2010
Angela S. Hawk
- Doctoral Candidate
- University of California, Irvine
![Picture of Angela S. Hawk](https://www.acls.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/57047C50-7458-DF11-BC5E-000C293A51F7.jpg)
Abstract
This dissertation examines the history of insanity in the major Pacific gold-rush regions of the nineteenth century. Drawing on extensive archival research in California, British Columbia, and eastern Australia, it demonstrates that the interconnected character of the mining booms created a substantial migrant patient population that circulated within and between these regions. In turn, the themes of mobility, mining, and migration came to inform a distinct trans-Pacific discourse on insanity, one concerned with the unique mental strain posed by gold-rush living and the inherent incapacity of certain migrant “classes” to cope with its vices and disappointments. This discourse subsequently shaped major international legal trends defining the racial and socio-economic boundaries of the “healthy” nation.