Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Rush
Portrait by Charles Willson Peale, circa 1818
Born	(1746-01-04)January 4, 1746 Byberry, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, US
Died	April 19, 1813(1813-04-19) (aged 67) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Resting place	Christ Church Burial Ground, Philadelphia
Alma mater	Princeton University University of Edinburgh
Occupation	Physician, writer, educator
Known for	Signer of the United States Declaration of Independence
Children	13, including Richard
Signature

Benjamin Rush (January 4, 1746 [O.S. December 24, 1745] – April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush was a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, educator and humanitarian, as well as the founder of Dickinson College. Rush attended the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. His later self-description there was: "He aimed right." He served as Surgeon General of the Continental Army, and became a professor of chemistry, medical theory, and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

Rush was a leader of the American Enlightenment, and an enthusiastic supporter of the American Revolution. He was a leader in Pennsylvania's ratification of the Constitution in 1788. He was prominent in many reforms, especially in the areas of medicine and education. He opposed slavery, advocated free public schools, and sought improved education for women and a more enlightened penal system. As a leading physician, Rush had a major impact on the emerging medical profession. As an Enlightenment intellectual, he was committed to organizing all medical knowledge around explanatory theories, rather than rely on empirical methods. Rush argued that illness was the result of imbalances in the body's physical system and was caused by malfunctions in the brain. His approach prepared the way for later medical research, but Rush himself undertook none of it. He promoted public health by advocating clean environment and stressing the importance of personal and military hygiene. His study of mental disorder made him one of the founders of American psychiatry.

Benjamin Rush was born to John Rush and Susanna Hall on January 4, 1746 (December 24, 1745 O.S.). The family which included seven children lived on a plantation in the Township of Byberry in Philadelphia County, then about 14 mi outside Philadelphia (the township was incorporated into Philadelphia in 1854 and now remains one of its neighborhoods). Benjamin was the fourth of the seven children. John Rush died in July 1751 at the age of thirty-nine. He went peacefully, saying over and over, "Lord! Lord! Lord!" and his wife saw him buried as he wished in the cemetery behind Christ Church." leaving his mother, who ran a country store, to care for the large family. At eight years of age, Benjamin was sent to live with an aunt and uncle, to receive a proper education. Benjamin and his older brother Jacob (b. 1738) attended a school in Cecil County, Maryland, run by the Rev. Samuel Finley, which would later become West Nottingham Academy.