Cartwright is most remembered for inventing, in this report, a condition he called drapetomania, or the desire to flee from servitude. According to him, drapetomania is a mental disorder akin to alienation (madness). He said that slaves should be kept in a submissive state and treated like children, with "care, kindness, attention, and humanity to prevent and cure them from running away." If they nonetheless became dissatisfied with their condition, they should be whipped to prevent them from running away. In describing his theory and cure for drapetomania, Cartwright relied on passages of Christian scripture dealing with slavery.