Benjamin Rush was born on a plantation in Byberry Township, Pennsylvania on December 24, 1745 to John and Susanna Rush. Benjamin Rush?s father was a farmer and gunsmith, but died when Rush was only six years old. Benjamin Rush was raised by his mother until she was unable to support the family. After that, he was sent to live with his uncle in New Jersey. Benjamin Rush?s uncle would later become his first instructor (Benjamin Rush, 1)

Ever since he was a young boy, Benjamin Rush had been schooled by his uncle. When he was old enough, he was sent to the University of New Jersey, where he would graduate at the age of fourteen in 1759

with his Bachelor of Arts degree. Benjamin Rush thought about studying law, but later switched to medicine and was apprenticed to Dr. John Redman. He was apprenticed to him for five years. During his years of apprenticeship, he was swayed into patriotism by Whitefield?s stirring speeches during the Stamp Act controversy (Benjamin Rush, 1). At his masters urging, he went on to study medicine at the University of  

At this time, Benjamin Rush was also very active in politics. Benjamin Rush was elected to the state?s Constitutional Ratifying Committee, where he pushed for many reforms to the government (Sullivan, 73). He was appointed treasurer of the U.S. Mint in 1797 by President John Adams and held this position until his death. Rush succeeded Benjamin Franklin as the president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, was the president of the Philadelphia Medical society, vice-president and co-founder of the Philadelphia Bible Society, and a founder and vice-president of the American Philosophical Society. Throughout his life, Benjamin Rush believed in the freedom of all. According to a letter Dr. Rush wrote in 1810 to Samuel Bayard, a prominent member of Princeton New Jersey, in which Dr. Rush asked for help in raising money to buy the freedom of an African-American slave, a Presbyterian Minister and preacher, and his family. Dr. Rush helped to raise the money for countless other slaves (Rush?s). Benjamin Rush died on April 19, 1813 in Philadelphia at the age of sixty-eight (Malone, 228-229). Benjamin Rush was survived by his beloved wife, Julia, and his thirteen children.

About a year later in 1777, the Continental Congress voted Benjamin

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