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1. Gonaver mentions a census in 1840 that pointed to a disproportionately high rate of insanity among African Americans in Maine; what sort of observations were made regarding mental health in the census and how was this information procured? - Morgan

2. An identified source of distress among Civil War veterans in Virginia was the fall of the Confederacy and race relations following the war. How did this impact relationships between black and white patients and black and white patients and attendants? - Morgan

1. In chapter 3 of The Peculiar Institution and the Making of Modern Psychiatry, 1840-1880 it is interesting that at a time when religion seems important to the culture and morals that people are considered to be mentally ill with “religious excitement”. What would be the differences here that would take them out of the “norm” for religion and into what would have been considered a state of excitement? — Ruth Curran

2. In chapter 4 of The Peculiar Institution and the Making of Modern Psychiatry, 1840-1880 the author argues that “Asylum administrators increasingly chose to focus on women’s reproductive and sexual organs . . .” as the source for their mental instability instead of the violence they were exposed to from slavery and domestic violence. Could the source of such a large problem truly be considered this way so as to keep from having to come up with a solution to the cultural violence? Beyond domestic violence and violence from slavery, were there other kinds of violence people were exposed to that was acceptable to name as the cause for trauma?
 — Ruth Curran

1. The question of whether or not some Confederate soldiers used mental illness as a way to escape service is interesting when combined with the point that one would have to actually go to an institution. It brings up whether a culture of questioning if mental illness was real or being faked has always been apparent, as it is somewhat apart of popular culture now.-Margie Jones

2.In chapter one of The Peculiar Institution and the Making of Modern Psychiatry, Galt is credited with the idea of not wanting separate institutions from people of color. It is interesting that during this time that although there was major racism apparent there were not separate institutions. Similarly to my last question, is there less care for people of color in mental health? As it was thought that the labor that African Americans did was substantial for care, has this trend continued? And what was the effect of people of color who didn’t receive the institutional help they needed or deserved?-Margie Jones

1. I think it is very interesting to note that “the South’s approach to assistance to the needy was uniquely Southern, though heavily influenced at times by trends in American society.” I would like to get a deeper understanding of what this means or how some other areas differ, say like in the North or out in the West. -Jake Martin

2. It really struck me in the section about local help and aid how “aid was perceived as the responsibility of the older network of relatives, friends, neighbors, churches, and members of the local upper class.” What gets me about this is that following the Civil War and Reconstruction times many of these small communities were absolutely devastated so in theory how would the local community help if in some cases they probably needed help themselves? -Jake Martin