Summary Of The Columbian Exchange

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Alfred Crosby, author of The Columbian Exchange merged the fields of biology, epidemiology and history in his 1972 publication outlining the consequences regarding interaction between Europeans and Americans during Columbus’ expedition westward. A pioneer in his field, Crosby’s book is a key piece for any historian looking to study the history of medicine. His work has inspired, and been used as a basis for many leading historians today, such as Jared Diamond with his work Guns, Germs, and Steel. Such attention has been placed on epidemics, pandemics, and endemic diseases that fictional history is beginning to integrate various aspects of historical accounts into works of fiction, the best example of this is Fever by Mary Beth Keane …show more content…
Until germ theory was developed and proven, the concept of humoral theory was a central principle taught in western medicine. This concept lasted from antiquity up until the nineteenth century. Just to give context to this theory and to give a background knowledge of how some epidemics were viewed (such as early epidemics of measles in the Americas) it is important to explain what this entails in order to show how the shift to germ theory was revolutionary. Humoral theory was the notion that within the body there contained a mix of four humors, black bile which was associated with melancholy, yellow or red bile, blood, and phlegm. It was the assumption that an imbalance of these humors resulted in disease, and only by keeping them in proper balance could one achieve a healthy both physically and mentally. The shift from humoral theory to germ theory between the years of 1850 to 1920 revolutionized public health and shattered pre-existing notions of hygiene and sanitation that were often associated with race, gender, or nationality. While in many cases nations, such as Cuba and the United States, still used race or nationality as a way to determine how “sanitary” a person was in order to determine whether mandatory quarantine would be needed , the adoption of germ theory changed the way medicine and disease were viewed in the public eye. It is safe to say that the shift …show more content…
While the genre of history that is the history of medicine is growing with programs such as Johns Hopkins history of medicine, program as well as the graduate program for the history of medicine at the University of Chicago developing programs specifically to study the impact that medicine, and disease has on politics, culture, and the environment, the development of germ theory and its implementation being as late as the twentieth century leaves nearly a century for events in history to be reanalyzed. Misconceptions such as typhus being misdiagnosed as typhoid fever in the years before germ theory create issues for historians researching epidemics in the years prior to the twentieth century. Unless there are substantial documents providing documentation of a disease, epidemic, or outbreak, most historians tend to avoid the lesser afflicting diseases. In some regard typhoid fever is mentioned mainly in regards to “Typhoid Mary” however polio is covered extensively due to Franklin D. Roosevelt and the
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