CColonial
Period 1607 - 1783
|
Medical Practice in Colonial Times
Medical practice in the early colonial American period
was characterized by kitchen remedies and preacher - physicians. As
the colonial period progresses we will see a shift from the utilization
of kitchen remedies and preacher physicians to the private practices of
professional doctors and the building of general hospitals. There are
three different factors we can look at during the colonial period to see
these shifts in medical practice. These factors are the role of the
preacher physician and it's transition into the modern medical practitioner,
the smallpox epidemic, and the art of obstetrics (childbirth) and it's advances
during the colonial period. .
. The first physicians in America were mostly preachers. Preachers
were called preacher physicians because of their double practice in medicine
and religion. Sickness was often related to sin or a test from God
in early colonial times (Le Beau 3). Preacher physicians being the
most learned professionals in the field of religion resulted in the the belief
that the preachers knew the most about the sicknesses and their origin
during the early colonial period. Over nine percent of preachers
in early colonial America were physicians (Watson 96). This shows the great
number of preachers who participated in medical practice. As a physician
the preacher could be used as a tool for the conversion of many people into
Christianity because illness were explained by religous reasons (Watson 96).
Preacher physicians were motivated to help out the sick for not only
financial stability but the health of his congregation and townspeople. Medical
practices were supposedly advanced in England because they had medical graduates
but Le Beau argues that colonial America was just as advanced because they
were learning all of the same criteria(Le Beau 1). This shows that medicine
wasn't advanced well in the 1600's and the early 1700's because a preacher
in America without being trained in school had the same amount of knowledge
as a medical graduate in England. The reason that professional physicians
didn't come to America because of the hardships of starting colonies and
the limited opportunity for a professional practice in the crudely defined
colonies of America (Deutsch 563). The preacher physician and the lay
physicians didn't have much conflict until the smallpox epidemic in 1721
hit Boston and the use of inoculation was questioned.
The smallpox epidemic had a great impact on Boston
which proved to be the battleground for the argument of inoculation. Inoculation
is the use of a mild form of a virus or disease that is given to the patient
to prevent the affects of the full blown virus. There were two influential
sides of this argument. The one side was that of the preacher physicians,
which was lead by Cotton Mather and Zabdiel Boylston. Cotton Mather
first argued that preachers should be the only physicians of the colony
because they were the most learned professionals of the colony (Le Beau
3). This first argument doesn't involve inoculation, but the argument of
the abilities of a preacher physician compared to the lay physician of the
colonial period. He also supported inoculation on the basis of "angelical
conjunction" (Le Beau 3). The bond between the roles of preacher and
physician and their ability to perform inoculation was praised by Cotton
Mather and his colleagues on the basis of their great knowledge and relationship
with God. Cotton Mather was a Harvard graduate who received his M.A.
degree by the time he was 18, he lived a life dedicated to study and prayer
(Britannica). Three opposing views belonged to William Douglas,
John Williams, and the Applebee Journal. William Douglas opposed inoculation
mostly because of his opposition to the preacher physician and his inability
to practice medicine on the basis of religion (Le Beau 3). John Williams
opposed it because it didn't coincide with the law of physic (Le Beau 7).
Applebee's Journal stated in August 5, 1721 that they only have had
bad luck with inoculation in Boston (Miller 479). They also continued
to criticize inoculation throughout it's experiments and trials. Despite
harsh opposition to inoculation it prevailed over it's opponents as stories
of it's success spread throughout the country. Zabdiel Boylston inoculated
247 people and only 6 of them died (Le Beau 4). Dr. Charles Maitland
and Dr. Thomas Nettleton were very successful in their experiments with inoculation,
Dr. Nettleton performed 40 successful inoculations with no fatalities (Miller
479). The battle of inoculation was won by the preacher physicians,
and the "Society for Inoculating the Poor Grates" was formed with eight
physicians to provide inoculations for the needy (Deutsch 574). This was
formed because poor children were often the victims of smallpox because
they couldn't afford inoculations. Douglas even commented privately
that inoculation was better to go through than to contract smallpox through
nature (Le Beau 4). Douglas's approval of inoculation only
helped to confirm it's success. The lower death rate in the inoculated
also provides more evidence for proving the success of inoculation. This
is confirmed by Albert Deutsch who notes that, "the chief victims of this
visitation [smallpox] were children of the poor, who could not afford the
expense of inoculation (574). However the battle between the preacher
physician and the lay physicians was won by the lay physicians because they
proved that preachers weren't the most learned physician (Le Beau 8). The
battle of inoculation and of the preacher physician allowed for a cure for
smallpox and a new method for the prevention of epidemics, and allowed for
the transition of the preacher physicians into the medical physicians of
America today.
Medical advances can be shown in obstetrics (medical
practice in childbirth). Childbirth was left up to the midwifes in
the colonies until the 1760's (Scholten 427). The midwife had to rely
on the help of their mother or another female women in the neighborhood
for the assistance of childbirth. Many women became talented in this
field and enjoyed some medical recognition (Scholten 429). There wasn't
much success in childbirth though. Many instances of babies and their
mothers dying is reported throughout history. For example, when there
were complications during the pregnancy, the midwife would sometimes try
to turn the child and deliver the baby, but if that didn't work the birth
usually failed (Scholten 429). Scholten describes a case in which Thomas
Clap, president of Yale College, lost his wife in time of childbirth (Scholten
428) The complications of childbirth were somewhat solved in the introduction
of forceps. In "On the Importance of Obstretick Art: Changing
customs of Childbirth in America," we find in the beginning the first doctor
in America with London training in midwifery, his name is William Shippen
Jr.: He used forceps to retrieve the child in the account of a delivery
in the first part of this article (Scholten 429). If a child was born
feet first, it could be retrieved with forceps to complete the process.
Obstetricks moved from the responsibility of the midwife to the responsibility
of the professional practitioners and physicians of the late 1700's. We
can see the first transition from midwife to physician when midwifes were
required to take an oath in Massachusetts and New York in 1716 in order
to deliver children legally (Scholten 428). This was enforced to recognize
the responsibilities of the midwives. More doctors came to America
in the late 1700's participated in midwifery as medicine advanced and the
medical needs of our society grew.
There was many advances in medicine during the colonial
period of America. The early part of the colonial period consisted
of midwifes and preachers who provided comfort in time of sicknesses. Explanations
for sicknesses were provided by religion instead of science, and death
rates were high from epidemics and childbirth. As we grew into the
late 1700's, we find many advances in medical practices. The medical
practices advanced as the need of our people increased, such as in the smallpox
epidemic of 1721. America's people moved from the practice of kitchen
remedies and the comforting of the soul to the education of doctors and advances
in vaccines and tools to increase the success rates of our medical practitioners.
The truth of success in numbers helped to promote inoculation, the numbers
in successful childbirths increased as well. Medical practices advanced
greatly during colonial America.
Bibliography
Deutsch, Albert. The Sick Poor in Colonial Times.
The American Historical Review 46 (Apr., 1941): 560-579.
Le Beau, Bryan F. The 'angelical conjunction' revisited: Another
Look at the Preacher-Physician in Colonial America.
Journal of American Culture 18 (Fall 95): 10.
"Mather, Cotton." Enyclopedia Britannica. 2001ed.
Miller, Genevieve. Smallpox Inoculation in England and America:
A Reappraisal. William and Mary Quarterly
13 (1956):
476-492.
Scholten, Catherine M. "On the Importance of Obstetrick Art."
William and Mary Quarterly 34 (Jul., 1997): 426-445.
Watson, Patricia Ann. Book Reviews: "The Angelical
Conjunction: The Preacher-Physicians of Colonial New England."
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 32 (Mar 93): 96.