Page 35 - 2015_Cabin Days curriculum booklet

Medicine Of Jacksonian America

One of the basic concerns of any people or society is that of health, a matter that often
supersedes other concerns since the conquest of the wilderness, the advance of civilization, and
the preservation of society depends upon the survivability of people. From the earliest
settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth, people suffered from the diseases of new environments,
causing them to seek new remedies and practices to combat those illnesses. Poor sanitation,
inadequate medical facilities, deficiency of medical knowledge, and the conflict between
professional and self-proclaimed physicians also compounded health care well into the
nineteenth century. However, by the 1830s, medicine stood at a watershed--in the growing
professionalization of the practice, in the discoveries and applications of new medications and
techniques, and in the knowledge of the human body. While future generations would surely
benefit from the medical discoveries of the age, citizens of Jacksonian America faced the
uncertainties and fears of a life filled with contagious diseases, periodic epidemics, poorly
trained physicians, potentially dangerous cures, and generally unhealthy conditions.

SANITATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Foremost among the causes of poor health was the lack of knowledge about sanitation. People
did not realize the connection between unsanitary conditions and sickness. Consequently, they
tossed garbage and human wastes into streets and yards. Even animal carcasses were a common
sight on the streets, such as in Vincennes in 1808. To combat the growing problem of rubbish in
public areas, town governments began to pass health ordinances. The Madison, Indiana, council
approved an ordinance in 1824 which charged the town marshal with the duty of monitoring the
removal of waste from the streets. During the cholera epidemic of 1832 and subsequent months,
supplemental regulations required inspection of lands and streets, removal of garbage and waste
from the front of all dwellings, and the imposition of fines for lack of compliance. Despite these
moves, public health throughout Indiana was still largely neglected.

Insects were common pests that contributed to the poor health of settlers. Mosquitoes were
especially numerous around swamps and decaying vegetation. Recognized as pests these insects
were not suspected, however, as the cause of malarial fevers:

The mosquitoes are a terrible plague here . . . on warm days here the air in the woods is filled
with them. When night comes on, they swarm about the house and yard where people are
working, and torment one to such a degree that it grows unbearable . . . They give no peace even
in bed at night, and one has to cover the face and hands, even if it is warm.

(The Schramm Letters, p. 61)

William Oliver, who set out in December 1841 to spend eight months in Illinois, also
commented on the wide variety and large numbers of insects:

Among the novel discomforts of the West, that of insects is one of no trifling character. The
whole earth and air seems teeming with them, and mosquitoes, gallinippers, bugs, ticks,
sandflies, sweat-flies, houseflies, ants, cockroaches, &c, join in one continued attack against
one's case.

Medicine of Jacksonian America Page 1 of 8