Who was Benjamin Rush?

Essay by visitorA+, February 2004

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Benjamin Rush was born Christmas Eve of 1745, on a farm near Philadelphia. He was raised by mother who had lost her husband. When he was fourteen years old, he entered the College of New Jersey which was created in the aftermath of the Great Awakening. He became a physician according to his great influence, Finley. He also worked for society as a politician. He left many traces in the world. These are the answer of the question, "Who was Benjamin Rush?"

He was a paradoxical physician. Even though he was one of the most influential figures in America medicine, Many people doubt whether he was a trailblazer or not. First, he undertook almost no experimentation after he got his own medical degree, though for his day his training had been unusually solid. Second, though he was the first American doctor to propose intelligent and humane care of the mentally ill, he was also addicted to the virtues of bloodletting.

It is certain that he remained so until long after his death because of his many achievements, he left so many things that are paradoxical.

He was a politician who had many inconsistencies. He was a spokesman for American independence and a signer of Declaration. Even though he supported democratic reforms, and worked for social services, his views coextend with rigid religious orthodoxy. He looked like a believer of democracy, but his activities of entertaining social changes came from faith of religion.

He was a person who had many traits which became his weaknesses. First, he was an acute observer and recorder of symptoms, but his scrutiny rarely led him to revise whenever he had to make an opinion. This trait made him indecisive. Second, he was always slowed by the humanizing of maladies. This trait mad him a...