The question of whether or not cannibalism occurred in the Jamestown settlement in the 1600’s had been debated by historians for generations. Recently, scholars have turned their attention towards a different question with regards to the cannibalism rumors; the more modern line of inquiry about Jamestown, exemplified in Rachel Herrman’s The “tragicall historie”: Cannibalism and Abundance in Colonial Jamestown, is focused on the reasoning behind why multiple accounts of the events were published, and how the English interpreted these narratives. Historians have turned their attention to analyzing the potential motives of the five main accounts of the events in Jamestown, with relation to what was happening in the context before and after the
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This is due to three commonalities of that time; past famines, the view of Native Americans, and the medical practices of the 1600’s. In this analysis of the cannibalism rumors of Jamestown, Herrman explained that the English were well aquatinted with the concept of famine and starvation. In the decades that lead up the English exploration of North America, England had experienced two famines, and nearly 20-50 % of the population of England were living in poverty. With these experiences in their lives, it is not surprising that English citizens would not be astounded that the circumstances in Jamestown had been harsh enough to resort to cannibalism. A secondary contributor to this reaction was the the preconceived idea of cannibalism in Native American North America. Previous accounts of North America written by explorers, like those by Sir John Mandeville that Herrman referred to, noted that Native Americans often participated in the eating of human beings. This expectation of cannibalism occurring in North America most likely softened the initial shock of the rumored circumstances in Jamestown. The tertiary reason for the seemingly under reaction of the English is due to the medical practices of 17th century Europe. Although it was not considered an every-day medicine, doctors at that time would suggest remedies for diseases and conditions like epilepsy and vertigo that derived from human bodies. In her explanation, Herrman used the examples of eating dried placenta and powdered human skulls as cures to the previously mentioned ailments. The conditions in which the English citizens of the early 1600’s lead to the surprised yet seemingly
This is due to three commonalities of that time; past famines, the view of Native Americans, and the medical practices of the 1600’s. In this analysis of the cannibalism rumors of Jamestown, Herrman explained that the English were well aquatinted with the concept of famine and starvation. In the decades that lead up the English exploration of North America, England had experienced two famines, and nearly 20-50 % of the population of England were living in poverty. With these experiences in their lives, it is not surprising that English citizens would not be astounded that the circumstances in Jamestown had been harsh enough to resort to cannibalism. A secondary contributor to this reaction was the the preconceived idea of cannibalism in Native American North America. Previous accounts of North America written by explorers, like those by Sir John Mandeville that Herrman referred to, noted that Native Americans often participated in the eating of human beings. This expectation of cannibalism occurring in North America most likely softened the initial shock of the rumored circumstances in Jamestown. The tertiary reason for the seemingly under reaction of the English is due to the medical practices of 17th century Europe. Although it was not considered an every-day medicine, doctors at that time would suggest remedies for diseases and conditions like epilepsy and vertigo that derived from human bodies. In her explanation, Herrman used the examples of eating dried placenta and powdered human skulls as cures to the previously mentioned ailments. The conditions in which the English citizens of the early 1600’s lead to the surprised yet seemingly