shot before her confinement
for what she called a fluttering heart. Knew nothing of it for some
time.’’$! McDowell did not appear to be suspicious about the loss of
Willoughby (and probably her baby, although this was not recorded),
despite the fact that there is no known documentary or oral evidence to
suggest that eating shot to aid heart conditions was a common practice.
It seems surprising that McDowell did not question this case, when he was
so sure that the previous slave, Sibby, had deliberately miscarried. It is
quite possible that Willoughby was trying to abort her child, with fatal
results. Slaves had considerable knowledge about remedies and cures, and
it seems unlikely, given what we do know about slave medicine, that they
would have considered eating shot to be a beneficial practice.$" Indeed,
the only reference available regarding the ingestion of shot is in relation
to its use as an abortificient. Herbert Gutman addresses the issue in his
study of the slave family :
Newbell Niles Puckett talked with three southern blacks who described medical
and magical efforts to prevent conception or to induce abortion, including
swallowing gunpowder mixed with sweet milk or just ‘‘ nine bird-shot,’’ drinking
separate measures of ‘‘ black haw roots ’’ and bluestone with ‘‘ red shank ’’ roots
followed by the juice of dog-fennel root, and a teaspoonful of turpentine each
morning for nine consecutive days.$#
In light of the paranoia surrounding abortion and infanticide, it is
surprising to find that some slave owners actually sanctioned the use of
certain remedies which could have been used as abortifacients. Inside the
front cover of the account book of South Carolina planter Joseph Palmer
was a ‘‘ receipt for Making Pills for producing the Menstrual in young
Women. ’’$$ The recipe called for  grains of Coperas (copperas consists
of green iron-sulphate crystals),$%  grains of Calomel, a mercury
compound, which was used as a cathartic, and which ex-slaves specifically
named as an abortifacient, and  grains of ‘‘ Alloes ’’ (when ingested,
aloe acts as a strong laxative).$& The instructions were that : ‘‘ All of them
to be rubbed up, and made into  Pills & one Given night and
morning. ’’ It is clear that these pills were being made up in order to cure
$! Ibid.
$" See : Todd L. Savitt, Medicine and Slavery : The Diseases and Health Care of Blacks in
Antebellum Virginia (Urbana : University of Illinois Press, ).
$# Gutman, The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, note, –.
$$ Joseph Palmer, Account Book, –, [typed transcript], SCL.
$% Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford : Clarendon Press, ), .
$& Ibid., , .

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin
amenorrhoea. However, it is surprising that a slave owner would have
even risked the spread of knowledge about the effects of these substances
among slaves (who, in any case, probably knew already). It is highly
likely, given the ingredients contained, that such pills could have been
used as an abortifacient, had slave women chosen to do so. Despite the
fact that some slave owners were aware of the lengths that slave women
would go to in order to avoid conception and birth, it is surprising that
there is no evidence from white sources regarding the use of cotton roots.
However, despite searching through published agricultural journals and
a large number of plantation records covering many of the Southern
states, the author found no references to this particular practice.
The discovery of new evidence relating to the use of contraception has
several important repercussions which require the reassessment of
interpretations regarding areas such as demography, family relationships
and, most importantly, slave women, and their role in slave resistance. In
relation to the study of slave demography, contraception needs to be
acknowledged as a factor when discussing the slave birth-rate in the US.
There are several factors which help to explain long birth spacings,
including poor diet, excessive work regimes and the African taboo
regarding sexual intercourse during lactation.$' However, it is possible
that some sort of contraception was used in the intervening period.
It is usually concluded that an average space of up to thirty months
between the births of slave siblings was due to the fact that slave mothers
breast-fed their infants for up to two years or more.$( Indeed, this
explanation is widely used in the study of demography in all areas of
history. While lactation certainly reduces a woman ’s chances of becoming
pregnant again, it is certainly not a reliable form of contraception. In past
studies, the need to explain any variations between birth spacing and the
length of lactation has been thought unnecessary, since such variations
were not considered to be significant. However, in the American South,
$' Kenneth F. Kiple and Virginia H. Kiple, ‘‘ Slave Child Mortality : Some Nutritional
Answers to a Perennial Puzzle, ’’ Journal of Social History,  (March ), –.
This article explains that deficiencies in the slave mother ’s diet would have led to
deficiencies in the nutrition available to developing foetuses, and in the breast milk after
birth : ‘‘ Some slave babies then must have entered the world with serious mineral
deficiencies ’’ (). This implies that, if the diet of slave mothers was very poor, their
pregnancies might not reach full term. The loss of infants through poor nutrition
would be one factor influencing the length of birth spacing. See also John Campbell,
‘‘ Work, Pregnancy, and Infant Mortality among Southern Slaves, ’’ Journal of
Interdisciplinary History,  :  (), –.
$( See, for example, Patricia Malone, Sweet Chariot (Chapel Hill : University of North
Carolina Press, ), –.

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

 Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South 
plantation journals reveal that masters often encouraged slave mothers to
wean their children at around one year old, in order for the women to
resume full service as labourers, and also in order that they could conceive
again.
In the Georgia Narratives, a section entitled ‘‘ Rules of the Plantation, ’’
includes rules regarding nursing and weaning slave babies :
Rule th – Sucklers are to be allowed time to visit their children until they are
eight months old, and twice a day from thence until they are twelve months old
— they are to be kept working near their children.$)
Interviews with several of the ex-slaves by the WPA also mention that
babies were generally weaned at one year old. Gus Feaster described the
unusually ‘generous ’ practice on his master ’s plantation in South
Carolina : ‘‘ Dey mammies was not worked on our plantation till de babies
was big ’nough to take a bottle. And in dem days no bottle was given no
baby under a year old. ’’$* Although it was not usual for mothers to stay
out of the field for a whole year, this example is typical in that the babies
on this plantation were weaned on to a bottle at around one year old. In
Rube Montgomery ’s case, his mistress was so keen for his mother to
return to work that she nursed him herself : ‘‘ I was born in October – my
old Miss made Mamy wean me in March an ’ she [Old Miss] suckled me.
I was jus ’ two weeks older ’n her child. ’’%! The key to the contraceptive
effect of lactation lies in the suppression of ovulation. Ovulation is more
likely to be suppressed if a woman feeds her baby regularly (at least six
times a day), and for long periods. It is well documented that many slave
women, especially those who worked in the field, were not able to nurse
their infants six times a day, especially not after the first six months.
Although the body takes a certain period of time to adjust after lactation
ends, lactation and the period of adjustment are not sufficient to fully
explain why slave mothers had gaps of over two years between births,
especially if lactation was no longer providing any significant con-
traceptive effect after about six months. It certainly does not explain cases
of four or five years or more between births, and there were enough of
these to require further explanation.%"
$) Rawick, ed., Georgia Narr., series , Vol.  (part ), .
$* Gus Feaster, interviewed in Rawick, ed., S. C. Narr., series , Vol. . (part ), .
%! Rube Montgomery, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Miss. Narr., Supplement, series , Vol.
 (part ), .
%" Mary J. Houston, ‘‘ Breast Feeding, Fertility and Child Health : A Review of
International Issues ’’ Journal of Advanced Nursing,  (), –. Houston explains
that the key to the contraceptive effect of lactation lies in the suppression of ovulation.
She suggests that, ‘‘ The more often the mother suckles, the more likely she is not to

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin
In order to gain a micro view of fertility patterns, the maternal histories
of slave women on twelve plantations in Virginia, North Carolina and
South Carolina were studied by the author. In the first instance, the
information was used to compute the mean spacings between the births
of slave infants born to each woman.%# By way of comparison, in the
Louisiana parishes examined by Ann Patton Malone, a gap of around
thirty months between births was the norm among slave women,
suggesting that they nursed for upwards of twenty months.%$ Cheryll Ann
Cody found a similar figure of approximately twenty-nine months
between births on the Ball family plantations, while Fogel and Engerman
suggest an estimate of ‘‘ somewhat over two years ’’ between births.%% On
the four Virginia plantations included in this quantitative study, birth
spacings averaged around twenty-seven months, while in North Carolina,

ovulate. A minimum of six feeds a day would seem to be necessary from present
studies ’’ (). It is well documented that, especially in the latter half of the year in which
slave mothers nursed their children, breast-feeding only occurred once or twice during
the day with perhaps one feed at night. Thus, slave women were probably not feeding
regularly enough or for long enough for lactation to have any significant contraceptive
effect. In a critique of Fogel and Engerman ’s Time on the Cross, Paul David and Peter
Temin suggest that a – month gap between births does not necessarily mean that
slave women breast fed for a year. They argue that this assumption, ‘‘ rests on the
empirical validity of three premises which the authors have left unstated and therefore
unexamined. Were it established that the slaves were not practicing contraception, and
were it also the case that slave couples enjoyed regular and frequent intercourse
throughout the woman ’s mid-month, and were there no basis for suspecting a
prolonged sequence of postpartum anovulatory cycles, then an inference of an extended
interval of amenorrhea induced by continuing lactation would be rather compelling ’’
(Paul A. David ; Peter Temin, ‘‘ Capitalist Masters, Bourgeois Slaves ’’ in Paul A. David,
Herbert G. Gutman, Richard Sutch, Peter Temin, and Gavin Wright, eds., Reckoning
with Slavery : A Critical Study in the Quantitative History of American Negro Slavery (New
York : Oxford University Press, ), –, p. .
%# In each of the cases studied, there was a small number of birth spacings (– spacings
in each case) which were abnormally long, and which skewed the mean averages
between births slightly. The figures in Tables ,  and  illustrate the average spacing
between births. Column  includes all data, while column  excludes spacings over 
months. These longer spacings could be explained by a number of causes. It may have
been that there were unrecorded miscarriages or stillbirths between the births. Poor
diet or a heavy work regime might also have led to temporary infertility. Illness after
a birth may also have led to a longer period between births. Another explanation is that
a partner may have died or been sold away, leading to a period of celibacy. A few
mothers may have aborted their children, or used some form of contraception. Cheryll
Ann Cody refers very briefly to this possibility in her discussion of longer birth
spacings on the Ball Family Plantations, but does not regard it as a likely explanation.
See : Cody ‘‘ Slave Demography and Family Formation, ’’ .
%$ Malone, Sweet Chariot, –.
%% Fogel and Engerman, Time on the Cross, .

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

 Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South 

Table . Birth spacings and nursing times on Virginia plantations, ‡†‡–ˆ…„ a

Average
Average spacings in
spacings between births, Estimated no.
Plantation No. of mothers between births excluding gaps of months
owner in sample (months) over  months nursing
William Bolling  n n n
Stephen Cocke  n n n
Joseph Noton  n n n
Goodman
George Hannah  n n n
a Data taken from William Bolling, slave register, – – Mss : B : –  ;
Cocke family papers, – – Section , Account book of Stephen Cocke,
– – Mss Cb –  ; Joseph Noton Goodman, commonplace book,
– – Mss : G : –  ; Hannah family papers, – – Section , slave
list – Mss a  – .

the spacings on a sample of four plantations averaged approximately

twenty-eight months. On the four South Carolina plantations included,
birth spacings fell more in line with Fogel and Engerman ’s estimates of
around  months, than the longer spacings of nearer  months found in
other studies, and on the other plantations sampled in this study. The
plantations were chosen largely because the owners appeared to keep very
careful records of slave births.%& On each plantation, there were several
cases where a slave woman did not give birth for upwards of five years.
These longer spacings skewed some averages more than others, but
figures were also calculated excluding these longer gaps in order to
ascertain the extent to which they affected the results. The results can be
seen in Tables ,  and .
Overall, when longer gaps are excluded, the average spacing between
births on the four Virginia plantations was approximately  months.
Subtracting  months for pregnancy leaves a gap of  months from the
birth of one child to the conception of the next, and therefore suggests
that slave mothers in Virginia may have nursed their infants for over a
year. The results from the four North Carolina plantations show that the
average spacing between births was around  months, suggesting an
average nursing time of  months. The average nursing time on the
South Carolina plantations appears to have been  months. However,
since most planters reported that their slave women were allowed to nurse

%& Thus reducing the chance that long spaces between births might be due to poor record
keeping.

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin

Table . Birth spacings and nursing times on North Carolina plantations, ‡ˆ…–ˆ†…a
Average
Average spacings in
spacings between births, Estimated no.
Plantation No. of mothers between births excluding gaps of months
owner in sample (months) over  months nursing
William Hargrove  n n n
Kenan family  n n n
Stephen Norfleet  n n n
Tristrim Skinner  n n n
a Data taken from William Hargrove papers, –, no.  – Folder , Account
book, transcript copy –  ; Kenan family papers, –, no.  – Folder , slave
list –  ; Norfleet family papers, – – Folder , Vol. , Account book of Stephen
Andrew Norfleet,  –  ; Skinner family papers, –, no.  – Folder ,
Plantation journal of Tristrim Skinner, – – .

Table . Birth spacings and nursing times on South Carolina planations, ˆ–ˆ†„a
Average
Average spacings in
spacings between births, Estimated no.
No. of mothers between births excluding gaps of months
Plantation owner in sample (months) over  months nursing
Peter Samuel  n n n
Bacot
Joseph Palmer  n n n
James Henry  n n n
Hammond
John Forsythe  n n\a n
Talbert
a Data taken from Peter Samuel Bacot, Plantation Journals,   Vols. bd. – –
 ; Palmer Family Plantation Book, – –  ; James Henry Hammond
Plantation Records for Silver Bluff Plantation,  December – December  –  ;
John Talbert Plantation Journals, –, Records of Antebellum Southern
Plantations, Series A, Part II – .

their children for a maximum of a year, and since the contraceptive effect
of lactation after  months is significantly reduced, it is quite likely that
the mothers on all of these plantations nursed for a shorter length of time
and that there are other reasons for the gaps between births.%' These

%' See discussion of the limits to the contraceptive effect of lactation in Cody, ‘‘ Slave
Demography and Family Formation, ’’ , and also Houston, ‘‘ Breast Feeding,
Fertility and Child Health, ’’ –.

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

 Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South 
figures do not, of course, take into account any other factors which may
have contributed to the spacings between births, and it may be that in
many cases, it simply took a year or eighteen months for slave women to
physically recover from one birth and regain fertility. However, it is
possible that one explanation for the gaps between births is the use of
some form of contraception.
The samples involved in the above study are quite small and it would
be unwise to draw too many conclusions from them. It was thought that
there might be a correlation between the length of spacings between
births and the availibility of cotton. The shortest gaps between births
actually appeared in South Carolina where cotton was the main crop. The
longer gaps appeared in North Carolina and Virginia where cotton was
not the main crop, if it was grown at all. However, despite the lack of a
clear link between the length of birth spacings and the abundance of
cotton on the above plantations, it is interesting to note that three of the
four ex-slaves who refer to the use of cotton roots as a form of
contraception were slaves in Texas where cotton was only one of the main
crops produced. It does not necessarily follow that birth spacings would
be longest where cotton is most available. It may be that where access to
cotton was limited, slave women simply substituted some other form of
contraception. The most interesting question is how to explain the birth
spacings of over  months. It may be that, whilst most slave women did
not use any form of contraception, thereby contributing to an average
birth spacing of – months, contraception was a significant factor in
the longer spacings. If it is the case that slave women did practice
contraception, and it seems very likely that they did, then, as Barbara Bush
remarks, ‘‘ Such speculations add a novel dimension to the debate on slave
fertility, free from external factors over which the slave woman had little
or no control. ’’%(
The suggestions made by the ex-slaves, that the slave population was
in decline as a result of contraception, are controversial. It would be rash
to suggest that the use of cotton roots, or indeed, any other form of
contraception had a significant effect on the birth-rate. It is almost
impossible to determine its influence precisely. A fall in the birth-rate
would be just the sort of demographic feature that would lend support to
the theory that slave women used contraception. However, most
historians believe that the slave birth-rate did not fall during the nineteenth
century. This does not mean, though, that contraception should be
dismissed as an influence on slave demography. It may be that, if

%( Bush, Slave Women in Caribbean Society, .

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin
knowledge about contraception was transported over with slaves from
Africa, then the birth-rate might have been consistently lower throughout
the whole period of slavery than it would have been had birth limitation
not been practised. There seems little hope that this hypothesis could ever
be proven to the satisfaction of demographers, as the practice of birth-
control was such a secretive subject in the nineteenth century that reliable
figures simply do not exist. It is none the less a possibility that
contraception was in use.
The use of contraception by slave women also impacts on the study of
the slave family and relationships within the family. A number of
reassessments of available evidence, combined with breakthroughs in
current scientific knowledge have contributed to a greater understanding
of slave women and their attitudes toward family life. In recent years, it
has been accepted that in many cases where slave women were thought to
have killed their infants, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or cot-death was
probably the likely cause.%) This has altered the way in which slave
women have been perceived. While slave women often expressed
profound sadness at having given birth to children who would grow up
in slavery, few were desperate enough to kill them.%* Rather, they relied
on the slave community to help them raise children with a sense of self-
respect, children who, in spite of their circumstances, were able to deal
with their situation in a variety of ways. Now, it is generally thought that
slave women did not resort to infanticide in numbers which were any
greater than among women in other socio-economic groups. The stigma
attached to slave women as a result of the belief that they were ‘‘ more
capable ’’ of killing their offspring than other women has disappeared.
Similarly, an acceptance of the use of contraception by slave women
may also further our understanding of slave women and motherhood.
Slave women might be seen as less emotional and overtly maternal in their
attitudes towards child rearing. Generally, studies of slave women
concentrate on their role as mothers. Unfortunately, this focus has
contributed to the myth that black women were more maternal than white
women and that they would always choose to have children even when
circumstances were ‘‘ unsuitable.’’ The work performed by slave women,
%) See White, Ar ’n ’t I a Woman ?, –, and also Michael P. Johnson, ‘‘ Smothered Slave
Infants : Were Slave Mothers at Fault ? ’’ Journal of Southern History,  : (), –
for a discussion of  among slave infants.
%* However, in cases where infanticide did occur, evidence does suggest that slave women
often committed this act as a form of resistance, as Tony Morrison suggests in her
dramatisation of slave infanticide, Beloved (London : Vintage,  [originally published
]).

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

 Reconsidering Slave Contraception in the Old South 
as well as their relationships with other slaves, their relationships with
whites and their role in resisting slavery are often sidelined in studies of
slave women. If they did use some form of contraception regularly, as
evidence suggests, then slave women might perhaps be perceived as more
rational and calculating in their decision to prevent conception. Norrece
T. Jones suggests that the slave family was ‘‘ the greatest mitigation of the
harshness and severity of bondage ’’ and that kinship networks ‘‘ helped
shield bondsmen from the dehumanisation inevitable in any slave
society. ’’&! The slave family can certainly be viewed as a form of
resistance, but perhaps it seems that it was also the case that for some slave
women (and men), the conscious decision not to start a family was also a
form of resistance. The desire and the capacity to have children might no
longer be seen as the main function of slave women. Their roles as
labourers, wives, friends, participants in the wider slave community, and
rebels would be seen as equally important. That is not to say that the slave
woman ’s role as a mother was not important to her, only that slave
women themselves, as is evident from the WPA narratives, did not gain
their sense of social identity nor their personal fulfilment from
motherhood alone, but from many sources, and this should be
acknowledged.
Perhaps the most important development which the use of con-
traception helps to reveal is the role of slave women in resisting slavery.
Traditionally, historians have focused on the generally non-violent tactics
employed by slave women in resisting slavery : stealing food and clothing
from the ‘‘ Big House,’’ working slowly, breaking work implements,
deliberately misunderstanding orders and, occasionally, running away.
Several historians have suggested that abortion and infanticide were
forms of resistance, but most have chosen to accept the view of white
slave owners in concentrating on these practices, while ignoring
contraception. There were slave owners who were aware that slave
women used contraceptives, and one ex-slave refers to rules which were
issued specifically to outlaw the practice of chewing cotton roots,
although the author has not yet found any evidence to support this
claim.&" However, many slave owners failed to address the practice. This
may be because few realized the extent to which contraception was being

&! Norrece T. Jones, Jr., Born a Child of Freedom, Yet a Slave : Mechanisms of Control and
Resistance in Antebellum South Carolina (Hanover : University Press of New England,
), .
&" Anna Lee, interviewed in Rawick, ed., Texas Narr., Supplement, series , Vol.  (part
), .

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45

  Liese M. Perrin
used. It may also be that the thought of widespread use of contraception
among slaves was simply too awful to contemplate, so they refused to
acknowledge it, although this seems unlikely, given the usually swift and
ruthless way in which planters dealt with threats to their livelihood. The
most likely reason for the apparent disinterest is that planters simply could
not imagine that women might not want to reproduce. White women
were also using various forms of contraception at this time, but it would
seem that few men realized this. The lack of knowledge among slave
owners is precisely why contraception had the potential to be such an
effective form of resistance.
The WPA narratives also reveal that men colluded with women in their
attempts to resist reproduction. Although some men were obviously
angry and disappointed at the ‘‘ failure ’’ of their wives or partners to
become pregnant, it is significant that some men actually agreed to abstain
from sexual intercourse. It is also significant that so many men knew
about the use of cotton roots as a form of contraceptive. Contraception
among white women in the nineteenth century has been portrayed as a
very secretive practice, and one of which most men had little or no
knowledge. In contrast, it was perhaps due to the fact that the women
contained in this study lived in slavery, that they chose to share
contraceptive information with men. This would suggest that, far from
polarising slave men and women, contraception was one aspect of their
lives which could unite them.
In neglecting the role of contraception in the lives of slave women,
historians have overlooked a very good example of how, despite their
circumstances, slave women were often not simply passive victims, but
angry and inventive in their resistance to slavery. Practices such as
chewing cotton roots to avoid pregnancy were subtle yet effective ways to
resist slavery covertly. In avoiding direct confrontation, slave women had
the potential to resist in a way which pierced the very heart of slavery –
by denying white slave owners the labour and profits that their children
would one day provide.

http://journals.cambridge.org Downloaded: 13 Mar 2015 IP address: 203.64.11.45