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{{Mediawiki:kindleoasis}}__NOTOC__[[File:Galenus.jpg|thumbnail|275px|left|Galen of Pergamon By Georg Paul Busch]]Nineteenth-century medicine was characterized by constant competition among three major medical sects: Regulars, Eclectics, and Homeopaths.<ref>Article is a portion of an unpublished dissertation by Sandvick, Clinton (20132016)<i>''Defining the Practice of Medicine: Licensing American Physicians: 1865, 1870-1907.'' University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. This portion of the dissertation is reproduced here with the permission of the author</i>unpublished manuscript.</ref> Each of these medical sects not only meaningfully disagreed on how to treat illnesses and diseases, but sought to portray their type of practice as the most effective and scientific. Arguably none of the three sects was superior to the others, but their adherents concluded that their sectarian beliefs were better than their competitors. Regulars were the inheritors of Galenic tradition and were the largest and most established of the three sects. Homeopaths represented a new approach to medicine with a new unified medical system developed in the eighteenth century. Homeopaths were quite successful in the United States and represented the biggest threat to the Regulars’ dominance of medicine. The Eclectics were true to their name. They were a diverse sect composed of dissident Regulars, herbalists, and medical reformers. While the Regulars were the largest sect, their members constantly worried that they may lose their place at the head of the table of American medicine. In the later portion of the 20th century, Regular physicians would constantly lobbying state legislatures to create medical licensing to solidify their place as the preeminent medical sect.

Regulars were the inheritors of Galenic tradition and were the largest and most established of the three sects. Homeopaths represented a new approach to medicine with a new unified medical system developed in the eighteenth century. Homeopaths were quite successful in the United States and represented the biggest threat to the Regulars’ dominance of medicine. The Eclectics were true to their name. They were a diverse sect composed of dissident Regulars, herbalists, and medical reformers. While the Regulars were the largest sect, their members constantly worried that they may lose their place at the head of the table of American medicine. In the later portion of the 20th century, Regular physicians constantly lobbied state legislatures to create medical licensing to solidify their place as the preeminent medical sect.  ==The RegularsWho were the Regular Physicians?==

==The HomeopathsWho were the Homeopathic Physicians?== [[File:Samuel_Hahnemann_1841.jpg|thumbnail|175px255px|left|Samuel Christian Hahnemann in 1841]] Homeopaths in many ways resembled Regulars. Like Regulars, they were initially trained by experienced physicians as apprentices, but eventually they developed their own medical schools. They created local, state, and national medical societies. Homeopathy replaced the earlier herbalist sect known as Thomsonianism to become the most prominent unorthodox medical practice in America. Samuel Christian Hahnemann, a German physician and theorist, developed the underlying theories and medical practices of Homeopathy in 1790s. Hahnemann established a medical system based on the principle of similia and the law of infinitesimals.<ref> Kaufman, ''Homeopathy in America'', 23-24.</ref> The principle of similia held that physicians should treat patients with drugs that created the same symptoms in a healthy person that were being exhibited by an illness. Hahnemann created the law of the infinitesimal and he argued that the smaller and more agitated the dose of medicine, the more potent it became.  While Hahnemann’s therapeutic theories were not particularly sound, Homeopathic patients benefited from their doctors’ willingness to allow the body to combat illness without much interference. Additionally, the drugs advocated by Homeopathic physicians were extremely diluted and did not actively harm their patients unlike Regulars. In essence, Homeopaths allowed their patients’ bodies to heal themselves and they did not further endanger their patients with bleedings and purgings as the Regulars did. ==Who were the Eclectic Physicians?==[[File: Samuel_Thomson.jpg|thumbnail|250px|left|American herbalist Samuel Thomson creator of the Thomsonian System.]]

While Hahnemann’s therapeutic theories were not particularly sound, Homeopathic patients benefited Eclectic physicians differed from their doctors’ willingness to allow the body to combat illness without much interferenceboth Homeopaths and Regulars. Additionally, the drugs advocated by Homeopathic Eclectic physicians were extremely diluted and did not actively harm their patients unlike Regularsthe indirect descendants of the preexisting botanic movement known as Thomsonians. In essenceUnlike the Thomsonians, however, Homeopaths allowed their patients’ bodies to heal themselves and they did not further endanger just provide herbal remedies. They incorporated herbal remedies into their patients with bleedings practice, but they also worked as surgeons and purgings utilized some Regular medical practices. As Thomsonianism was displaced by Homeopathy as the second largest medical sect, the remaining professional Thomsonsian practitioners allied with disgruntled Regulars and other medical reformers to form Eclectic medicine in the 1830s and 1840s. Eclectics were a discordant group. They were extremely independent and predisposed to oppose any type of governmental regulation. Unlike Homeopathy, Eclectics didnot have a rigid medical orthodoxy. Eclecticism was true to its name; it was a mishmash of different types of physicians who practiced medicine as they saw fit.

==The Eclectics==Eclectic physicians differed from both Homeopaths and Regulars. Eclectic physicians were the indirect descendants of the preexisting botanic movement known as Thomsonians. Unlike the Thomsonians, however they did not just provide herbal remedies. They incorporated herbal remedies into their practice, but they also worked as surgeons and utilized some Regular medical practices. As Thomsonianism was displaced by Homeopathy as the second largest medical sect, the remaining professional Thomsonsian practitioners allied with disgruntled Regulars and other medical reformers to form Eclectic medicine in 1830s and 1840s. Eclectics were a discordant group. They were extremely independent and predisposed to oppose any type governmental regulation. Unlike Homeopathy, Eclectics did not have a rigid medical orthodoxy. Eclecticism was true to its name; it was a mishmash of different types of physicians who practiced medicine as they saw fit. Unlike traditional Thomsonians, Eclectics encouraged medical education, and they took a far more pragmatic approach to medical treatment.<ref>Kaufman, ''Homeopathy in America'', fn. 114.</ref> Eclectics saw themselves as reformers and dissidents from traditional European medical tradition. Eclectics rejected the four humoral theory and sought to end “the vast amount of human suffering, the anguish of soul, the premature decay, and death, resulting from this Paganism [Galenism] in medicine.”<ref> ''Transactions of the National Eclectic Medical Association for the Years 1870 and 1871'' (Geo. R. Yeates & Co., New York, 1872): 142.</ref> Their objections to Regular medicine were well-founded. Many Eclectics were originally trained in Regular medical schools or by Regular physicians, but became disenchanted with heroic medicine and shifted towards a more pragmatic approach to health care. [[File: Samuel_Thomson.jpg|thumbnail|American herbalist Samuel Thomson who created of the Thomsonian System.]]Like Regulars, both Homeopaths and Eclectics were interested in organization and formal education. Homeopathic and Eclectic physicians created medical societies and began publishing medical journals throughout the country. The Homeopaths and Eclectics created medical schools that taught their medical systems, and these schools competed for students with Regular schools. Each of the three sects created local, state, and national organizations. Homeopaths formed their national organization, the National Institute of Homeopathy in 1843. The Regulars formed the American Medical Association, three years after the formation of the National Institute of Homeopathy. Eclectics also attempted to form a national organization, but it was scuttled after few years. The Eclectics would not reestablish a national voice until the 1870s.

Like Regulars, both Homeopaths and Eclectics were interested in the organization and formal education. Homeopathic and Eclectic physicians created medical societies and began publishing medical journals throughout the country. The Homeopaths and Eclectics created medical schools that taught their medical systems, and these schools competed for students with Regular schools. Each of the three sects created local, state, and national organizations. Homeopaths formed their national organization, the National Institute of Homeopathy in 1843. The Regulars formed the American Medical Association, three years after the formation of the National Institute of Homeopathy. Eclectics also attempted to form a national organization, but it was scuttled after few years. The Eclectics would not reestablish a national voice until the 1870s.  While Numbers argued that the development of the Irregular sects undermined the status of the Regulars, it is just as likely that the ineffectiveness of traditional Regular medicine and the ambiguous benefits of early Regular medical science spurred the expansion of these new sects.<ref>Numbers, ''Sickness'', 226.</ref> If Regulars had demonstrated to the public that their therapies were successful, patients might not have searched for alternatives. John B. Beck wrote a series of articles in 1847 and 1848 in the New York Journal of Medicine, which argued that heroic treatments such as blistering, mercury, and bloodletting were dangerous and potentially lethal, especially when employed by reckless physicians.<ref>Cited by Rothstein, ''American Physicians'', 180.</ref> Beck challenged the basic tenets and undermined Regular medicine in general.  <dh-ad/> The gradual shift away from heroic treatments could have also undermined public trust in Regular medicine. While heroic methods were dangerous, the public would not necessarily have known that. All they would see was a major shift in how they were treated by their doctors. Homeopathy, Eclecticism, and later Osteopathy and Christian Science, gained adherents because of the growing public skepticism of the efficacy of Regular medicine. Homeopaths presented the greatest threat to Regulars because they persuasively argued that their therapeutic methods were potentially more scientific than those of the Regulars and they obtained credibility comparable to Regular physicians.

By 1870, these three national medical organizations along with their local and state affiliates began the thirty-year battle over dominance of American medicine. While the Regulars represented the largest number of physicians in the country, they were constantly concerned that the Homeopaths and Eclectics threatened their dominance. Principally, these organizations sought to establish or maintain their power through the passage of licensing laws that benefited their sects throughout the United States. All of these organizations played a critical role in shaping and passing the new licensing laws. While the differences among the three sects over medical licensing played out in legislatures, all of these organizations faced internal dissent and strife that complicated licensing efforts and fractured previously unified sects.<div class="portal" style="width:85%;">==Related DailyHistory.org Articles=={{#dpl:category=Medical History|ordermethod=firstedit|order=descending|count=10}}</div>