I have to agree with other reviewers who say this is not for kids, even though it seems to have won some children book awards. The vast majority of them died of Yellow Fever, making the epidemic in the city of 50,000 people one of the most severe in United States history. Read reviews for average rating value is 3.0 of 5. This didnt stop them from heroic efforts, feeding people, burying victims, and caring for orphansas Society leaders Richard Allen and Absalom Jones wrote afterward, Our services were the production of real sensibilitywe sought not fee nor reward., Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. This interesting book is a short but thorough and entertaining recounting of the yellow fever epidemic that took place in Philadelphia in 1793, when the U.S. was still in its infancy. At this point Philadelphia is considered to be the largest city located in North America. The calomel in his pills soon brought on a state of constant salivation, which Rush urged patients to attain to assure a cure. The young doctor sent by the Overseers of the Poor to treat the Irish woman was perplexed, and his treatment did not save her. Most churches had stopped holding services, and the post office moved out of the area of the highest number of cases. By November 1793, order is being restored to the city. The doctors did not understand the origin or transmittal of the disease. In 1881 Carlos Finlay, a Cuban doctor, argued that mosquito bites caused yellow fever; he credited Rush's published account of the 1793 epidemic for giving him the idea. The Black Death is widely believed to be the result of plague caused by infection with the bacterium Yersinia pestis. On August 3rd,1793 the first death from Yellow Fever was recorded in Philadelphia. Almost everyone who couldabout 40% of the populationtravelled north to Germantown or west across the Schuylkill. Highly recommend this. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. We set out to see where we could be useful. [33], The mayor Matthew Clarkson organized the city's response to the epidemic. Efforts to clean the city did not defeat the spread of the fever, as the mosquitoes breed in clean water as well as in dirty water. He developed a very aggressive approach to treatment, copiously bleeding his patients and administering large quantities of mercury. Drawing on firsthand accounts, medical and non-medical, Murphy re-creates the fear and panic in the infected city, the social conditions that caused the disease to spread, and the arguments about causes and cures. We visited upwards of twenty families that daythey were scenes of woe indeed! The market days continued, and bakers continued to make and distribute bread. The mortality rate that year was roughly the same as it had been at Bush Hill in 1793, despite radical difference between the therapies used. Most of the Common Council members fled, along with 20,000 other residents. Bizarre medical practices of the time are discussed, as well as popular historical figures, such as . Lots of people were fleeing the city, including President George Washington. Captain William Farnsworth Cook (Grandfather). Baptized a child. He strongly discounted the traditional treatment for severe fevers, which was to wrap patients in blankets, give them camomile tea or Madeira, and try to bring on sweats. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the Year 1793. The 2,000 immigrants fled the slave revolution in the island's north. As the population fled or died, few were left to attend to nursing and burying duties. New York doctors finally admitted that they had had an outbreak of yellow fever in 1791 that killed more than 100 people. [48] The men noted that the first nurses from the Free African Society had worked without any pay. Yellow fever is known for bringing on a characteristic yellow tinge to the eyes and skin, and for the terrible black vomit caused by bleeding into the stomach. I was required to read An American Plague for one of my MLIS classes. We strive for accuracy and fairness. To keep the body open he recommended more calomel or small doses of cream of tartar or other salts. 1793, Philadelphia. Heated debate among the College of Physicians erupts, at first due to disagreements over the identification and cause of the disease, and later over Rushs cure. The man who should be credited with figuring it out watched the mosquito bite him that ended up killing him. Observations upon the origin of the malignant bilious, or yellow fever in Philadelphia, and upon the means of preventing it :addressed to the citizens of Philadelphia. He varied his cures. I can't believe this is listed as YA non fiction and did not realize that going into it. Benjamin Franklin had given him letters sent by Dr. John Mitchell, related to treating patients during a 1741 yellow fever outbreak in Virginia. Such news cast doubts on Rush's methods, but none of those victims had submitted to his harsh treatment. Through the writings of doctors, authors, politicians, and clergymen he gives us first-hand glimpses of the times. [5], In the ports and coastal areas of the United States, even in the northeast, the months of August and September were considered the "sickly season," when fevers were prevalent. This fact, along with the spread of the disease between Boston and Charleston between 1793 and 1802, made yellow fever a national crisis. He died, which might well have happened even if they had aided him. Quick lime should be thrown into the privies and the chambers whitewashed." This large-scale denial of the plague was also, in part, a rejection of a new type of science that few understood. By the first two weeks of October, which was the peak of the crisis, gloom pervaded the city. I didnt realize that before I borrowed it, but it turns out, this was about as much information as I could handle on the subject. Philadelphia: : Printed by Budd and Bartram, for Thomas Dobson, at the stone house, no 41, South Second Street., 1799. On September 16 he reported that his church was "very full" the day before. The first major American yellow fever epidemic hit Philadelphia in July 1793 and peaked during the first weeks of October. Dr. William Currie: Believed that the fever came from a shipment that came from the West Indies and claimed that it was not the yellow fever. The mortality rate peaked in October before frost finally killed the mosquitoes and brought an end to the outbreak. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 dramatically recounts the true story of the yellow fever epidemic that nearly decimated the population of Philadelphia at the end of the 18th century. The plague originated in China and Central Asia in the mid-1300s. Devze admired Girard's fearlessness in his devotion to the patients. Malaria still rates, and so many others. The black people were looked to. LitCharts Teacher Editions. I especially appreciated the fair and balanced look at one of my favorite Founding Fathers, Benjamin Rush. Not a few of his patients became comatose. He falls ill twice and peddles a controversial cure that involves poisoning, purging, and bloodletting. Doctors tried a variety of treatments but knew neither the origin of the fever nor that the disease was transmitted by mosquitoes (this information was not verified until the late 19th century). [35] As noted above, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones offered the services of members of the Free African Society to the committee. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. These newspapers even suggested he was injecting dead bodies with plague so that he looked like a hero. Business leaders and politicians echoed this rhetoric. Within weeks, people throughout the city were experiencing symptoms. Honor Book) COPY LINK IN DESCRIPTION AND PASTE. "[3]"Leisurely, lyrical toneMurphy injects the events with immediacyarchival photographsbring the story to lifecomprehensive history." Norfolk; June-Oct . By the time it ended, 5,000 people were dead. [71], Unlike other doctors, Devze did not offer advice in the newspapers during the epidemic. National Book Award Finalist: An account of the disease that ravaged eighteenth-century Philadelphia, written and illustrated for young readers. In the summer of 2019, reports of prairie dogs with plague-carrying fleas forced parts of Colorados Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge to shut down. Out-of-state newspapers picked up news of the outbreak a few weeks after Wongs death, and Kinyoun sent federal officials regular memos about the plagues escalation. made important contributions to the development of Philadelphia. [55], Those refugees from Saint-Domingue who thought they had immunity used the streets freely, but few other residents did. Interesting history of Philadelphia at the time. Episode 42: In 2020, more than 45,000 people in the United States died from gun-related injuries, but the number of people who die each year from alcohol-related causes is more than twice that . Get help and learn more about the design. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Ok, so I'm on a roll here reading about disease and epidemics! Rush alerted his colleagues and the government that the city faced an epidemic of "highly contagious, as well as mortal bilious remitting yellow fever. Natives thought that newcomers especially had to undergo a "seasoning" and were more likely to die of what were thought to be seasonal fevers in their early years in the region. Except where otherwise noted, this work is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which allows anyone to share and adapt our material as long as proper attribution is given. [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. If the pulse was weak and low, he recommended camomile or snakeroot as a stimulant, and blisters or blankets soaked in hot vinegar wrapped around the lower limbs. Plague Bearer - Interview - 2023 - The Zach Moonshine Show by The Zach Moonshine Show. [83] As Thomas A. Apel has written "Yellow fever constituted the most pressing national problem of the early national problem. We administered what relief we could, and applied to the overseers of the poor to have the woman buried. Last edited on 25 September 2022, at 05:57, Children and Young Adult Literature portal, "AN AMERICAN PLAGUE: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793", "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (Genre: Non Fiction)", "2010 Margaret A. Edwards Award Winner Jim Murphy", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=An_American_Plague&oldid=1112211447, This page was last edited on 25 September 2022, at 05:57. So when a 41-year-old San Franciscan named Wong Chut King died of a particularly violent disease in March 1900, there were worries that the pandemic had finally reached U.S. soil. From that day the fever spread fast and indiscriminately through the city. Like all hospitals of that time, the Pennsylvania Hospital did not admit patients with infectious diseases. The man who replaced Kinyoun as head of the Marine Hospital Service in San Francisco was Dr. Rupert Blue. columnist John Kelly, . None of those victims was a recent immigrant.[16]. Fever Epidemic of 1793 (Newbery. Before his full-time appointment in 2011 at Hoover Institution, he was Professor and Chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center for 14 years. The first outbreak occurred in August . Austin American-Statesman. A fascinating review of an event not so long ago that could be repeated in our heavily populated cities and poorly prepared hospitals. Soon cases appeared in Kensington. He thought the use of opium very helpful. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2010 for his contribution in writing for teens. Thoroughly researched, generously illustrated with fascinating archival prints, and unflinching in its discussion of medical details, this book offers a glimpse into the conditions of American cities at the time of . Almost all of these cases occur in the western United States. Dr. Benjamin Rush: Developed a radical treatment process for the yellow fever disease which involved withdrawing blood from patients and giving patients mercury and the root of a poisonous plant. The organism is transmitted to humans who are bitten by fleas that have fed on infected rodents or by . The meetinghouse is not far from the waterfront where the epidemic had started. [46], He published rumors of greed, especially by landlords who threw convalescing tenants into the street to gain control of their flats. Girard found that the intermittent visits by four young physicians from the city added to the confusion about patient treatment. Allen and Jones noted that white nurses also profited and stole from their patients. He revised his account of the 1793 epidemic to eliminate reference to the disease being contagious. The massive morbidities from the common illness of influenza were mysterious and frightening. This was a significant event in the history of the U.S., yet I don't remember hearing it mentioned in school. But people are people- there are some who react badly and there are the heroes who step up. But, it soon became clear that mortality at the hospital remained high; about 50% of those admitted died. Many of the slaves in Charleston in 1742 could have gained immunity before having been transported from Africa, by having been exposed to yellow fever in a mild case. I learned a fair number of new historical facts in this one and truly appreciated the research and concise presentation of the events surrounding the 1793 yellow fever epidemic as well as so many other epidemics of this disease which hit different cities in the States. Those who had not escaped the city tried to wait out the epidemic in their homes. [81] In March 1794, the Mayor's Committee published its minutes. Updated: March 23, 2020 | Original: November 15, 2019. Philadelphia was also the seat of the United States government at the time, but federal authorities simply evacuated the city in face of the raging epidemic. Among its many accolades, An American Plague was a Newbery Honor book and a finalist for the National Book Award. He focuses on a few of its prominent inhabitants, the major political issues of the day, and the everyday operations of the city. People who survived one attack gained immunity. "Burning of nitre will correct the corrupt air which they may contain. Ashley. African-American nurses had also begun dying of the fever. Helmuth. It then spread quickly from one person to another. The author Jim Murphy describes a disease called the yellow fever and how it affected the residents of Philadelphia. When Inskeep contracted the fever, he asked for the assistance of a family whom he had attended when several of its members were sick. Havre de Grace, Maryland, for example, tried to prevent people from Philadelphia from crossing the Susquehanna River to Maryland. 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. AN AMERICAN PLAGUE: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 Jim Murphy, . California Governor Henry Gage was particularly averse to this new science. The people were hungry. There was a real fear that the discovery of more plague victims would lead to more quarantines or building-burning, a crude method of fighting disease. He was better at communicating scientific and medical information to the public, and also better at earning the trust of the citys Chinese community. I picked up this book after the book that Jim Murphy wrote about the great Chicago fire. The Guardians of the Poor took over Bush Hill, a 150-acre estate farther outside the city, whose owner William Hamilton was in England for an extended stay. 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. 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." had nine children and a wife. Many families who could afford to, or who had relatives in the countryside, lived elsewhere during that hot month. Beginning in September, shipments generally increased with the arrival of fall goods from Britain. In a memoir published in 1794, Devze wrote of Girard: I even saw one of the diseased [discharge] the contents of his stomach upon [him]. 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. pathogenic: 1 adj able to cause disease " pathogenic bacteria" Synonyms: infective , morbific unhealthful detrimental to good health The white flag had to be struck. It also sparked heated medical debate among the physicians (who knew very little about the disease). "[60] On November 14, the Mayor's Committee recommended purifying houses, clothing and bedding, but said that anyone could come to the city "without danger from the late prevailing disorder. Much of the chaos in Philadelphia stems from a fundamental lack of understanding of the disease, as well as any effective treatment. The book has photographs and newspapers clippings from the time the plague happened in Philadelphia. Mayor Matthew Clarkson remained in Philadelphia for the duration of the epidemic and organized a committee to deal with the crisis. Blue helped end the outbreak with initiatives to clean the city and eradicate its rats, whose fleas were infecting humans with the plague. 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. 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. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Cite . The plague is just one incarnation of death, which is an omnipresent "collective disaster," so the hierarchies were basically absurd before the plague as well. As a teenager, Halse spent a year living in Denmark as an exchange student. [36], When the Mayor's Committee inspected the Bush Hill fever hospital, they found the nurses unqualified and arrangements chaotic. Certain aspects of the city are improved, such as the attitude toward public health, while others, like the racial and class structure, stay relatively unchanged. Just as Californias political and business leaders had feared, states threatened to cut off trade with California to prevent the plague from spreading. Neat huh? It's horrifying how many people have been killed because of mosquitoes. In the novel he highlights the heroic roles and actions that the Philadelphia free blacks took in order to fight this deadly disease, and how it causes a constitutional crisis that leads president George Washington to leave the city of Philadelphia. The rift within the College created by the fever becomes permanent. At the turn of the 20th century, the world was gripped by a plague pandemic that had spread from China to port cities around the globe. The epidemic depopulated Philadelphia: 5,000 out of a population of 45,000 died, and chronicler Mathew Carey estimated that another 17,000 fled. The publisher Mathew Carey published a short pamphlet later in the fall in which he described the changes that had occurred in the life of the city: "Those who ventured abroad, had handkerchiefs or sponges impregnated with vinegar of camphor at their noses, or smelling-bottles full of the thieves' vinegar. If you have no real knowledge of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, this is a fine place to start. Rush blamed "some damaged coffee which putrefied on the wharf near Arch Street" for causing the fevers. Rush knew of Dr. John Lining's observation during the 1742 yellow fever epidemic in Charleston, South Carolina, that African slaves appeared to be affected at rates lower than whites; he thought they had a natural immunity. He listed the names of the dead at the back of the book, which is one reason it was a bestseller. And like many others in California, Gage wasnt even sure white people could get the plague in the first place. quick and informative read. Rev. Such entertainment had been banned during the Revolution and had only recently been authorized. The following sources were used in writing this page. For details and exceptions, see the Harvard Library Copyright Policy 2022 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College. Like so many Americans do each year, President Joe Biden returned to Ireland this week in search of his roots, seeking some connection and some answers in the land his people left so many years ago. The city is hit with an incurable and unknown disease which kills about 50% of the people affected. The author made the book interesting while presenting a good historical narrative of the events. As painfully articulated by Jim Murphy in "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793," yellow fever commenced "with chills and pains in the head . 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). People thought it came from a pile of rotting coffee beans--back then people thought bad smells spread disease. The reverends Richard Allen and Absalom Jones of the Free African Society published their own account rebutting Carey's attacks; by that time Carey had already published the fourth edition of his popular pamphlet. For more by Margaret Sullivan visit wapo.st/sullivan. But the worst . 55 reviews 3 followers. Award Win Active Date: Monday, October 19, 2009 - 19:00. Newbery Honor and Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor recipient Jim Murphy The arsonists are similar to the suicides . Mathew Carey: Wrote a book that was pronounced to be a best seller titled "A Short Account of the Malignant Fever". Rush wrote accounts of the 1797, 1798, and 1799 epidemics in Philadelphia. [49], Allen and Jones quickly wrote a pamphlet to defend the people of color in the crisis. 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. 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. It portrays the agony and pain this disease brought upon the American people marking its place in history in order to never be forgotten. A diverse and potent force in space exploration, their . Since Philadelphia was the temporary capital of our young nation the epidemic all but shut down the government. Although pandemics strain health systems first, they also stress many other parts of society. [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. To restore the patient he recommended "gruel, sago, panada, tapioca, tea, coffee, weak chocolate, wine whey, chicken broth, and white meats, according to the weak or active state of the system; the fruits of the season may be eaten with advantage at all times." in San Francisco, California during the San Francisco plague campaign. He sent for us, and requested we would use our influence to lessen the wages of the nurses. The symptoms began as chills, headache and back ache and spread to yellow tint to skin, nose, gums and intestinal bleeding and black vomit. [citation needed], Rush's claim that his remedies cured 99 out of 100 patients has led historians and modern doctors to ridicule his remedies and approach to medical science. As this book points out, yellow fever is at bay, but could be a disaster waiting to happen. An American author of more than 35 nonfiction and fiction books for children, young adults, and general audiences, including more than 30 about American history. Today, a vaccine prevents yellow fever in much of the world, though thousands of people still die every year from the disease. 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. By the time it ended, 5,000 people were dead. Likely the first fictional treatment of the yellow fever epidemic was a novel titled Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the Year 1793, published in 1799 by Philadelphia native Charles Brockden Brown. The doctor found that 67 of about 400 residents near the Arch Street wharf were sick, but only 12 had "malignant fevers. Too often the plague of homelessness is accompanied by drug abuse and broken families. READ MORE: When the Yellow Fever Outbreak of 1793 Sent the Wealthy Fleeing Philadelphia. The sweltering port cities of Philadelphia, New York and New Orleans all experienced major outbreaks. The Reverend J. Henry c. Helmuth: Believed that the plague was a punishment sent by god because there was an increase in gambling as well as in drinking among the people of Philadelphia. This is the story of how half the city's residents fled and half of those who remained died; neighboring towns, cities and states barricaded . I had no idea that our nation was so shaped by this disease. The outbreak effectively shut down the federal government, the state government, and most local business. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. the poor could not afford to leave. In the final chapters, the fever finally subsides. A narration of the Yellow Fever outbreak in Philadelphia in 1793, which claimed the lives of between 4,000 and 5,000 men, women and children. Pernick, Martin S. "Politics, Parties, and Pestilence: Epidemic Yellow Fever in Philadelphia and the Rise of the First Party System,", Kopperman, Paul E. "'Venerate the Lancet': Benjamin Rush's Yellow Fever Therapy in Context,", "A Short History of Yellow Fever in the US", "Andrew Brown's "Earnest Endeavor": The Federal Gazette's Role in Philadelphia's Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793", Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, "Yellow Fever Decimates Philadelphia | History of Vaccines", "When the Yellow Fever Outbreak of 1793 Sent the Wealthy Fleeing Philadelphia", "Africans in America Part 3: Brotherly Love (17911831) Philadelphia/People & Events/The Yellow Fever epidemic", "A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People", Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, "Africans in America Part 3: Brotherly Love (17911831) Philadelphia/Modern Voices/Julie Winch on Jones' and Allen's response to Carey", (Mitchell's account of the Yellow Fever in Virginia in 17412), "Account of the Yellow fever which prevailed in Virginia in the years 1737, 1741, and 1742, in a letter to the late Cadwallader Colden, Esq. The world, though thousands of people still die every year from the disease Newbery Honor and Boston Globe/Horn Honor. Back of the dead at the Hospital remained high ; about 50 of., 2009 - 19:00 discussed, as well as any effective treatment die year., When the mayor 's Committee inspected the Bush Hill fever Hospital, they also stress other..., When the yellow fever constituted the most pressing national problem Harvard Library Policy... And peaked during the San Francisco, California during the San Francisco plague campaign with so... Heated medical debate among the physicians ( who knew very little about the great Chicago fire had also dying... Us, and applied to the epidemic is one reason it was a Honor... Although pandemics strain health systems first, they also stress many other parts of Society putrefied on the near!, so i 'm on a state of constant salivation, which Rush urged patients to to. 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Like all hospitals of that time, the mayor 's Committee published minutes!
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