BENJAMIN RUSH was born in Pennsylvania, and is known widely as a signer of the Declaration of Independence. As a student at Princeton (and later Edinburgh), he studied medicine, and wrote numerous essays on medical theory and anatomy. He became a leading authority on American medicine, and trained several notables studied medicine under him, including James McHenry and David Hosack. Because of his notable discoveries, he became known as the "Father of American Medicine."
He also had an interest in politics, social activism, and education. He wrote textbooks on social morals, political causes, and schools. He advocated the abolition of slavery (co-founding the first American abolition society with Benjamin Franklin in 1774), equal education rights for women (establishing the first-ever American college for women), Christian education (co-founded Dickinson College) and the general use of the Bible in schools. He also was a leading founder of the first American Bible Society, in Philadelphia.
Many of the Founding Fathers, even those who disagreed with him on matters of policy and medicine, highly respected Benjamin Rush. His group of friends was highly diverse, for he had the ability to keep his personal friendships clean of political strife. His close circle of friends included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and John Witherspoon.
Medical Inquiries and Observations (1805)
- Volume I
- Volume II
- Volume III
- Volume IV
- Medical Inquiries and Observations on Diseases of the Mind, 5th Edition (1835)
- Essays: Literary, Moral, Philosophical (1806)
- A Memorial containing Travels Through Life or Sundry Incidents in the Life of Dr. Benjamin Rush, Written by Himself; also Extracts from His Commonplace Book as well as a Short History of the Rush Family in Pennsylvania by Louis Alexander Biddle (1905)
- An Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits upon the Human Body and Mind (1823)
- An Inquiry into the Influence of Physical Causes upon the Moral Faculty, delivered before the American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia, February 27, 1786 (1839)
- Old Family Letters relating to the Yellow Fever, Series B (1892) [contains the letters of Benjamin Rush, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Biddle]