Among its many accolades, An American Plague was a Newbery Honor book and a finalist for the National Book Award. The plague killed an average of 50 . Most of this book discusses the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia, which was the national capital at the time. Vice President John Adams had recently rented the main house, so yellow fever patients were placed in the outbuildings. Drawing on medical research, news articles, and firsthand accounts, Jim Murphy traces the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in this gripping historical account. Though it was localized in Philadelphia, it killed nearly ten percent of the city of 51,000 people between August 1 and November 9, 1793. . On the 31st, a white flag was hoisted over Bush Hill with the legend, "No More Sick Persons Here. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Episode 1 of the 12-part podcast History's Great Plagues, published by Learn25. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. As a teenager, Halse spent a year living in Denmark as an exchange student. Since the demand for his services was so great, he had his assistants make as many of his powders in pill form as they could. We set out to see where we could be useful. 55 reviews 3 followers. Rush, who believed that Black people were immune to yellow fever, asked members of the African Society to come forward and care for to the sick and the dead. Rush wrote accounts of the 1797, 1798, and 1799 epidemics in Philadelphia. / Apr 9, 2020. [74][pageneeded], The Governor created a middle path: he ordered the city to be kept clean and the port policed to prevent infected ships, or those from the Caribbean, from docking until they had gone through a period of quarantine. [42], As the death toll in the city rose, officials in neighboring communities and major port cities such as New York and Baltimore established quarantines for refugees and goods from Philadelphia. "[31] Rush's brand of medicine became the standard American treatment for fevers in the 1790s and was widely used for the next 50 years. He hired Jean Devze, a French doctor with experience treating yellow fever in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). Welsh papers, November 13, 1793, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The old custom of shaking hands fell in such general disuse, that many shrunk back with affright at even the offer of a hand. I can't believe this is listed as YA non fiction and did not realize that going into it. The epidemic was made more perilous by inadequate medical knowledgedoctors didnt know the origins of the disease (its transmitted by mosquitoes) or how best to treat it. To go along with the epidemic, there was also a constitutional crisis, as the city was abandoned by the not-poor including the President. Over the course of the subsequent chapters, the initial chaos induced by the spread of the fever is confronted by several individuals who choose to stay in the city to help, including members of the College of Physicians. The Library of Congress has this book catalogued as history juvenile. According to statistics the NAACP examined, although Black people make up 13.4 percent of the population, they make up . An American Plague: The True and. In 1793, the Federal Congress was not scheduled to resume session until November, but the Pennsylvania Assembly met in the first week of September. [12] Believing that the refugees from Saint-Domingue were carrying the disease, the city imposed a quarantine of two to three weeks on immigrants and their goods but was unable to enforce it as the epidemic increased its reach. From inside the book . "[26] Despite Rush's theory, most of the city's people of color, who were born in North America, were not immune to the fever. Published in 2003, Jim Murphy's An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 is a historical nonfiction book for young adults that provides a detailed look into Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic of 1793. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. He said that Rush had written: "Mosquitoes (the usual attendants of a sickly autumn) were uncommonly numerous"[79], In the first week of September 1793, Dr. William Currie published a description of the epidemic and an account of its progress during August. Ashley. Mitchell noted that the stomach and intestines filled with blood and that these organs had to be emptied at all costs. They recounted that. Official silence about the disease also entailed undermining Dr. Joseph J. Kinyoun, the head of the Marine Hospital Service in San Francisco who had identified the plague bacteria in Wongs body. He focuses on a few of its prominent inhabitants, the major political issues of the day, and the everyday operations of the city. pathogenic: 1 adj able to cause disease " pathogenic bacteria" Synonyms: infective , morbific unhealthful detrimental to good health [34][43] Neighboring cities did send food supplies and money; for example, New York City sent $5000 to the Mayor's Committee. Mr. Murphy, a former children's book editor, wrote more than 30 books that chronicled fascinating but . Vinegar and camphor in infected rooms "cannot be used too frequently upon handkerchiefs, or in smelling bottles, by persons whose duty calls to visit or attend the sick." As many members of the federal, state, and city government leave, including President George Washington, individuals derived mostly from the middle classes provide their time and money to restore order. A state senator in Sacramento stood on the senate floor and said that Kinyoun should be hanged for what he was doing, he says. Murphy paints a vivid picture of the yellow fevers terror and hopelessness that crippled our nations capital and precipitated a Constitutional crisis. See Also (Related Contagion Exhibit Pages). "Burning of nitre will correct the corrupt air which they may contain. The first major American yellow fever epidemic hit Philadelphia in July 1793 and peaked during the first weeks of October. This included the transformation of Bush Hill into an emergency hospital and the deployment of the Free African Society, whose members agreed to nurse needy citizensit was thought that people of African descent couldnt catch yellow fever, but this was quickly proven untrue. Back in the spring of 1793, French colonial refugees, some with slaves, arrived from Cap Franais, Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). Helmuth. 14 Apr 2023 06:21:01 J. Henry C. Helmuth, who led the city's German Lutheran congregation, wrote A Short Account of the Yellow Fever in Philadelphia for the Reflecting Christian. As the mortality rate increased, they had to hire men to get anyone to deal with the sick and dying. Many white residents initially remained unconcerned since they attributed the outbreak to the racist perception that Chinese immigrants were disease-ridden and dirty. Clergymen also published accounts; the most notable was by the Lutheran minister J. Henry C. Two thousand free Black people lived there, as well as many recent white French-speaking arrivals from the colony of Santo Domingo, who left the islands as a result of rebellions of enslaved people during the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804). Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, The Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia, 1793, A Short Account of the Malignant Fever, Lately Prevalent in Philadelphia. Enter a date in the format M/D (e.g., 1/1), When the Yellow Fever Outbreak of 1793 Sent the Wealthy Fleeing Philadelphia, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yellow-fever-breaks-out-in-philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen scores his first pop hit with Born to Run, Meriwether Lewis dies along the Natchez Trace, Tennessee, Soviet-U.S. arms control talks break down over President Reagans Star Wars initiative, Benedict Arnold fights valiantly at Valcour Island. The mayor and a committee of two dozen organized a fever hospital at Bush Hill and other crisis measures. The United States still reports an average of seven human plague cases each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wright a staff writer at The New Yorker, where the article that "The Plague Year" is based on first appeared has performed a virtuoso feat and given us a book of panoramic breadth. [29], In his 1794 account of the epidemic, Mathew Carey noted that other doctors claimed to have used calomel (a mercury compound) before Rush and that "its efficacy was great and rescued many from death." In the final chapters, the fever finally subsides. New York doctors finally admitted that they had had an outbreak of yellow fever in 1791 that killed more than 100 people. The medical community and others in 1793 did not understand the role of mosquitoes in the transmission of yellow fever, malaria, and other diseases. In a letter to the U.S. secretary of state cosigned by San Francisco jeans magnate Levi Strauss, Governor Gage blamed Kinyoun for the plague fake, as he called it, and claimed San Francisco had never seen a living case of plague. A year after the first plague victim died, Gage successfully convinced the federal government to relocate Kinyoun to Detroit. Parties mistakenly assumed that people of African descent would have the same partial immunity to the new disease as many had to malaria, which was typically the most common source of fever epidemics during the summer months. A barn was adapted as a place for convalescing patients. "[15], Rush later described some early cases: On August 7, he treated a young man for headaches, fever, and vomiting, and on the 15th treated his brother. 6. "Yearly Meeting Epistle 1793," Swarthmore College Library Quaker Collection; see also letter by Margaret Morris to her daughter August 31, 1793, Haverford College Library Manuscript Collection. During the 1793 Yellow Fever epidemic in Philadelphia, 5,000 or more people were listed in the official register of deaths between August 1 and November 9. By then, there were about 100 known deaths from the plague. In response, Jones and Allen published their own description of their experiences. Neat huh? Award Win Active Date: Monday, October 19, 2009 - 19:00. Reading this I felt SO lucky to be in today's pandemic instead of the late 1700s with none of the modern conveniences , plus blood letting and other crazy stuff. [9], After two weeks and an increasing number of fever cases, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a doctor's apprentice during the city's 1762[10] Yellow Fever epidemic, saw the pattern; he recognized that yellow fever had returned. of New York, from the late John Mitchell, M.D.F.R.S. Armored Saint Announces Second Leg of North American Tour with W.A.S.P. Two thousand free Black people lived there, as well as many recent white French-speaking arrivals from the colony of Santo . "[3]"Leisurely, lyrical toneMurphy injects the events with immediacyarchival photographsbring the story to lifecomprehensive history." watchmen were supposed to guard. [22] An estimated 20,000 people left the city through September, including national leaders. some people felt a sense of duty. In one week in October, 130 members of his congregation were buried. Most interesting person Murphy discusses: the resplendently named Israel Israel, who risked his life helping others but then was cheated out of an election because he dared to suggest that Philadelphia should do more to help its poor people. Allen and Jones wrote that they were thankful that "we have been the instruments, in the hand of God, for saving the lives of hundreds of our suffering fellow mortals. Twenty thousand people fled the city during this time, including many prominent citizens and government officials (Philadelphia was the temporary United States capital at this time and also the third largest U.S. city). It looks like in this book Philadelphia was also badly hit in 1793 by the yellow fever epidemic. Sarah Bass, a poor black widow, gave all the assistance she could, in several families, for which she did not receive any thing; and when any thing was offered her, she left it to the option of those she served. As Murphy documents how yellow fever emerged and spread throughout the city, he demonstrates how society operated in what was then the nation . . He wiped the patient's cloaths, comforted [him] arranged the bed, [and] inspired with courage, by renewing in him the hope that he should recover. [65], Rush searched the medical literature for other approaches. Mayor Matthew Clarkson remained in Philadelphia for the duration of the epidemic and organized a committee to deal with the crisis. Scientists think the disease was first transmitted by infected rodents to humans through the bite of fleas. On September 16 he reported that his church was "very full" the day before. With the discovery of a spring on the estate, workers were organized to have clean water pumped into the hospital. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." Becky Little is a journalist based in Washington, D.C. As the population fled or died, few were left to attend to nursing and burying duties. And like many others in California, Gage wasnt even sure white people could get the plague in the first place. An American Plague is a fascinating and comprehensive historical account that contains information that should be of interest to nearly all readers. Volunteers establish a hospital called Bush Hill and work to clean up the city. After listening to this on audiobook, I have a hard time believing it was written for children. Benjamin Rush, one of the most prominent doctors in the College, also stays behind to help patients. Philadelphia was the new country's capital at the time and President George Washington was in residence. 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