David Rosenthal

In his days, back before the Civil War,

These were medicines that promised like a cure to all sorts of ailments.

Nausea, indigestion, headaches, cancer, tuberculosis, skull fractures, paralysis, and impotence.

Zero science, nothing.

The Civil War changed all that.

Not necessarily for the better.

So after the war, there were so many wounded soldiers in America that were in such chronic pain that the market for medicines like this from these snake oil salesmen just exploded.

A huge, huge percentage of veterans from the Civil War developed what is called army disease, quote unquote.

i.e., they were addicted to morphine for the rest of their lives as a painkiller.

Which actually did work.

Yes, that actually did work.

Very well.

At killing pain.

And it wasn't just physical injuries from the war and the soldiers who fought in it.

The Civil War ripped America apart.

I mean, these guys and their families had just gone through this devastating trauma.

I mean, there were so many deaths, so many wounded.

It was families fighting against one another.

It was truly, arguably, the worst moment in our nation's history.

So naturally, whenever there's a big problem, American capitalism sees a big opportunity.