Josiah C. Nott
Encyclopedia
Josiah Clark Nott was an American physician
and surgeon
. He was also an author of surgical
, yellow fever
, and race theories.
, son of the Federalist
politician and judge Abraham Nott
. He received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania
in 1827 and completed his post-graduate training in Paris, France. He moved to Mobile
, Alabama
in 1833 and began a surgical practice.
Nott took up theories that the mosquito
was a vector for malaria
, held by John Crawford
and his contemporary Lewis Daniel Beauperthy. He is credited as being the first to apply the insect vector theory to yellow fever
, then a serious health problem of the American South. In his 1850 Yellow Fever Contrasted with Bilious Fever he attacked the prevailing miasma theory. Nott lost four of his own children to yellow fever in September 1853.
Nott was influenced by the racial theories of Samuel George Morton
(1799–1851), one of the inspirators of physical anthropology
. Morton collected hundreds of human skulls from around the world and tried to classify them. Morton had been among the first to claim that he could judge the intellectual capacity of a race by the cranial capacity
(the measure of the volume of the interior of the skull). A large skull meant a large brain and high intellectual capacity, and a small skull indicated a small brain and decreased intellectual capacity. By studying these skulls he came to the conclusion of polygenism
, that each race had a separate origin.
Nott, the owner of nine slaves, "used his influence and his science to defend the subjugation of blacks through slavery". He claimed that "the negro achieves his greatest perfection, physical and moral, and also greatest longevity, in a state of slavery".
Morton's followers, particularly Josiah Nott and George Gliddon
(1809–57) in their monumental tribute to Morton's work, Types of Mankind (1854), carried Morton's ideas further and claimed and backed up his findings which supported the notion of polygenism, which claims that humanity originates from different lineages and is the ancestor of the multiregional hypothesis.
In their book, Nott and Gliddon argued that the races of mankind occupied distinct zoological provinces and did not originate from a single pair, they both believed God had created each race and positioned each race in separate provinces. The doctrine of zoological provinces outlined in types of mankind did not allow for superiority of one type of race over another, each type was suited to its own province, and was superior in its own area. Nott claimed that because races were created in different provinces, that each race types must be of equal antiquity. However Nott and other polygenists such as Gliddon believed that the biblical Adam means "to show red in the face" or "blusher"; since only light skinned people can blush, then the biblical Adam must be the Caucasian race.
Nott persistently attacked the scientific basis of the bible and also rejected the theory of evolution, claiming that the environment does not change any organism into another, and also rejecting common descent
. Nott believed monogenism was "absurd" and had no biblical or scientific basis. He pointed to excavations in Egypt which depicted animals and humans as they looked today to refute monogenism and evolution. According to Nott, the monuments and artifacts found in Egypt show us that the "White, Mongolian and Negro existed at least five thousand years ago". Nott claimed that this proved beyond dispute that each race had been created separately.
Nott claimed that the writers of the Bible had no knowledge of any races except themselves and their immediate neighbors, and that the Bible does not concern the whole of the earth's population. According to Nott there are no verses in the Bible which support monogenism and that the only passage the monogenists use is Acts 17:26, but according to Nott the monogenists are wrong in their interpretation of that verse because the "one blood" of Paul's sermon only includes the nations he knew existed, which were local.
In 1856, Nott hired Henry Hotze
, to translate Arthur de Gobineau
's An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races
(1853–55), a founding text of "biological racism" that contrasts with Boulainvilliers (1658–1722)'s theory of races and provided an appendix with the latest results. Gobineau subsequently complained that Hotze's translation had ignored his comments on "American decay generally and slaveholding in particular".
Charles Darwin
opposed Nott and Gliddon's polygenist (and creationists) arguments in his 1871 The Descent of Man, arguing for a monogenism of the species. Darwin conceived the common origin of all humans (aka single-origin hypothesis) as essential for evolutionary theory. Darwin cited Nott and Gliddon's arguments as an example of those classing the races of man as separate species; Darwin disagreed and he concluded that humanity is one species.
Nott was a founder of the Medical College
of Alabama, established in Mobile in 1858, and served as its Professor of Surgery. In 1860 he successfully appealed to the state legislature
for a monetary appropriation and a state charter for the school. During the American Civil War
he served as a Confederate
surgeon, staff officer, and hospital inspector. He lost both of his remaining sons to the war. Upon his own death in 1873 he was interred in Magnolia Cemetery
in Mobile.
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
. He was also an author of surgical
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
, and race theories.
Biography
Josiah Nott was born in South CarolinaSouth Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, son of the Federalist
Federalist Party (United States)
The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...
politician and judge Abraham Nott
Abraham Nott
Abraham Nott was a United States Representative from South Carolina. Born in Saybrook, Connecticut, he was educated in early life by a private teacher. He graduated from Yale College in 1787 and in 1788 moved to McIntosh County, Georgia, where he became a private tutor for one year. He moved to...
. He received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1827 and completed his post-graduate training in Paris, France. He moved to Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
in 1833 and began a surgical practice.
Nott took up theories that the mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
was a vector for malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, held by John Crawford
John Crawford
John Crawford may refer to:* John Crawford , Australian economist* John Crawford , American actor* John Crawford , Canadian hockey player...
and his contemporary Lewis Daniel Beauperthy. He is credited as being the first to apply the insect vector theory to yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
, then a serious health problem of the American South. In his 1850 Yellow Fever Contrasted with Bilious Fever he attacked the prevailing miasma theory. Nott lost four of his own children to yellow fever in September 1853.
Nott was influenced by the racial theories of Samuel George Morton
Samuel George Morton
Samuel George Morton was an American physician and natural scientist. Morton, reared a Quaker but became Episcopalian in midlife, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1820. After earning an advanced degree from Edinburgh University in...
(1799–1851), one of the inspirators of physical anthropology
Physical anthropology
Biological anthropology is that branch of anthropology that studies the physical development of the human species. It plays an important part in paleoanthropology and in forensic anthropology...
. Morton collected hundreds of human skulls from around the world and tried to classify them. Morton had been among the first to claim that he could judge the intellectual capacity of a race by the cranial capacity
Cranial capacity
Cranial capacity is a measure of the volume of the interior of the cranium of those vertebrates who have both a cranium and a brain. The most commonly used unit of measure is the cubic centimetre or cc...
(the measure of the volume of the interior of the skull). A large skull meant a large brain and high intellectual capacity, and a small skull indicated a small brain and decreased intellectual capacity. By studying these skulls he came to the conclusion of polygenism
Polygenism
Polygenism is a theory of human origins positing that the human races are of different lineages . This is opposite to the idea of monogenism, which posits a single origin of humanity.- Origins :...
, that each race had a separate origin.
Nott, the owner of nine slaves, "used his influence and his science to defend the subjugation of blacks through slavery". He claimed that "the negro achieves his greatest perfection, physical and moral, and also greatest longevity, in a state of slavery".
Morton's followers, particularly Josiah Nott and George Gliddon
George Gliddon
George Robins Gliddon was an English-born American Egyptologist. He was born in Devonshire, England. His father, a merchant, was United States consul at Alexandria where Gliddon was taken at an early age....
(1809–57) in their monumental tribute to Morton's work, Types of Mankind (1854), carried Morton's ideas further and claimed and backed up his findings which supported the notion of polygenism, which claims that humanity originates from different lineages and is the ancestor of the multiregional hypothesis.
In their book, Nott and Gliddon argued that the races of mankind occupied distinct zoological provinces and did not originate from a single pair, they both believed God had created each race and positioned each race in separate provinces. The doctrine of zoological provinces outlined in types of mankind did not allow for superiority of one type of race over another, each type was suited to its own province, and was superior in its own area. Nott claimed that because races were created in different provinces, that each race types must be of equal antiquity. However Nott and other polygenists such as Gliddon believed that the biblical Adam means "to show red in the face" or "blusher"; since only light skinned people can blush, then the biblical Adam must be the Caucasian race.
Nott persistently attacked the scientific basis of the bible and also rejected the theory of evolution, claiming that the environment does not change any organism into another, and also rejecting common descent
Common descent
In evolutionary biology, a group of organisms share common descent if they have a common ancestor. There is strong quantitative support for the theory that all living organisms on Earth are descended from a common ancestor....
. Nott believed monogenism was "absurd" and had no biblical or scientific basis. He pointed to excavations in Egypt which depicted animals and humans as they looked today to refute monogenism and evolution. According to Nott, the monuments and artifacts found in Egypt show us that the "White, Mongolian and Negro existed at least five thousand years ago". Nott claimed that this proved beyond dispute that each race had been created separately.
Nott claimed that the writers of the Bible had no knowledge of any races except themselves and their immediate neighbors, and that the Bible does not concern the whole of the earth's population. According to Nott there are no verses in the Bible which support monogenism and that the only passage the monogenists use is Acts 17:26, but according to Nott the monogenists are wrong in their interpretation of that verse because the "one blood" of Paul's sermon only includes the nations he knew existed, which were local.
In 1856, Nott hired Henry Hotze
Henry Hotze
Henry Hotze was a Swiss-born propagandist for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
, to translate Arthur de Gobineau
Arthur de Gobineau
Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau was a French aristocrat, novelist and man of letters who became famous for developing the theory of the Aryan master race in his book An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races...
's An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races
An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races
Essai sur l'inégalité des races humaines by Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau was intended as a work of philosophical enquiry into decline and degeneration...
(1853–55), a founding text of "biological racism" that contrasts with Boulainvilliers (1658–1722)'s theory of races and provided an appendix with the latest results. Gobineau subsequently complained that Hotze's translation had ignored his comments on "American decay generally and slaveholding in particular".
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
opposed Nott and Gliddon's polygenist (and creationists) arguments in his 1871 The Descent of Man, arguing for a monogenism of the species. Darwin conceived the common origin of all humans (aka single-origin hypothesis) as essential for evolutionary theory. Darwin cited Nott and Gliddon's arguments as an example of those classing the races of man as separate species; Darwin disagreed and he concluded that humanity is one species.
Nott was a founder of the Medical College
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
of Alabama, established in Mobile in 1858, and served as its Professor of Surgery. In 1860 he successfully appealed to the state legislature
Alabama Legislature
The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members...
for a monetary appropriation and a state charter for the school. During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
he served as a Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
surgeon, staff officer, and hospital inspector. He lost both of his remaining sons to the war. Upon his own death in 1873 he was interred in Magnolia Cemetery
Magnolia Cemetery (Mobile, Alabama)
Magnolia Cemetery is a city cemetery located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The cemetery is situated on and was established in 1836. From that time onward it served as Mobile's primary burial site during the 19th century. It is the final resting place for many of Mobile's 19th and early 20th...
in Mobile.
Works
- Nott, Josiah Clark. Sketch of the Epidemic of Yellow Fever of 1847, in Mobile. (1848)
- Nott, Josiah Clark. Two Lectures on the Connection between the Biblical and Physical History of Man, Delivered by Invitation, from the Chair of Political Economy, Etc., of the Louisiana University, in December, 1848. (1848)
- Nott, Josiah Clark, and Ralph Hermon Major. Yellow Fever Contrasted with Bilious Fever: Reasons for Believing It a Disease Sui Generis - Its Mode of Propagation - Remote Cause - Probable Insect or Animalcular Origin. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific (1850)
- Nott, Josiah Clark. An Essay on the Natural History of Mankind, Viewed in Connection with Negro Slavery Delivered Before the Southern Rights Association, 14 December 1850. (1851)
- Nott, Josiah Clark, George R. Gliddon, Samuel George Morton, Louis Agassiz, William Usher, and Henry S. Patterson. Types of Mankind: Or, Ethnological Researches : Based Upon the Ancient Monuments, Paintings, Sculptures, and Crania of Races, and Upon Their Natural, Geographical, Philological and Biblical History, Illustrated by Selections from the Inedited Papers of Samuel George Morton and by Additional Contributions from L. Agassiz, W. Usher, and H.S. Patterson. (1854)
- Nott, Josiah Clark, George Robins Gliddon, and Louis Ferdinand Alfred Maury. Indigenous Races of the Earth; Or, New Chapters of Ethnological Inquiry; Including Monographs on Special Departments. (1857)