Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun dated an overwhelming urge to run away (from home, a bad situation, responsibility, etc.)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Coined in 1851 by Samuel A. Cartwright as a mental illness that caused black slaves to flee captivity. Ancient Greek δραπέτης (drapetes, "runaway slave") + μανία (mania, "madness").

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Examples

  • In fact, I was reminded by -- in 1851, there was a doctor named Samuel Cartwright who coined the term "drapetomania" to describe what he said was a syndrome of runaway slave who ran away from abusive treatment.

    CNN Transcript Aug 2, 2009 2009

  • The main theme is slavery and racial inequality which does not end with the War; the film is eye-opening because so many elements of it are not actually fictional - the psychiatric diagnosis of "drapetomania" to describe runaway slaves and justify medical treatment of same; the portrayal of slaves and negroes in brand advertising, several of which exist in our reality too e.g.

    Archive 2009-02-01 Sci-Fi Gene 2009

  • The main theme is slavery and racial inequality which does not end with the War; the film is eye-opening because so many elements of it are not actually fictional - the psychiatric diagnosis of "drapetomania" to describe runaway slaves and justify medical treatment of same; the portrayal of slaves and negroes in brand advertising, several of which exist in our reality too e.g.

    Review: Confederate States of America Sci-Fi Gene 2009

  • In fact, I was reminded by -- in 1851, there was a doctor named Samuel Cartwright who coined the term "drapetomania" to describe what he said was a syndrome of runaway slave who ran away from abusive treatment.

    CNN Transcript Aug 2, 2009 2009

  • [1] The absurdity of this belief is evident in Louisiana physician Dr. Samuel Cartwright's 1851 proposal of a psychiatric diagnosis (drapetomania) to explain the pathological tendency of Black slaves to flee captivity.

    The Trouble With Elves: Racial Dynamics in Harry Potter (Part 3) 2009

  • Examples - Drapetomania:In psychiatry, drapetomania was a mental illness described by American physician Samuel A. Cartwright in 1851 that caused black slaves to flee captivity.

    The Earth Is Flat Zoe Brain 2008

  • The so-called crazy desire of our foremothers and forefathers to be free was considered a disease with an actual name: drapetomania.

    Black Pain Terrie M. Williams 2008

  • The so-called crazy desire of our foremothers and forefathers to be free was considered a disease with an actual name: drapetomania.

    Black Pain Terrie M. Williams 2008

  • In addition to identifying drapetomania, Cartwright prescribed a remedy to cure the malady.

    The Earth Is Flat Zoe Brain 2008

  • Today, drapetomania is considered an example of pseudoscience, and part of the edifice of scientific racism.

    The Earth Is Flat Zoe Brain 2008

Comments

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  • Coined by Samuel Cartwright in 1851 and used to describe slaves who felt the strange burning desire to escape from the condition of slavery.

    June 1, 2009

  • Strange in what way?

    June 1, 2009

  • Strange as in totally inconsistent with the understanding of the world that many of the slaveowners held--an experience of cognitive estrangement upon encountering the behavior.

    June 5, 2009