Book ID: CBB001420192

Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health (2013)

unapi

Abrams, Jeanne E. (Author)


New York University Press


Publication Date: 2013
Physical Details: viii + 306 pp.; ill.; bibl.; index
Language: English

Before the advent of modern antibiotics, one's life could be abruptly shattered by contagion and death, and debility from infectious diseases and epidemics was commonplace for early Americans, regardless of social status. Concerns over health affected the founding fathers and their families as it did slaves, merchants, immigrants, and everyone else in North America. As both victims of illness and national leaders, the Founders occupied a unique position regarding the development of public health in America. This work refocuses the study of the lives of George and Martha Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John and Abigail Adams, and James and Dolley Madison away from the usual lens of politics to the unique perspective of sickness, health, and medicine in their era. For the founders, republican ideals fostered a reciprocal connection between individual health and the 'health' of the nation. Studying the encounters of these American founders with illness and disease, as well as their viewpoints about good health, not only provides us with insight into their lives, but also opens a first-hand window into the practice of medicine in the eighteenth century. Perhaps most importantly, today's American public health initiatives have their roots in the work of America's founders, for they recognized early on that government had compelling reasons to shoulder some new responsibilities with respect to ensuring the health and well-being of its citizenry. The state of medicine and public healthcare today is still a work in progress, but these founders played a significant role in beginning the conversation that shaped the contours of its development.

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Reviewed By

Review Finger, Simon (2014) Review of "Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health". Bulletin of the History of Medicine (pp. 383-384). unapi

Review Wehrman, Andrew (2014) Review of "Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health". Journal of American History (pp. 919-920). unapi

Review Skinner, Daniel (2014) Review of "Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health". Medical History (pp. 619-621). unapi

Review Kopperman, Paul E. (2014) Review of "Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health". Social History of Medicine (pp. 820-821). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001420192/

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Authors & Contributors
Aderinto, Saheed
Carney, Judith Ann
Coclanis, Peter A.
Cox, Catherine
Ginsberg, Judah B.
Jones, M.
Journals
Korean Journal of Medical History
American Historical Review
Asclepio: Archivo Iberoamericano de Historia de la Medicina
Bulletin for the History of Chemistry
Business History Review
Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation
Publishers
Cambridge University Press
Knopf
Palgrave Macmillan
University of Chicago Press
Verso
Concepts
Colonialism
Disease and diseases
Slavery
Public health
Medicine and government
Science and politics
People
Jefferson, Thomas
Madison, James
Adams, John
Washington, George
Bartram, John
Hamilton, Alexander
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
20th century
17th century
20th century, early
Enlightenment
Places
United States
Caribbean
North America
Great Britain
South America
Africa
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