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THE STRANGE PRACTICE OF BLOODLETTING IN COLONIAL AMERICA

11/11/2018

By Cookie Davis

This is a painting on an ancient Greek vase showing a doctor bleeding a patient.

Bloodletting is the practice of drawing blood from a patient in order to cure them of a disease. This was a common way physicians (medical doctors) tried to cure patients for 2,000 years.

This idea came from an ancient form of medicine called Humorism that believed the body was made up of different "humours" that had to be in balance for the body to be healthy. One of the humours was blood. At the time, they mistakenly believed that blood was created and then used up, not recirculated. They believed this used up blood could pool in different areas of the body and become out of balance with the other humours.

If a physician believed a person was ill because their humours were out of balance, they would bleed the person, or give them tea that made them vomit or have to go to the bathroom. They believed this would rid the body of the humours that were causing the problem and it would, therefore, restore the balance between the humours, and the person would get better.

Even though Humorism—the idea of the body being made up of humours—was no longer believed to be true by the end of the 18th century, doctors still practiced bloodletting. Though they were getting a better understanding of how the human body functioned and knew it wasn't because of "humours," they still didn't know how to treat their patients and believed doing something was better than doing nothing.

It was also common practice for "barber-surgeons" to perform bloodletting. They advertised the service by putting a red and white striped barber pole in front of their businesses. The red symbolized blood, while the white symbolized bandages. Barbers only give a shave and a haircut now, but the barber pole symbol has remained.

Wikimedia Commons

Doctors commonly used bloodletting to cure someone of almost any illness from acne to hearing loss, or to keep them from getting an illness. Most often, doctors would cut a vein in the patient's arm or neck to drain their blood. They also used leeches (a type of worm) that would be applied to the patient's skin to suck out the blood. Regardless of the method, the blood was drained until the patient started to faint.

George Washington probably died because of bloodletting. He got a sore throat after riding his horse in the rain and his doctors bled him of 80+ ounces of blood (the average person has about 160-180 ounces). He died a few days later. It is widely believed the bloodletting, at the very least, hastened his death (made it come quicker), doing more harm than good. As scientists learned more and more about the human body, they learned that bloodletting wasn't helpful except in a very few cases. They also learned that bloodletting was often exactly the wrong thing to do, but it took them much longer to learn the right thing to do.

“Bloodletting.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting.
Cohen, Jennie. “A Brief History of Bloodletting.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 May 2012, www.history.com/news/a-brief-history-of-bloodletting.
Markel, Dr. Howard. “Dec. 14, 1799: The Excruciating Final Hours of President George Washington.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 14 Dec. 2014,
                www.pbs.org/newshour/health/dec-14-1799-excruciating-final-hours-president-george-washington.
Margolies, John. “Barber Pole, Dodge City, Kansas .” Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress, 14 July 2018,
               commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barber_pole,_Dodge_City,_Kansas_LCCN2017706837.tif.
NULAND, SHERWIN B. “Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humours - Noga Arikha - Books - Review.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 8
                July 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/books/review/Nuland.html?ex=1341547200&en=28b87289415e5d35&ei=5088.
PBS NewsHour. “Bloodletting and Blisters: Solving the Medical Mystery of George Washington's Death.” PBS, NewsHour Productions LLC. , 16 Dec. 2014,
                www.pbs.org/newshour/show/bloodletting-blisters-solving-medical-mystery-george-washingtons-death.

This lesson was created for my hyperdoc book project for the book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store for projects based on other novels.

SHOULD YOU USE "ME" OR "I" ?

11/10/2018

Knowing whether to use "me" or "I" in a sentence can be very confusing. In Modern Standard English, it depends on whether it is being used as a subjective pronoun or an objective pronoun.

You might not need to know what those phrases mean to figure out which word to use, however.

First, use each word in a modified version of the sentence.

For example, consider these sentences:

"You and I should have breakfast."

or

"You and me should have breakfast."

Modify the sentences by taking the "you" out of it and try it again:

"I should have breakfast."

or

"Me should have breakfast."

If you're a native English speaker or proficient in Modern Standard English, it is probably clear to you that, "I should have breakfast," is the preferred form of the sentence. It just sounds right whether or not we know the reason why.

Here is another example:

"Joaquin went to the store with Ashoorina and I."

or

"Joaquin went to the store with Ashoorina and me."

Take "Ashoorina" out of the sentence and try it again.

"Joaquin went to the store with I."

or

"Joaquin went to the store with me."

Again, if you're a native English speaker or proficient in Modern Standard English, you probably think "Joaquin went to the store with I," sounds strange.

If it isn't obvious to you which word is correct (according to Modern Standard English) by this method, then understanding whether "I" or "me" is being used as an objective pronoun or a subjective pronoun is necessary.

What are objective and subjective pronouns?

First of all, a pronoun is a word used to replace a noun. My name is Cookie Davis. "Cookie Davis" is a noun. It would be strange and tiring to always use "Cookie Davis" when speaking and writing.

For example, consider the same sentences from the examples above:

"You and Cookie Davis should have breakfast."

"Joaquin went to the store with Cookie Davis."

It sounds much better and is much easier for me to say these sentences using a pronoun for Cookie Davis.

"You and I should have breakfast."

"Joaquin went to the store with me."

In the sentences above, "I" and "me" are pronouns for the proper noun "Cookie Davis."

When you are using a pronoun for yourself—when you are using "I" or "me"—and you are the subject of the sentence, you use "I." Some examples:

"I should have breakfast."

"I want to go to the movies."

"I need to speak to you."

These are all examples of "I" as the subject of the sentence. "I' am deciding to have breakfast. "I" want to go to the movies. "I" am the subject in each of these, therefore, "I" is a subjective pronoun in these sentences.

When you are using a pronoun for yourself and you are the object of the sentence, use "me" for the pronoun. Some examples:

"Joaquin went to the store with me."

"Evelyn gave it to me."

"They hugged me."

In each of these examples "me" is the object of the sentence. "Joaquin," "Evelyn," and "They" are the subjects of the sentences and "me" is the object "Joaquin" is going to the store with, "Evelyn" is giving it to, or "They" are hugging. That means "me" is an objective pronoun.

Author

I often struggle to find websites with thorough explanations in simple language to help kids understand historical events or scientific concepts, so I decided to create some of my own!

-Cookie Davis