Meadow Magee:

Medicine in the Colonial times(English) Origin

Source:

Encyclopedia of American History . Vol. 2, Facts On File, 2009. American History Online , online.infobase.com/hrc/search/details/212084?q=colonial medicine.

URL:

http://online.infobase.com/hrc/search/details/212084?q=colonial medicine

Quote:

Medical beliefs and practices were eclectic in colonial North America. Their foundation was the ancient teachings of Hippocrates and Galen, a tradition known as “humoralism” because it explained human health and illness in terms of internal bodily balances and imbalances among the four “humors”: blood (sanguine), phlegm, yellow bile (choler), and black bile (melancholy). Illness was explained as a result of five types of external cause: invisible, particulate effluvia; contagion (direct physical contact with disease); changes in air temperature; earthquakes, comets and other extraordinary natural phenomena; and divine punishment for sin. Diagnoses according to the Galenic tradition were made on the basis of relations between heat and cold and dryness and moisture in the patient. Treatments (known together as “heroic medicine”) included bleeding, sweating, purges, and emetics of various kinds to restore an equilibrium of the humors.

Paraphrase:

• Hippocrates and Galen theories of humoralism were widely used in colonial North America.
• Humoralism explained the human body in a way that talked about the balance between the four humors.
• Illnesses were explained by imbalances in the four humors.  
• The four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile.
• In the colonial times they thought any illness had a reason for being there whether it was because of sin or a storm was coming.
•  They made their diagnoses based on the temperature (hot/cold) of the patient or of the dryness (damp/dry) of the patient. 
• The treatment for each illness was getting the four humors back to their original balance.
• These treatments were called heroic medicine: bleeding, sweating, purges, vomiting.

My Ideas:

This shows that the English didn’t have much knowledge about human health or diseases. I think that this connects to Galileo and Copernicus because they tried to bring science into the world but people’s beliefs were religious not scientific. They believed that one of the causes of illness or death would be your punishment for sinning. The English did have some understanding about human health, like some of the four humors might signify that you were ill, but there were many other signs of illness that the English didn’t catch on too. The English had a lot of useless methods like bleeding. Bleeding only made you weaker. Emetics were also weakening you and probably made you closer to death. They believed that if you were ill, you needed to restore balance in your body. At that moment in time it sounded like the smartest idea in the world. I don’t think anyone doubted the theory because there was no proof against it. I wonder how the Native Americans methods compared to the English methods. I think that the Natives would a much better understanding of the human body, but their treatments would be more spiritual. Without science it is very hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t. For example: sometimes people that are ill get better and right before they started getting better they drank the magic water. Now that person got better, you now connect the magical water with the power of healing. This is what happens in some case scenarios and it leads people of on the wrong track.       

History:

Created: 10/09/2016 01:33 PM

Olivia Bagan:

Women in Medicine Before the 19th Century

Source:

Boslaugh, Sarah. “Women in Science and Medicine during the Colonial and Revolutionary Eras.” American Women’s History Online , Facts On File, 2011. Accessed 3 Nov. 2016.

Quote:

“Besides midwifery, women also practiced medicine as nurses and ‘doctor women,’ a term used primarily before the 19th century to refer to women who performed the services associated with male doctors. Modern nursing schools did not exist until the 19th century, and before that time it was not assumed that nurses before that period had any particular knowledge of medicine beyond that of any other adult women. Because medical care was usually provided by the mother of the house, one common reason for hiring a nurse was if the mother herself needed care. For instance, postpartum care was often provided by a nurse who took care of both newborn infants and their mothers, similar to what a doula does today. The term ‘nurse’ in this period also referred to a wet-nurse, or someone who would breastfeed a child not born to her. It was not uncommon for the same woman to provide both types of service.”

Paraphrase:

• Women practiced as nurses and “doctor women” along with midwifery. 
• “Doctor women” was a term used usually before the 19th century. The term pertained to women who practiced forms of medicine that associated with male doctors. 
• Before the 19th century, there were no modern nursing schools.
• It was believed hat nurses before that time had just as much information about medicine that any other grown women had. 
• A normal reason for a nurse to be hired would be if the woman of the house was ill. That is because the woman of the house would be the one providing care for her family.
• A nurse would take care of mothers and infants shortly after childbirth.
• A nurse provided care similar to care that a doula would provide now.
• The word “nurse” within the colonial time period was connected with the term wet-nurse or a person who would breastfeed a baby not born to her.
• It was abnormal for a woman to administer both types of assistance. 

My Ideas:

One thing I noticed after reading this chunk of information is that women did not just specialize in midwifery. They also practiced types of medicine that were generalized towards men. For example, women were nurses, surgeons, pharmacist or anything else in the medical field. The only thing that would be different is that they would be called a “doctor woman.” This shows that even though women could have the same jobs as men, they would still have a label that separated them from men and made them less important than the male figure in the room. I also noticed that women had a lot of jobs in the medical field that had to do with childbirth. I wonder when woman started to drift away from jobs that were related to childbirth and started to study surgery and things like that? I can infer that once women were allowed to have an education in medicine at a university, they were able to learn so much more about different types of medicine. I also found this particularly interesting: Today when we hear the word nurse we think of the man or woman who takes our blood pressure and checks our temperature before we see our doctor. It really surprised me that the term “nurse” was associated with wet-nurse. I wonder what changed the meaning? I can infer that the word “nurse” symbolized an assistant role and that it caused a slight change in the meaning. Lastly, I noticed that a woman was the primary caretaker in the household. When learning about the Native Americans and plantation life I can recall that the woman was always in charge of medicine. I can infer that this happened because the men were always busy hunting or working.