title: Founding physicks: the lives and times of the physician signers of the Charters of Freedom.
abstract: The Declaration of Independence had 56 signers, four of whom were physicians. The constitutional convention in 1787 had 55 delegates and 39 of them signed the Constitution. Three of these delegates were physicians and two signed the document. The Bill of Rights was a product of the first Federal Congress and three of its members were physicians. This paper presents a biographic outline of these physicians and their contributions to society, within a context of contemporary medicine during the first 25 years of the USA.
authors.affiliation: Pediatrix Medical Group, Community Memorial Hospital of San Buenaventura, Ventura, CA 93003, USA. Bengtsson2000@yahoo.com
authors.forename: B-O S
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Bengtsson
mesh_terms: D005197:Famous Persons; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians / Q000266:history*; D011057:Politics; D014481:United States