The Civil War in Plants: A Botanical History

Slavery was at the heart of the South’s agrarian economy before and during the Civil War. Agriculture provided products essential to the war effort, from dietary rations to antimalarial drugs to raw materials for military uniforms and engineering. Drawing on a range of primary sources, this history examines the botany and ethnobotany of America’s defining conflict. The author describes the diverse roles of cash crops, herbal medicine, subsistence agriculture and the diet and cookery of enslaved people.

Judith Sumner is a botanist and author with particular interest in the historical uses of plants. She is a frequent lecturer for audiences of all kinds and has taught for many years at colleges and botanical gardens. She lives in Worcester, Massachusetts.