Revolutionary medicine
Subtitle: the Founding Fathers and mothers in sickness and in health
By: Jeanne E. Abrams
Publisher: New York University Press; NYU Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: New York; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 306
ISBN-13: 9780814789193
Subjects: Medical care; Founding Fathers of the United States; Public health; Philosophy; History
Description: 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. -- Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-287) and index.
Table of contents: title: Health and medicine in the era of America's founders; title: George and Martha Washington : health, illness, and the First Family; title: Benjamin Franklin : a founding father of American medicine; title: Abigail and John Adams : partners in sickness and health; title: Thomas Jefferson : advocate for healthy living; title: Thomas Jefferson : the health of the nation; title: Evolutionary medicine.