Herbs such as honeysuckle, foxglove, lobelia, cayenne peppers, and parsley were commonly used for medicinal purposes in the 1700s. People obtained medicines from apothecary shops, where herbs would be ground into powders and dissolved into liquids. Surgery was extremely dangerous as doctors had little education and training, and did not use painkillers or sterilization techniques. One prominent doctor, Benjamin Rush, used treatments like calomel-and-jalap pills and bloodletting.

2. Herbs Used for Medicine Honeysuckle Foxglove plants Lobelia Cayenne peppers Parsley Columbine leaves

4. Many settlers learned cures from Native Americans. Others grew herbs in home gardens. A majority of the people gathered medicines from Apothecary Shops, which are like drug stores today. In an Apothecary Shop, merchants first would make sure they had enough ingredients to make the medicine. Then they would cut up herbs and put them in a mortar. This mortar would grind the herbs into powder with a pestle. The powder would be dissolved into a liquid for someone to drink as medicine. Accessing and Making Medicine

5. Did you know: Barber poles are red because barbers would act as doctors and performed surgery. Surgery was extremely dangerous in 1700 s. Not many doctors had a good education and learned by working with an experienced doctor for six years. This way of learning is called empiricism. Doctors never washed their tools so the germs were passed on to their patients. Surgery also was very painful because back then there were no pain killers and the doctors just used big knives or leeches to get the patients blood. Many patients did not survive. Surgery is Scary