The Cholelera Years Summary

The work of these two men changed the contemporary views on how disease was spread. By solving the cholera mystery, they helped contribute to making the world safe for bigger cities. Over the next few years a lot of changes were made. Both the medical and public health establishments latched onto Snow’s waterborne theory and through one of the greatest feats in engineering history, London started the process of making an entirely new sewer system. This, along with other precautions such as boiling water that was suspected to be contaminated, brought an end to city-wide choleric outbreaks. Besides the improvements in sewage, the improvements of sanitary conditions all around greatly diminished the spread of disease and held a major part in making the modern city possible. Overall, it turned out that something that was once horrendous and deadly for a massive amount of people, eventually turned out to be helpful for the future of mankind. (Johnson)

In the 1800s a Market Revolution began, changing the way in which America operated and in the midst of all that was a Second Great Awakening, causing people to once again, question their religious beliefs and practices. Paul Johnson and Sean Wilentz tell the story of Robert Matthews, or the Prophet Matthias and his followers. Matthias had an unconventional childhood, he became an orphan at a young age and was raised by church elders. He worked under one of the elders to learn the carpenter’s craft. He easily found work but had trouble keeping it because he was always preaching at his fellow workers about their sinful ways. Matthias was eager to make good but continually fell into misfortunes, “which led him on a prolonged and erratic religious journey” (49). The Kingdom of Matthias gained and lost members, had changes in beliefs, and was full of ever changing marriages. Although looking back on it now, Matthias’s messages and beliefs seem almost laughable, but at they time his followers found his message, ministry, and lifestyle very compelling.

Revivals were made possible by itinerant preachers. One of the most famous itinerant preachers was Charles Grandion Finney. He is the father of Modern revivalism. Born in Oneida, Connecticut in 1792, he had a conversion experience in 1821. In Finney theology, sin was a voluntary act and hence avoidable. “When the churches are…awakened and reformed, the reformation and salvation of sinners will follow, going through the same stages of conviction, repentance, and reformation. Their hearts will be broken down and changed.” (Document B) his teaching of theology also put emphasis on perfectionism and social activism. Finney later died in 1875. However, his teachings were passed on through all night prayer meetings and anxious seating.

Have you ever needed easier access to the essential items to stay alive? This is specifically what the residents of the North-East thought around the year 1817. Carol Sheriff argues in her book, “The Artificial River” that the residents of the canal corridor actively sought after long-distance trade and therefore consumer goods that markets brought to their homes. The fact that people supported the Erie Canal at all "suggests that at least some aspired to engage in broader market exchange" (p. 11). The transformation of this region because of the Erie Canal is organized around six topics, each of which is covered by a chapter. They include the; Visions of Progress, the Triumph of Art over Nature, Reducing Distance and Time, the Politics of Land and Water, the Politics of Business, and the Perils of Progress.

Beecher had to confront the new and more radical revivalism in Western New York which was led by Charles G. Finney. Finney challenged the Calvinist doctrines. He appealed to emotion instead of reason. Finney wanted people to feel the power of Jesus. He had adopted an extreme view that said Christians could be totally free of sin or be as perfect as their Father in Heaven. During Finney's revivals, it was not uncommon for people to fall to the floor in fits of excitement. Finney left behind him strong and active churches. Eastern opposition gradually weakened.

In the early 19th Century the vast majority of housing for the working class was in a terrible condition, which were mainly due to overcrowding, poor ventilation and unsanitary environments. These issues lead to outbreaks of cholera on a number of occasions between the years 1813 and 1865. The Public Health Act was introduced in 1848, which required all local authorities to provide towns with hygienic sewage disposal and clean water supplies. Due to the presence of disease in slums, the Sanitary Reform Act was introduced in 1866. The act gave local authorities powers to inspect the cleanliness of homes in their district. (Naidoo and Wills, 2009). As stated by Berridge, Martin and Mold (2011), the Sanitary Reform Act aimed to address the problems with sewage, household waste and contaminated

In American industrial cities, late 1800s, Poor neighborhood were not the best place to live. With poor living conditions, poor sanitation and crowded housing, many epidemics of infectious disease spread into the poor population and touched even the wealthy class. Cities such as New York were crowded and workers were living in tenements, which were often cramped, poorly lit and poorly aerated. Moreover, these tenements lacked of adequate plumbing, therefore waste was flooding in the public streets. Streets was crowded of waste and garbage. Population was poorly nourished and has a poor life hygiene like water pollution and poisoned food and milk. Accordingly, infectious disease was the common death reason. Big cities had known outbreaks of

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, as the country grew and trade flourished, periodic epidemics struck regions of the nation as population density increased. Outbreaks of influenza, cholera took over the nation, and in the south, one of the most prevalent was yellow fever. Due to these diseases, a lot of public health policies were either created or changed to better suit the new issues arising. In this essay, I will argue that the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 brought upon many changes in the health realm in terms of public sanitation. In order to prove the epidemic s place in the history of health policies, I will be discussing the creation of the new sewer system, waste disposal techniques, and other projects created.

Paul Johnson utilizes monograph to recount the story of Sam Patch, an intoxicated working class spinner who got praised for leaping off waterfalls in the late 1820s. In spite of the fact that the chronicled record is spotty, Johnson arranges Patch inside an arrangement of more extensive subjects dependent upon the areas of his bounced. To start with, experiencing childhood in the factory town of Pawtucket, Johnson tells an account of seized patriarchy: Sam's father was a craftsman shoemaker who lost his business in the face of industrialization. This was some piece of a more extensive story of the rise of compensation work and diminishing area holding, both of which served to undermine the control and position of fathers. After the grown-up Sam Patch moves to Paterson, NJ, he does his first public/political hops. To begin with, he bounced to undermine the opening festival of a center privileged nature hold assembled by a neighborhood ambitious person who was attempting to prohibit the working population from his more cultured ideas of relaxation. Johnson utilizes the fairly interesting story of Sam Patch and his ascent to celebrity to investigate various expansive progressions happening in America throughout this time period. Industrialization, Rise of popular, self-made celebrity culture, Sam Patch as Jacksonian democracy - Whig vision vs. Democratic vision, Rise of wage labor mirroring decline of patriarchy are all wide-ranging changes that happen during the late

The first chapter introduces Chicago, in the 1800s as a place where flocks of single women are coming to Chicago looking for jobs. This city was described as very unsafe. Two people a day, on average, died at railroad crossings, disease was very common, and people died from

During the early 1850’s in London, life condition was very poor and unhealthy. people lived in complete filth, wasteful and unsanitized environments. While this situation occurred, the city continued to still suffer. Population boosted massively and as time went on, there began to be a lack of space throughout the neighborhood called Soho. Soho also experienced a drastic outbreak, which was cholera. Dr. John Snow was a revered anesthetist who carried out epidemiological work in Soho, London. The collision of two men named Dr. John Snow and Reverend Henry Whitehead helped them both discovered what was the true cause of the outbreak. By finding out what caused

The Kingdom of Matthias, by two authors Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz, takes us back to the 19th century era. This book tells the story of a small but also a powerful religious movement around New York City during the early 19th century. A self-made “Prophet of God”, Robert Matthews, also known as “Matthias”, was one of many leaders to create and ultimately force upon people his religion, in which he served as the Prophet or leader. His Kingdoms were only one of the many that developed during the 1800s and his ideas were similar to those who also rose to power, but he was more successful in getting his messages across to “damaged white men” (118) or people that were already beginning to fall apart within themselves. Johnson and Wilentz not

This book follows an esteemed doctor and a local clergyman who, together, are the heart of an investigation to solve the mystery of the cholera epidemic. In 1854 London was ravaged by a terrible outbreak of cholera, where within the span of mere weeks over five hundred people in the Soho district died. London, at the time, was a city of around two and a half million people, all crammed into a small area with no system

Shortly thereafter, whether answering a call from God, or at the urging of the Reverend Sicco Tjady, Frelinghuysen came to America, because the Dutch population needed ministers./ along with his wife Eva Terhune, a farmer 's daughter; and five sons that all entered the ministry, and two daughters that married clergymen,/ Eloquent and vigorous, Frelinghuysen’s ministry stimulated community intellectual life, trained several ministers, and his preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ had a reforming effect, and significant revivals followed./ Unbeknownst to some, Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen; a Dutch Reformed clergyman, and noted exhorter initiated the Great Awakening in America 's middle colonies.

The Power of Revivals in Rochester, New York Paul Johnson, professor of history at the University of South Carolina, addresses the issue of rapid capitalization and connects it with politics, economy and religion in the small, rural town of Rochester, New York. In his book, The Shopkeepers Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815 – 1837, he poses the question, “What precisely were the links between revivals and the transformation of politics and reform in the 1830’s?” Furthermore, he gives his interpretation to the revivals’ powerful affect in Rochester. Johnson’s argument addresses four spheres of social experience, life, politics, community relations, and work, to understand the revivals converts. Johnson creates his argument by starting with the founding of Rochester and the creation of its economy. Rochester was built on the shoulders of wealthy families who bought and sold land to newcomers to increase their fortune. With the engineering of the Erie Canal, Rochester became the first inland boom town in the United States. Inside of a decade, the population became the fastest growing in the country. The wealthy families took advantage of this and intertwined their economic prowess with extended relatives and trustworthy friends. It was common practice for prominent families in Rochester to marry in order to create business opportunities and expand their wealth. In 1827, 42 percent of the richest property owners were in business with relatives. It is