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This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Yeah, yeah. And we continue with our American stories. And up next, well, one of our favorite regular subjects: American history. Dr.
Benjamin Rush is America's forgotten founding father. His signature on the Declaration of Independence comes immediately before that other famous Benjamin, and that of course would be Benjamin Franklin. The fruits of Russia's underlying faith Is the story though that we're about to hear? from a prolific founding fathers biographer. Harlow Giles Unger.
Harlow is a New York Times best-selling author of 28 books, including Dr. Benjamin Rush, The Founding Father, Who Healed a Wounded Nation. He is also a former Distinguished Visiting Fellow in American History at George Washington's Mount Vernon. Let's take a listen. Dr.
Benjamin Rush was one of the most important of our founding fathers, in many ways the most important. George Washington was unquestionably the father of our Political and military structure, and Alexander Hamilton fathered our economic structure. But it was Dr. Benjamin Rush. Who fathered our social structure?
He was the only doctor with a medical school degree who signed the Declaration of Independence. and with his signature. He began a lifelong struggle for abolition of slavery. for women's rights. for a ban on child labor.
He fought for establishment of universal free public education. He was first to advocate temperate use of alcohol. and oppose tobacco use. He demanded that other doctors treat the poor as well as the rich, African Americans as well as whites. Doctors wouldn't treat African Americans then.
He founded two great schools of higher education in Pennsylvania, Dickinson University in Carlisle and Franklin College, now known as Franklin and Marshall College. And he saved his alma mater, Princeton College, from oblivion after British troops burned it down. Just after the young Dr. Rush won. Appointment to Philadelphia Hospital, as it was called, then he discovered a basement filled with starving human beings chained to walls.
lying in their own filths. moaning, groaning, some with infected sores. Rush stormed into the hospital doctor's office and demanded their release and transfer into clean hospital rooms. He agreed to take personal custody of them and to care for them. And then forced the hospital board eventually to add a wing to the hospital to house them.
Little by little. He saw most of them improve dramatically as he talked to them. listen to what they had to say. learned their interests and introduced a range of recreational activities, arts and crafts, and what we now call physical therapy and occupational therapy. In listening to them, he developed a treatment he called talk therapy, what we now call psychotherapy.
And that led to the release of the majority of them into civilian life. It was a miracle. A revolution in the treatment of the mentally ill, which Has not changed since the beginnings of civilization. And this was 50 years before Sigmund Freud was even born. Dr.
Benjamin Rush, not Sigmund Freud, discovered psychotherapy. and other therapies for the mentally ill. a century before Freud started writing about psychoanalysis. The American Psychiatric Association recognized Russia's great achievements. By putting his image on their official seal and designating him Father of American Psychiatry.
Now, Russia's deep concern for the human condition included an equally deep love of individual liberty. Which is why he served in the Second Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. But he was not interested in a career in politics. He loved being a doctor. treating and curing the ill.
And he wanted to heal the injured and cure the sick. After signing the Declaration of Independence, he galloped out of Philadelphia and joined George Washington on the banks of the Delaware opposite Trenton, New Jersey. On Christmas night of 1776, Washington's army staged one of the most daring attacks in the Revolutionary War. They rode across the Delaware River through a driving snowstorm and overwhelmed a garrison of a thousand Hessian soldiers at dawn. As Hessian defenders fired back, some of their bullets inevitably hit their marks.
One man. Unarmed. rushed into battle. not to fire a shot. but to stem the bleeding.
Kneeling over the fawn, Dr. Benjamin Rush tried something no doctor had ever done before. prevent death on the battlefield. Until then, armies routinely left their wounded to die everywhere in the world. If a soldier could not run, walk, limp, or crawl off the battlefield.
he was left to die. There were no doctors around to help. And there really was no choice. There was no such thing as an antiseptic. The vast majority of the badly injured.
in peace as well as war. Guide from Blood poisoning, septicemia. There was nothing anyone could do. Troops couldn't help doctors or priests. could do nothing except pray.
and that seldom saved any lives. At least here on Earth. For Dr. Benjamin Rush, however, it seemed obscene to let men die. fighting.
and bleeding for his country. After fighting ended at Trenton, he Demanded that Washington set up field hospitals of a sort. Washington commandeered nearby houses. And Rush used them as field hospitals to form what would later become the Army Medical Corps, the first such. core in the world.
Rush didn't save many of the wounded. Of course, there was no way he could. Medicine and medical care were still too primitive. Anesthesia, antiseptics, antibiotics, none of those existed when he went to work trying to save a soldier's life. When he had to amputate a soldier's limb, he fed the patient whiskey or rum.
and told him to bite on a piece of wood. as hard as he could. Wow, rush. went to work with his scalpel. Within a minute or two, most soldiers passed out.
and infections would later kill at least two-thirds of them. within a few days. But in listening to this, remember that Anesthesia didn't exist. The hollow point needle, they weren't invented until. 1850, the stethoscope, blood transfusion, even simple aspirin, all of these things were 50 to 100 years in the future.
When Rush walked onto that battlefield in Trenton hospitals, Like battlefields, hospitals were places where the badly injured or sick went to die. You didn't go to a hospital to have them save your life. If you were sick, you stayed at home and used worthless home remedies. Dr. Benjamin Rush only started the scientific revolution in medicine.
and did not live long enough to see any substantial progress in health care. But he could and did begin the job. And because of his status in Philadelphia society, he did live to see some of the results of his pioneering efforts. Philadelphia at the time. Was America's political, cultural, and economic center, and the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
were America's richest, most powerful men. Although Rusht was not born to wealth, he was. A farmer's son. It's He was superbly well educated. He went to Princeton and then to the University of Edinburgh Medical School, which was the best medical school in the world at the time.
He finished his studies in London, where Benjamin Franklin introduced him to England's most distinguished thinkers and scientists. Although he treated Philadelphia's rich and famous, He spent most of his time Treating the poor. Even African Americans, the first Caucasian doctor in America to do so. And you're listening to Harlow Giles Unger. Tell the story of Dr.
Benjamin Rush, and I thought I knew quite a bit about Rush. But that medical unit and his invention of the idea of a medical corps. I had no idea that this was his way of volunteering. in our fight. against the British.
What a revolutionary on so many fronts, from the abolition movement to women's suffrage and more. This remarkable story, one they're not teaching for certain in schools across this country. The story of Dr. Benjamin Rush continues here. on our American stories.
Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa, witnessing MMA Legends final fight. Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defends her PFL world title? One last time.
Unforgettable and got you. To an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer.
Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at let's get real about skincancer.com.
Upgrade to elite checking from America's Christian Credit Union and earn up to 4% APY, plus everyday perks and access to your paycheck up to two days early with early pay. Don't settle. Choose checking that rewards you and aligns with your values. Visit America's ChristianCU.com forward slash iHeart. Minimum balance of one cent required to earn advertised APY, early pay not guaranteed, APY equals annual percentage yield, membership eligibility required, and CUA insured.
Hi, I'm Steph, and I work at United Healthcare. When I think about United Healthcare's members, I think of my own family. My niece was diagnosed with an ultra-rare genetic disorder. I know how hard it is for families at United Healthcare. We can make it easier.
I'm Brian. I care because I know what it's like to not speak the language. It's not easy. Health insurance is complicated. I would say our job is to make everything easy for our UXC members.
I work for United Healthcare. I'm committed to CIP. And we continue with Our American Stories and with author Harlow Giles Unger. And he has written a terrific book about the life of Benjamin Rush called Dr. Benjamin Rush.
The founding father who healed a wounded nation. Let's pick up. when we last left off. Doctors North, South, East, and West refused even to consider. treating African Americans at the time.
Nor did many of them consider treating the poor. The poor were, in cities at least, were dirty. They smelled, they couldn't read or write. The slums they lived in had no water, no sewers. Conditions were horrible in the slum to of America's cities.
No one who called himself a doctor, even quacks. Willingly set foot in the slums or wanted anything to do with those who lived there. Except Dr. Benjamin Rush. Listen to Rush as he describes His daily rounds.
I led a life of constant labor. I led a life in which my shop was crowded with the poor in the morning and at mealtimes. And I visited nearly every street and alley in the city every day. Often have I ascended the upper story of huts by a ladder. I had to sit.
Um Beds. There were no chairs. I risk not only taking their disease, but being infected by vermin. I seldom went to bed before twelve o'clock. Again, those are the words of Dr.
Benjamin Rush. Okay. When he was not treating patients, though, he haunted the Pennsylvania State Assembly. Demanding social reforms aimed directly or indirectly at improving the health. of the city's population.
Every social advance that he demanded was tied to Hels. He was the first to call for public sanitation. He wanted to sweep away the garbage, the sewage, and stagnant water, all of which he believed promoted disease. But science being what it was, he had no way of proving it. And had to struggle with recalcitrant city and state officials to get them to hire street cleaners.
And the way he convinced them was not by telling them how dirty the city was, Heap. Showed them how they and the city and the state would profit economically by cleaning the streets. He championed the abolition of slavery, and as president of the Abolition Society, he naturally decried the cruelties of slavery, but the only way he could convince Pennsylvania legislators to abolish slavery was to show them how the state would benefit economically by freeing African Americans to make greater contributions to society. In 1780, he succeeded. And the Pennsylvania Assembly passed the first state law in America banning slavery.
But Rush didn't stop there. He was distressed by the condition of free blacks in Philadelphia. He walked directly into their midst, to treat them. and their children medically. He was the first white doctor in America to do so.
And after winning their trust, he urged them to build their own African American church. the first such shirts in America. He not only raised funds to build that church, he joined its parishioners. and its dedication. What people don't realize, the founding fathers did not invent slavery.
When they were born. The slaves were already on the land. almost a century. Actually, Virginia tobacco growers, the great plantation owners. At The turn of the 18th century.
early 1700s. petitioned Queen Anne to stop sending slaves there. The slave population in the so-called sugar islands at the time, in the Caribbean. had grown so large that they they just couldn't absorb any more slaves. But slavery, slave trading had become a huge proportion.
of the British government's income.
So they just arbitrarily started dumping slaves off the ships in Virginia for the plantation owners, and they didn't want them. They petitioned Queen Anne to not send any more slaves. Number one, they were illiterate. Number two, they couldn't speak English. And number three, tobacco.
Planting. Picking and harvesting and curing is a skilled trade. It takes a lot of knowledge to do that, act carefully and do it properly. Queen Anne wouldn't listen. She needed those revenues, so she just kept sending slave ships over here.
Uh Well, that generation died, plantation owner died, another generation grew up and died, and now we get to the generation of our founding fathers. Jefferson, Washington, and the others. And they're born on lands. In which, by law, by British law, and subsequently early American laws. Slaves were not human beings, they were property, and they were as much a part of each property as trees were.
And you did not have the right, you could go to jail. If you freed your slaves. Period.
So It wasn't until they were in their adult years That Men like Washington. And quite a few others saw the cruelty of slavery, the immorality of it, all the evils of slavery. And try to figure out a way around the law.
Well, they didn't have a control of the, they didn't have majorities in the state assemblies, but they couldn't do anything under British law. After the revolution. They had a form of government. First of all, during the Confederation, each state was independent from the others. That lasted until 1789.
Now you have a federal government. They had other things to do right away. They had to set up an executive branch, they had to set up a judiciary, and that took years.
Meanwhile, people like Washington were looking into the law. And they found a way around the law. But the only way around it was In your last will and testament. That superseded the law. The written law.
of every state. And that's why Washington and his spouse Martha, freed their emancipated their slaves under Washington's will. And Richard Henry Lee did it. Many, many Southern leaders did the same thing. And that's all they could do under the laws at that time.
At the time, there was an army of quacks calling themselves doctors who rode into every town and village across America selling patent medicines. All of them were nothing more than fruit-flavored whiskey or rum. that cured patients. by rendering them senselessly drunk. and oblivious to their illnesses or injuries.
He charged them with killing their patients rather than curing them. He called for a law restricting the use of the title doctor To graduates of recognized medical schools, or to those who had served apprenticeships, which was common in those days, apprenticeships with other doctors. and you're listening to Harlow Giles Unger. who is the author of Dr. Benjamin Rush, The Founding Father Who Healed.
A wounded nation. He is also a former Distinguished Visiting Fellow in American History at George Washington's Mount Vernon. If you're ever in Washington, D.C. Give yourself an extra day and a half and go to Mount Vernon and then go to Montpellier and to, of course, Jefferson's home, Monticello. in Charlottesville.
It's about an hour and a half due south. And you'll see the residences of these great founders. It's a beautiful field trip for a family going through the beautiful mountain country of Virginia and through Albemarle County itself, which is one of the most beautiful counties in the country. The story of Dr. Benjamin Rush and my goodness, what a beauty, continues here.
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Sometimes. AT ⁇ T Business Wireless. Connecting changes everything. Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa. Witness an MMA Legends final fight.
Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer in the sport. Defends her PFL world title. One last time. Unforgettable and got you.
To an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa. Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S.
and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs. Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at let's getreal about skincancer.com. Upgrade to elite checking from America's Christian Credit Union and earn up to 4% APY, plus everyday perks and access to your paycheck up to two days early with early pay.
Don't settle. Choose checking that rewards you and aligns with your values. Visit America's ChristianCU.com forward slash iHeart. Minimum balance of one cent required to earn advertised APY. Early pay not guaranteed.
APY equals annual percentage yield. Membership eligibility required. And CUA insured. And we continue with Our American Stories and with Harlow Giles Unger as he continues to unpack the story of founding father Dr. Benjamin Rush.
and his reforms and accomplishments. in the medical industry. Let's continue with Harlow Unger. He wrote the first code of ethics for doctors, which was still in effect in America until the Second World War. And he wrote an even more important work called Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the diseases of the mind.
It was the first English language work. Written. on psychiatry. It became the basic textbook for studies in psychiatry in America. For the next century.
Until the beginning of the 20th century. That work was so remarkable that, as I said before, the American Psychiatric Association. put his image on its official seal. and placed a bronze plot on his grave, declaring him Father of American psychiatry. To this day, I don't know why the world celebrates Freud instead of Dr.
Benjamin Rush. I didn't mention that he was a great teacher. a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. and a professor of chemistry. He wrote the first American chemistry book.
He trained more than 3,000 doctors. Real doctors with MD degrees. And there's still more. I told you he was father of American psychiatry. But I didn't tell you.
that he was also father of an and You'll never guess this. the father of American veterinary medicine. In 1807, he delivered a lecture, then published a pamphlet on the medical care of domestic animals. It was the first such work ever published in America. The idea came to him years earlier after he had finished his medical studies in England.
He went to Paris. and it was in Paris that he visited what was then the world's first school of veterinary medicine. It had been founded to combat a cattle plague. But Its efforts eventually improved the quality. of animal life so much that farmer revenues began shooting up.
In 1795, Russia went to Washington, who was a a great farmer. Franklin, who wasn't a farmer, but he was a brilliant scientist. And formed a group of others to form a society to promote the development of veterinary medicine in America, with Rush writing a pamphlet. citing the benefits of veterinary medicine to farmers. and to the nation's agriculture.
At the time, 95% of Americans lived or worked or owned farms. Why doesn't America celebrate this great founding father?
Well, America doesn't really celebrate any founding fathers anymore. The memories of both Washington and Lincoln have been subsumed. By shopping on what's now called President's Day. That ignores both of them. But to answer my own question about Rush sainthood, Apart from the fact that few Americans study or learn any American history anymore.
The fact is that Dr. Benjamin Rush, America's greatest physician. At the time of the Revolution, the father of modern American medical practice. New next to nothing. about treating the sick.
No one did. No one did anyway in the world. Nobody knew how to treat the sick. for centuries from the time of ancient Greece. Doctors and almost everyone else on earth believed that all human illnesses.
Resulted from poisons that traveled in the air and collected in body fluids. in the blood and in the gastrointestinal tract. And the remedy seemed simple. Drain the body of its poisons by draining as much as possible of its fluids, and you'll get rid of the illness. Emptying the gut was simple with laxatives.
Rush concocted a laxative that became known as thunderbolts. You can use your imagination as to why. After emptying the gut, that left the vascular system.
Well, you couldn't. empty the pe people's blood without killing them. Indeed, that's exactly what happened to George Washington. At his insistence, Hey. He made the doctors keep bleeding him.
To cure uh uh uh He had a throat infection to cure his infection. And then he finally died because they just bled him to death. Rush and most doctors were sensible enough to limit bleeding. to between one and two pints a day, about 10 to 20%. of the patient's reservoir of blood.
That's usually not enough to send a patient into shock, but it is enough to make the patient feel a little lightheaded and less aware of their pain and discomfort. And They felt that way, especially so. when a founding father A doctor. Like Benjamin Rush. who inspired awe in his patients.
When he promising they'd feel better tomorrow. But bleeding had no effect at all on the underlying interest. In 24 hours, the body itself replaced the blood it lost. and many patients went on to die of the real disease. in August and September of 1793.
the worst yellow fever epidemic in American history. Uh crushed Philadelphia. It claimed more than 5,000 people. th lives more than 10% of the population of the city. Only rush.
and four other brave physicians remained. Most people fled. Only Rush and four other physicians remained to treat the stricken. with purge and bleed treatments that accomplish nothing. Although Rush and the other doctors believed they saved many lives, those who survived purge and bleed treatments either would have survived the disease without bleeding or purging.
or they didn't have yellow fever to begin with. And they simply got better.
So many people died, however. That critics, a few of them other doctors from other cities, assailed Rush. One critic, a vicious British journalist who hated all things American and had no knowledge of science or medicine. He called Rush a butcher and killer. in the newspaper he published.
for the first time in his life. The radiant ring of light. that seemed to hover. above Russian sainted head Gamed. for the first time in his life.
He seemed mortal.
So stung by the attacks by this journalist, he went into court and sued the journalist for libel. Although he won the case, his appearance in a courtroom and the public airing of such vile epithets, butcher, leech, And others even by an ignorant journalist. Tarnish the Rush name. and left him somewhat broken. Celebrated throughout his life as one whom God had placed on earth to heal the sick.
Rush now left the courtroom. $5,000 richer. but deeply wounded. He gave his award to charity and in 1800 closed his medical practice. and retreated to his country home.
to update earlier editions. of his various books and published works. He never practiced medicine again. He died in 1813 and lies in Philadelphia's Christchurch burial ground. near his dear friend Benjamin Franklin.
But without that flame of fame, that illuminates Franklin's grave. Rush deserves more. Thomas Jefferson said he knew no one among the founding fathers. more benevolent. And these are Jefferson's words.
No one more benevolent, more learned, a finer genius or more honest. and Dr. Benjamin Rush. John Adams agreed. He said that as a man of science, Letters, taste, sense, patriotism, morality.
Taken all together, Rush has not left his equal in America. or the world. I agree and hope my book will give this great American patriot. Dr. Benjamin Rush the recognition he so deserves.
And great job as always by Greg Hengler getting us this story and producing it. And a special thanks to Harlow Giles Unger. Again, his book is Dr. Benjamin Rush. The founding father who healed a wounded nation.
And what a story. The father of modern-day psychiatry, the only MD. who signed the declaration. He started essentially the Army Medical Corps. and also in the end brought veterinary medicine to America.
and the improvement in the end of our agricultural economy. And by the way, it was very wise of him to sell it as that. as a benefit, a public benefit, a public good. And very wise to do that as well on how to treat the poor and sanitary concerns. One of the first people in this country to think about public sanitation.
And all of this kind of storytelling always is available here on Al American Stories. It's what we do, folks. Bring stories like Dr. Benjamin Rush to you with unapologetic pride. Here on Our American Stories.
Saturday, August 22nd in Tampa, witnessing MMA Legends final fight. Chris Cyborg, one of the greatest in history. She's an absolute pioneer. here in the sport. Defensor PFL world title.
One last time. Unforgettable and got you! To an unforgettable career. Saturday, August 22nd, live from Benchmark International Arena. For tickets, visit pfl.info/slash tampa.
Spending time outdoors, then let's talk about skin cancer. Non-melanoma skin cancers, or NMSCs, including basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, are the most common cancers in the U.S. and can become harder to treat if left undetected. That's why sun protection and timely detection matter. Our sponsor, Regeneron, is raising awareness about advanced NMSCs.
Learn more and take the pledge to see a dermatologist annually at let's get real about skincancer.com. Upgrade to Elite Checking from America's Christian Credit Union and earn up to 4% APY, plus everyday perks and access to your paycheck up to 2 days early with early pay. Don't settle. Choose checking that rewards you and aligns with your values. Visit America's ChristianCU.com forward slash iHeart.
Minimum balance of one cent required to earn advertised APY. Early pay not guaranteed. APY equals annual percentage yield. Membership eligibility required. And CUA insured.
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