The Yellow Fever Epidemic of Philadelphia in 1793 was one of the worst plagues of it's time. Reasonable people went mad, true character came out, friends turned on friends, and lives were lost. An estimated 5 thousand people died of this disease, a small number compared to today's population, so one might think of the epidemic as small, and unimportant. But, imagine 1 in every 10 people in the largest city in the U.S. being infected, with no cure available, and 17th century medical care. What would it be like if so many people were dying daily, that the church bell stopped ringing for every deceased citizen? Times would be hard. This was life during summer of 1793 in the streets of Philadelphia.
In July of 1793, refugees from the Caribbean Islands came to Philadelphia with their belongings to escape political havoc. Little did anyone know, they also brought with them something that would change Philadelphia forever. The weather had been very unusual that summer, hotter and drier than usual. This created the perfect place for the population of the mosquitoes to grow immensely. It seemed that fate and irony had come into the picture of Philadelphia. The Caribbean refugees carried Yellow Fever. Mosquitoes were the perfect transportation. And with that, one of the worst plagues Philadelphia had ever seen was upon the citizens.
The first deaths came only a few weeks later, but people thought nothing of it. Soon, more and more people were killed, with similar symptoms. Some of them were head, back, and limb pains. After recovering, or so they thought, a more severe fever would come back along with yellowed skin, as well as eyes, and victims would sometimes vomit blood with little black spots. Mosquitoes were fast and furious, biting an infected person, and then a clean one, spreading the disease like a tsunami. Many people fled to the countryside in attempt to dodge the sickness. Those with the fever were often thrown out on the streets by their own family, and left there to die. In the morning someone would come around with a wheelbarrow collecting bodies. They would stop and yell to every house, "Bring out your dead!". They would then be taken to a mass burial area, today famously known as Washington Square. Some people were even buried alive. The city went on like this for months, with no absolute cause or cure.
There were only about 80 trained doctors in Philadelphia at the time, and many had either died or fled the city. Several claimed to know how to cure the Fever by bleeding the patient, like famous Dr. Benjamin Rush, believing it would rid the body of the "pestilence" , but some patients were believed to have bled to death. He was also accused of poisoning them by giving them large amounts of mercury. There was a fairly large amount of French people from the colony of Santo Domingo living in Philadelphia at the time, and one of them was the talented Jean Deveze.
Deveze had some experience with Yellow Fever, previously, in the West Indies. He had also had the fever himself before, so he was immune to the disease. His way of curing patients was to give them sweetened wine, broth, tea, and creamed rice to stimulate the blood and nourish the body. Everything else he did was to simply keep the patient, bed, and air clean and give them nontoxic medicine. This practice proved to be more of a success, compared to Dr. Rush's, who lost many more patients.
Also at the time, there were several free African-Americans in Philadelphia. At the beginning of the plague, they were thought to be immune to the disease, but later, many got sick as well. There was an organization called the Free African Society that was about black people helping other black people. When it was found out that they could get the disease just the same as whites, Dr. Rush asked them to help the sick and dying whites, as well. At first they provided free service, but later asked for a fee, which was granted by Mayor Clarkson. The FAS would play an important part in society during that time, taking care of the sick, cleaning the houses, and collecting and burying the dead. It was comforting for the Philadelphians to know there was still some good in the city. This was a rough time for everyone.
Finally, on a November day, long waited for, came the first frost. The end of the summer's epidemic had come at last. People started coming back to their homes in Philadelphia. Although, life was never the same. The fever had taken many loved ones and brought out the best and worst in everyone. Many families came back to homes and businesses that had been totally ransacked by people who knew there were many empty homes in the town, and decided to take the risk of sickness for riches. The Fever was possibly the reason that the United States' capital was changed from Philadelphia to Baltimore and then several places after that. Yellow Fever killed an approximate 10 percent of Philadelphia's population that year.
Today Yellow Fever still exists, but not in the United States. The disease is carried by the female Aedes aegypit mosquito . It still is the cause of death for thousands in Sub- Saharan Africa and parts of South America, although a vaccine was developed in 1930. No matter how many people did survive this plague, it was still one of the worst the United States had ever lived through and is still an important factor in improving healthcare and deciphering the future medical mysteries of the world.
Works Cited
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever 1793 . London: Hodder Children's Books, 2002. Print.
"Yellow Fever Attacks Philadelphia, 1793." EyeWitness to History - history through the eyes of those who lived it. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/yellowfever.htm>.
"Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Fever_Epidemic_of_1793>.
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