@article{1479941,
      recid = {1479941},
      author = {Abrams, Jeanne E., },
      title = {Revolutionary Medicine : The Founding Fathers and Mothers  in Sickness and in Health /},
      pages = {1 online resource},
      abstract = {An engaging history of the role that George Washington,  Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin played in the  origins of public health in America Before the advent of  modern antibiotics, one's life could beabruptly shattered  by contagion and death, and debility from  infectiousdiseases and epidemics was commonplace for early  Americans, regardless ofsocial status. Concerns over health  affected the founding fathers and theirfamilies as it did  slaves, merchants, immigrants, and everyone else in  NorthAmerica. As both victims of illness and national  leaders, the Founders occupieda unique position regarding  the development of public health in America. Revolutionary  Medicine refocuses thestudy of the lives of George and  Martha Washington, Benjamin Franklin, ThomasJefferson, John  and Abigail Adams, and James and Dolley Madison away from  theusual lens of politics to the unique perspective of  sickness, health, andmedicine in their era. For the  founders, republican ideals fostered a reciprocalconnection  between individual health and the "health" of the nation.  Studyingthe encounters of these American founders with  illness and disease, as well astheir viewpoints about good  health, not only provides us with a richer and morenuanced  insight into their lives, but also opens a window into the  practice ofmedicine in the eighteenth century, which is at  once intimate, personal, andfirst hand. Perhaps most  importantly, today's American public healthinitiatives have  their roots in the work of America's founders, for  theyrecognized early on that government had compelling  reasons to shoulder some newresponsibilities with respect  to ensuring the health and well-being of itscitizenry. The  state of medicine and public healthcare today is still  awork in progress, but these founders played a significant  role in beginning theconversation that shaped the contours  of its development.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/1479941},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814760352.001.0001},
}