The Revolutionary War: Medicine
Medicine during the Revolutionary War was indeed crude compared to modern practices. However, as Lars Hedbor points out, “the passage of time may make some of our contemporary practices look barbaric and primitive in turn” (Hedbor). Therefore, reflection upon the practices of bygone eras needs to be conducted with an open mind and proper perspective. It is important to maintain the understanding that the colonist did not have access to the same knowledge, resources, and technology which are used in modern times. The colonists may made different choices if they had modern knowledge. During the Revolutionary War, the methods used had been in practice for over a millennium and a half.
The colonist followed the Humoral Theory, which originated in Greek medicine and was central to the teachings of Galen and Hippocrates (Osborn). The four humors of the Humoral Theory are blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile (Osborn). The belief during the Revolutionary War remained that illness was caused by an imbalance of the humors and, therefore, it was necessary to balance them by adding or draining one of the fluids (Brady). Methods for draining these fluids included emetics, diuretics, scalpels, and leeches. Emetics cause vomiting and diuretics cause urination. A common treatment for balancing the humors was bloodletting.
…show more content…
Another practice used involved first creating an infection on scalded skin with a poultice, then draining the pus from the infection. Medicine during the Revolutionary War focused on relieving pain, providing comfort and support.
The medicines used were essentially herbal remedies. A few examples of the medicines were “laudanum or paregoric (opiate tinctures), calomel (a mercury compound), cream of tartar and spirits of lavender” (Hedbor). Quinine, a crystalline compound made from cinchona bark, was used to treat Malaria. Malaria was a major cause of death during the Revolutionary War, “South of New England, malaria had a devastating effect on the population, particularly to newcomers to the climate, who had no acquired immunity to the disease”
(Brady). In addition to relieving pain, doctors during the Revolutionary War would set bones or perform an amputation (The History of Medicine). Amputations were often performed without anesthesia or sterilization. Officers were given rum and brandy, but enlisted soldiers were only given a wooden stick to bite down on. The instruments used for an amputation were a leather tourniquet, surgeon’s knife, bone saw, and needles. This procedure would be done as quickly as possible and the wound was closed. “A competent surgeon could saw through the bone in less than 45 seconds” (Rorke). The rate of survival of an amputation was approximately 35 percent (Rorke). Not all the medical practices during the Revolutionary War were as gruesome as amputation and bloodletting. In fact, the implementation of inoculation owes a great deal to the Revolutionary War. Smallpox inoculation had existed since the early part of the 18th Century (Brady). However, it was not until Congress ordered inoculation of all the Continental Army troops that inoculation became widely used. After inoculation was widely implemented, the death rate of smallpox was reduced from 17 percent to 1 percent among George Washington’s troops (Hedbor). The Revolutionary War provided many new opportunities for doctors to make progress which times of peace could not provide. The number of injuries and illnesses during the war made it necessary to find better solutions and procedures to treat the troops. As Lars Hedbor points out, “One of the most important advances in medicine at the time of the Revolution was the widespread usage of inoculation” (Hedbor). Additional examples of the progress made are advances in surgery, amputation, and the treatment of malaria. The opportunities provided by the Revolutionary War facilitated advancement in the medical field as well as the birth of a new nation.
Beginning around 460 BC, the concept of humoralism emerged throughout the written works of Hippocrates. These early works, some of the only medical works of this detailed nature to survive this period, delineated one of the first ways scholars and physicians viewed the body and more importantly illness. Shaped by the Hippocratics’ version of humoralism and his own interpretations of their written works, Galen resolutely supported the fundamental four-element theory, the notion of the four humors, and the essential practice of healing by applying opposites by physicians. However, Galen’s education in anatomy proved an effective advance in his medical reasoning away from a non-ontological view of illness into a considerably more ontological and
During the War for American Independence, 78 men were commissioned as general officers into the Continental Army by the Continental Congress. Many of these generals commanded troops with differing levels of competence and success. George Washington is typically seen as most important general, however throughout the war a number of his subordinates were able to distinguish themselves amongst their peers. One such general was Nathanael Greene. At the end of the Revolutionary War, Greene would become Washington’s most important subordinate, as demonstrated by Edward Lengel’s assessment of Greene as “the youngest and most capable of Washington’s generals.” Washington and Greene developed a strong, positive and close relationship between themselves. Greene began his life in the military after having been raised a Quaker. With limited access to literature and knowledge in his younger years, Greene became an avid reader which equipped him with the knowledge necessary to excel as a general during the war. Through his devoted study of military operations, firsthand experience and natural abilities as a soldier, Greene became an excellent military commander. He would become known for his successful southern campaign, during which, he loosened British control of the South and helped lead the war to its climax at Yorktown. Throughout the war, he was involved in a number high profile battles where he built a reputation of being an elite strategist who also understood unconventional warfare, logistics, and the importance of military-civil affairs and had a natural political/social acumen. The thesis of this paper is that Greene’s proven reputation of being a soldier, strategist and statesman would cause him to become the second greates...
Medicine has developed so dramatically over the last century that it is difficult to imagine a world in which its many benefits did not exist. Even as humans manage to eradicate some diseases, a look at history reminds us that there was a time when these and other diseases were rampant, and good health was the exception rather than the norm. There are many comparable time periods that medicine was needed and was used. With each, there were drastic changes to medical procedures and medical rules. Of the many different time periods that medicine was used; the comparison of medical care during the American Civil War and medical care during World War I is the most interesting. How did Civil War battlefield medicine compare with World War I battlefield medicine? That's a question that cannot be simply answered, but can be broken down into the overall sanitation of individuals, medical techniques, and overall medical staff for armies.
The Civil War had more deaths than all previous wars combined. Most people think those soldiers in the Civil War died of wounds or amputations, but the truth is that most died from common diseases that they never had been exposed to. Twice as many soldiers died from diseases than those soldiers who died in battle.
One of the most widely known and important of the beliefs was the humours. It was believed that every living creature was composed of four elements, the humours. They were blood, phlegm, choler (or yellow bile), and melancholy (or black bile). It was believed that the overall total combination of these four elements determined the person’s characteristics. For example, a person with more blood than other humours was hot and wet in their nature, a person with more phlegm was cold and wet, a person with more choler was hot and dry, and a person with melancholy being the dominant humour was cold and dry. It was also believed that too much of a certain humour caused disease. That meant the removing or avoiding the dominant humour could cure any disease.
Doctors believed the human body was part of the universe, so they used elements for each humour, “Yellow bile was the equivalent of fire. Phlegm was the equivalent of water. Black bile was the equivalent of earth and blood was the equivalent of air”(“Shakespearean and Elizabethan Medicine”). Also, because of their beliefs and lack of knowledge on serious medical conditions, most severe cases were not treated accurately. Some doctors believed if a person broke a bone, then it was never supposed to be used again because the accident was based from many sins of the soul (“Shakespearean and Elizabethan Medicine”).
Furthermore, the basic knowledge all these doctors knew were: There are only four elements in the world,each element represented a humour, and all four humours are balanced in the human body. Humours are “natural bodily fluids. They correspond to the elements and have various qualities: cold, dry, hot, and moist.” (Ross) The four elements are: earth, air, water, and fire. The Humour for earth was black bile meaning melancholic or sad - black bile really is the foam off the top of blood. Air’s humour is blood meaning sanguine or lusty. Water’s humour may gross people out… it’s phlegm meaning phlegmatic or sluggish. Lastly fire’s humour is yellow bile meaning temperamental or angry - yellow bile is also choler (Ross). All four humours are supposed to be balance the cause of diseases were if one was out of balance (Alchin).
The Civil War was fought at the end of the middle Ages; therefore the Medical Corps was unqualified in all fields of medical care. Little was known about what caused disease, how to stop it from spreading, or how to cure it. Surgical techniques ranged from the tough to easy. Underqualified, understaffed, and undersupplied medical corps, who was often referred to as quacks and butchers by the press, took cared of the men in the Civil War. During this period a physician received minimal training. Nearly all the older doctors served as apprentices in lieu of formal education. Even those who attended one of the few medical schools were poorly trained. The average medical student trained for two years, received no experience, and was given virtually no laboratory instruction.
As an American observes the life around him, noting the many advancements made in merely the last century, he must wonder how America climbed to such a level. The 21st century technology, the military and political power, education and ethics, all came from such meager beginnings, solidified by the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War proved to be a significant turning point in the history of our country, but what caused America to win? What were some of the most significant factors in the victory of these American patriots? By examining these three particular factors, America’s military assets, it’s aid from other countries, and its own spirit of independence, one’s understanding of the Revolutionary War, an essential root of this nation, is truly increased.
In the 1700’s things were very different to life today; this included the medicine of the time. The idea of medicine came from the Greeks and they came up with the four humours (consisting of water, fire, air and earth.) By the 1840’s most anaesthetics were accepted as James Simpson presented a powerful case for them; however they didn’t make surgery safer and the amount of people dying from operations increased. The final breakthrough for anaesthetics was when Queen Victoria accepted the use of Chloroform during the delivery of her eighth child. Even though being anesthetised was less painful surgeons did not take any precautions to protect open wounds and infections were spread by the reuse of old bandages!
Medical knowledge was scarce, but what little they had was contributed by these physicians and their curious minds. The ancient greek physician, Galen, concluded that all illnesses are caused by inner unbalance. Galen deduced that there are 4 bodily fluids
Today doctors can treat this disease with minimal efforts, however, during the 14th century very few weren’t sure on how this disease actually spread and therefore didn’t know how to treat it. Physicians used to practice crude and unorthodox techniqu...
The revolutionary war was evolutionary because when the second continental congress adopted the Declaration of Independence which was were the Americans declared independence everything changed and they signed the declaration on July 4th 1776. And that meant that they would need to get a commander in chief so the appointed George Washington who was an amazing general but they didn’t have much of an army just a lot of minutemen. Which are untrained people who just joined who were basically, a militia. But before they signed the declaration they had to get all the colonies on board and that’s when Benjamin franklin said "JOIN or DIE". And join or die was meant to get all the other colonies on board with going to war. Because that would be one of the only ways that they would have enough soldiers to even stand a chance against the
Throughout the decades, a long debate has taken place over what really caused the American Revolutionary War: a war fought for colonial independence from Great Britain. Historians claim single events such as the Boston Tea Party or the British declination of the Olive Branch Petition. But what these historians fail to include is the long standing oppression that slowly accrued until the colonists cracked. It was invoked by a series of events rather than one pivotal change. The Revolutionary War was caused by colonial displeasure with the acts imposed by Britain, improved self government, and ultimately the Declaration of Independence.
Freeman, David H. "The Triumph of New-Age Medicine." The Atlantic. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. .