“This document was written by Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia. He was an American “Renaissance man” of the late eighteenth century. One of the nation’s first medical professors, Rush also was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a member of the Continental Congress, and the nation’s first surgeon-general. During the American War for Independence, Rush became concerned with alcoholism in the army. In 1782 Rush wrote a letter to the Pennsylvania Journal arguing against the then-common practice of providing workers with generous allotments of distilled beverages during harvest time; he suggested water, beer, and buttermilk as alternatives, but his advice was widely ignored. Rush believed the best way to discourage people from drinking was to educate them. Rush launched an educational campaign against distilled spirits with the publication of a pamphlet, An Enquiry into the Effects of Spirituous Liquors on the Human Body and Their Influence upon the Happiness of Society (1784). In it, he concluded that “a people corrupted by strong drink cannot long be free people” and that Americans should give up ardent spirits “suddenly and entirely.” His pamphlet, An Enquiry into the Effects of Spirituous, went through several editions and numerous reprintings during the next fifty years, and it would be cited thereafter as America’s first temperance work. By the time Rush died in 1813, the temperance movement was well under way in America, and Rush has frequently been credited as its founding father.” Write 4 comments about the pictures. Then, respond to the 2 comments under the responses category. There should be a total of 6 comments.
