Necropolis - Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom

In antebellum New Orleans, whites and Blacks died in droves from yellow fever. But the fortunes of survivors were less equal. Kathryn Olivarius explores the resulting framework of “immunocapital.” For whites, immunity signaled creditworthiness. For enslaved Blacks, immunity enhanced their exploitability, relegating them to the harshest labor.