The advances of medicine in colonial America was
ultimately influenced by England‘s superior colleges, physicians, and
scientists. In early colonial America when new colonies were
crude and full of hardships and labor, colonial America didn’t
consist of any professional physicians or doctors. There was
simply no opportunity for a professional practice in crude
beginnings of colonial America. A highly recognized belief of
the colonial period was the connection of illnesses and disease
with tests and punishments of God. Therefore it was only natural
that the preacher took on the role of the medical practitioner
although the treatments of illness were usually attempted to be cured
by spiritual healing rather than physical treatment. There
wasn’t a great success rate, and illnesses were left to take their
natural course because they were divinely sent and human
interaction was not permitted. America built up it’s colonies,
governments, and population so when more and more illnesses
weren’t treated successfully and smallpox and other epidemics struck,
the demand for a solution enormous. In the mid to late
1700's , trained medical practitioners came to America and contemporary
theories of medicine were absorbed from medical
circles in England resulting in the demise of the preacher physician.
No longer was the spiritual healing as important as the
direct physical results of treatment.
*Inoculation , which was supported by preacher physicians,
was consequently one important factor that resulted in the
demise of the conjunction of preacher and physician because of
the resulting advance- ment of medicine. Boston was infested
with smallpox without hope in 1721 until Cotton Mather’s famous espousal
of inoculation (Deutsch 574). Cotton Mather was
the major voice of the preacher physicians speaking for their right
to utilize inoculation, while Zabdiel Boylsten performed
inoculations in privacy using civil disobedience to prove the treatment’s
validity (Miller 477). We see the opponents of the
inoculations to be well trained European physicians and Boston authorities.
One french physician, Dr. Lawrence Dalhonde,
gave an account of only “evil consequenses” that resulted from inoculations
performed in Italy, Spain, and Flanders (Miller
478). After this account Boylsten was reprimanded and forbidden
to conduct inoculations (Miller 478). When the Boston
authorities forbid Boylsten from his practice by advice from opposing
prominent physicians, they were inhibiting an advance in
medicine, ultimately supporting the existence of the preacher physician.
One prominent lay physician of colonial America,
William Douglas, who received his medical degree from the University
of Edinburgh spoke out against inoculation mainly
because he opposed Cotton Mather and his preacher physicians of colonial
America instead of the validity of inoculation (Le
Beau 3). William Douglas’s opposition to the conjunction of preacher
and physician would eventually be fulfilled because of
medical advancement. This previous statement being true results
in the new truth: preacher physicians supported their own
extinction by supporting inoculation, an advancement in medicine.
This meant more knowledge had to be learned in medicine
to practice the most cotemporary medicine available leaving the preacher
physician at a standstill because medicine was
advancing beyond the compromising means of the conjunction of preacher
and physician. The physician was too advanced to
allow for time to study and preach to their congregations.
English support of inoculation after it’s proven
success combined with England’s great influence in America led to the rapid
acceptance and use of inoculation in the most contemporary advancing
medical circles in England and ultimately America. In
London, during the period of the Boston smallpox epidemic, an experiment
was successfully completed on the Newgate
prisoners who were inoculated and their immunity tested (Miller 479).
Twenty five physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries
witnessed the events and it was ultimately approved in England.
The inoculation’s success was approved in England and the
Smallpox and Inoculation Hospital in London was founded in 1746 (Miller
476). This shows us how England accepted
inoculation and built upon it almost immediately. We can now identify
a medical circle in colonial America that was formed after
inoculation was accepted and approved by medical circles in England,
proving England‘s influence on colonial America in the
advancement of medicine. Showing America’s appro followed
when forming the “Society for Inoculating the Poor Gratis,” this
was to provide inoculations for people who couldn’t afford it (Deutsch
574). This society was eventually stopped, but the
adaption of England’s advances are apparent in colonial America.
After England approved inoculation and setup hospitals,
only then did we follow their footsteps and organize a society to perform
the same duties.
Many physicians were trained in England and other
parts of Europe before they came to America. This movement of
doctors to America represents the direct influence of contemporary
medicine from England being channeled into practice
among the primitive kitchen remedies and spiritual healing of the preacher
physician. These London trained doctors migrated
into America after it was stabilized and there was an opportunity for
professional practices, rather than the harsh conditions as
described with early colonial America. William Shippen Jr. was
one of the first London trained doctors in America. He grew
up in Philadelphia attending Nottingham Academy and the College of
New Jersey. He then went to England graduating from
the University of Edinburgh in 1761, he moved promptly to Philadelphia
where he started a practice in obstetrics (cope 427).
William was a well respected London trained physician who was later
given the opportunity to teach anatomy and obstetrics in
the Philadelphia Hospital. The medical training William received
at Edinburgh was crucial to his success in America. This was
because doctors from England who carried college degrees were regarded
highly in colonial America. A colleague of William
Shippen Jr. was John Morgan who also attended Nottingham Academy and
the College of New Jersey, he also went to
Edinburgh two years after William in 1763 (Cope 341). Morgan
became a professor for the theory and practice of physik at
the Pennsylvania Hospital (Cope 341). These professional doctors
replaced the preacher physician because of their higher
knowledge of the human body and their high success rates. For
example the death rate for performing lithotomies was 50%,
while Dr. William Cheselden improved the success rate to about 6% (Franchetti
468). These advances could not be kept up
with by preacher physicians. Another example of the training
of Americans in London to become professional medical
physicians was that of Dr. William Pasteur. Dr. Pasteur
was one of the first colonial apothecaries. He studied in America
under Dr. George Gilmer but then left to train at St. Thomas’s hospital
in London for a year (Smith). This proves the
importance of London to the success of doctors in America. A
colleague of Dr. Pasteur was Dr. John Minson Galt who
attended the College of William and Mary and studied at St. Thomas’s
Hospital (Smith). Dr. Pasteur and Dr. Galt both
escaped to London to get the best education and reputation in America.
They succeeded in apothecary because of their
training, the same training that resulted in the demise of the preacher
physician. We can find the theme of advanced medicine
being led by England resulting in the ultimate extinction of the preacher
physician in Philadelphia. Cope states that pupils
studying under practitioners at the Philadelphia hospital were strongly
urged to study in Europe, and those that did, “brought
medical degrees from famous schools, personal acquaintances with Europe’s
leading medical men, and a firsthand knowledge
of contemporary medicine (Cope 340). This captivates the important
role of England and Europe in medical advancement, and their
influence on American doctors during the colonial period.
Pennsylvania Hospital, established in 1751, became
the first general hospital in America, which directly resulted in the
eliminatino of the preacher physician in America. Almost all
the doctors had training from London, proving that England’s
influence on America was a direct result in the demise of the preacher
physician. Thomas Bond, M.D., who was concerned for
the poor sick and the insane in Philadelphia, had seen hospitals abroad
and wanted to introduce a general hospital to America
(First 25). The most respected physicians to be installed in
the hospital were mostly had training in England and other
parts of Europe. We can see advances in medicine in fields such
as obstetrics. In early colonial America, only women were
allowed to be involved with the duties of childbirth. The first
baby was delivered at Pennsylvania hospital in 1765 (Savage
49). When we study the advancement of obstetrics we find Dr.
Mckenzie being a great influential teacher to both William
Shippen Jr. and Thomas Parker who both had received London training
and practiced at Pennsylvania hospital (Bell 574).
London had it’s own counselor for American students of medicine studying
in England, Dr. John Fothergill, who encouraged
students such as Thomas Parker to remain in London to finish their
studies (Bell 574). The education of American doctors in
England was discrediting to all beliefs of the preacher physicians,
concentrating on experiments and observation, which led to
beginnings of contemporary medical practice near the end of the colonial
period. Pennsylvania recognized the medical degrees
of the London trained physicians, showing the approval of these doctors
to be the most respected and skilled in the mid -
1700’s, which was the same time that preacher physicians disappeared.
Many factors have influenced our nation’s advance
in medical care which caused the diminishing of the preacher physician.
Success was being shown in through the work of the revolutionizing
doctors of London. The London training of American
physicians, and the European influence on America to create hospitals
and colleges quickly surpassed the old kitchen remedies
of the preacher physician, such as the bleeding of patients and their
reliance on God to help them with their sickness. The new
wave of physicians treated patients with high success rates.
The strength of these numbers surpassed the strong voice of the
preacher physician, especially during times of need.
* Inoculation - to introduce a mild form of a disease or virus to a
person or animal in order to produce immunity (Webster 86).
Works Cited
Bell, Whitfield J., Jr. Thomas Parke, M.B., Physician and Friend. William and Mary Quarterly. 6 (Oct., 1949): 569 - 595.
Cope, Thomas D. Scientific Landmarks from Philadelphia's Colonial
Days. The Scientific Monthly. 73 (Dec., 1951):
339-342.
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.
First U.S. Hospital had Humble Start. Modern Healthcare. 31 (Dec., 2001): 25.
Franchetti, Michael A. Medicine in Colonial America. The
Hournal of the American Medical Association. 285 (Jan.,2001):
468..
Miller, Genevieve. Smallpox Inoculation in England and America:
A Reappraisal. William and Mary Quarterly 13
(1956): 476-492.
Savage, Todd. Oldest Living Hospital Tells All. Hospitals & Health Networks. 72 (Jul., 1998): 48.
Smith, Sherri. "Pasteur & Galt Apothecary Shop." American
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