Why Did The Choolera Outbreak

In terms of religion during the first outbreak in 1832, the cholera outbreak seemed to strengthen people’s belief in God. The book states, “Too many ordinary householders, it was a consequence of sin; man had infringed upon the laws of God and cholera was an inevitable and inescapable judgment” (40). During this time, there were many non-believers and many Christians who were sinners. Doctors supported an idea that proposed that those who were affected by cholera were either sinners or poor. In this age, those who were considered “poor” were not necessarily crippled, alone, or handicapped, however were either prostitutes or alcoholics. Many doctors also noted that most Americans who were poor and lived in filthy conditions died of cholera during the first epidemic of 1832. …show more content…
The physicians at this time were hardly trained or paid. Because doctors had little to no training or knowledge for that matter, treatments such as powdered chalk, mercury ointment, cayenne pepper, and calomel were prescribed daily to children and adults who had cholera. The book states, “Immense dosages were prescribed: quantities of the drug which a generation before had been thought “fit for a horse” were now used routinely for children… Other physicians relied on massive doses of laudanum or bleeding.” (66). Due to the lack of physicians during this time, many fakes or “quakes” were claiming themselves as physicians and charged very high rates. As a result, the public began to shun these “doctors” and viewed their cures as harmful. In fact, many physicians during this time thought that after the symptoms have shown, that there was nothing else to be done because people believed that God caused the disease and if you caught it, you were