University:
Arizona State University
Course:
HST 200 | Historical Themes
Academic year:

2024
Views:

412

Pages:

2
Author:

Thuyoul US

REFORMS FOR THE BODY AND THE MIND Other reformers, looking beyond temperance, focused on methods to preserve and enhance health in a society that was changing quickly. Health reform took many diverse paths in the absence of professional medical organizations and standards. The American Medical Association was founded in 1847, but it had limited authority to regulate medical practices. Quack physicians much too frequently provided treatments and medications that caused more damage than benefit. One prominent figure in the antebellum era of health reformers is Sylvester Graham. Graham, a Presbyterian clergyman, started out as a reformer by giving talks on the negative effects of heavy drinking. He advocated for a strict diet that included more fruits, vegetables, and grains and less alcohol, meat, or spices. He merged his interest in temperance with vegetarianism and sexuality to create what he termed a "Science of Human Life" Graham promoted baths and cleanliness in general as ways to maintain health, in the 1840s and 1850s, hydropathy, or the use of water remedies for a variety of illnesses, gained popularity in the US. In addition, he believed that debility and illness were caused by excessive sex and masturbation. His theories inspired him to design the Graham cracker, which he invented in 1829 and thought would be the ideal meal to sustain health. Grahamites, or his adherents, founded boarding homes where residents adhered to the rigorous dietary and sex guidelines that were advised. Early in the nineteenth century, reformers were interested in mental processes as a way to gain a deeper understanding of the impacts of a society that was undergoing fast change due to democratic movements and religious revivals. Phrenology is an early branch of study that was concerned with understanding the functioning of the mind. It is the mapping of the skull to certain human traits. Phrenologists thought that the size and form of the skull could be used to closely examine the strengths and weaknesses of each of the thirty- seven "faculties" that make up the mind, even though their beliefs would eventually be shown to be incorrect. The German physician Franz Joseph Gall is credited with developing phrenology in Europe, which was first introduced to the United States in the 1820s. It became more and more popular when speakers traveled across the republic in the 1830s and 1840s. Similar to temperance, it was also occasionally employed as a test in schooling and gained popularity as a kind of amusement. Gall's claim that separate regions of the brain were responsible for distinct activities is seen as a significant scientific advancement, even if phrenology is today regarded as pseudoscience. The prevalerice of phrenology provides us with some understanding of the antebellum United States' emotional landscape. Its widespread appeal reflects people's desire to comprehend one another in a world that is changing quickly and where traditional ties to family and community are under threat. It seemed to provide a means of instantly identifying an otherwise unknown person as a comprehensible collection of human abilities.