Fever 1793! Non-Fiction Background to a Fictional Story

1. Fever 1793!Non-Fiction Background to a Fictional Story Before you read thinking question: What was it like to be sick in 1793?

2. Some Background to Begin With… • Did the epidemic really happen? • The epidemic of yellow fever started in 1793. • In three months, yellow fever killed 10 percent of Philadelphia’s population. • Thousands of people fled the city to escape the disease. • Doctors were not all in agreement regarding treatment. • Both the stethoscope and the thermometer had not been invented for doctors to use at this time. • At the start of the yellow fever epidemic about 80 doctors were practicing medicine in Philadelphia. Not all of them were properly trained.

3. Two Conflicting Opinions: • Some people followed Dr. Rush. He gave people mercury, calomel, and jalap to make people throw up, hoping to rid their body of disease. He also drained blood from people’s bodies to rid them of the disease. Many people think that his methods actually killed many of his patients. • Other people believed the French doctors knew how to treat yellow fever. They prescribed rest, fresh air, and lots of fluids. That was and still is the best way to treat yellow fever.

4. Take Two Sponges and Call Me in the Morning • In a desperate move to cure a disease they knew little about, people would soak sponges in vinegar and stick them up their noses. They also used vinegar to wash their hair and clothes in. Several even drank it. People hoped this strong liquid would kill all the germs from yellow fever. • Guns and cannons were shot in the streets in hopes of clearing the air of disease. • Beds were buried underground and then dug up in an effort to kill the disease. • None of these methods worked. People kept getting sick until the frost killed off the mosquitoes that spread yellow fever. Based on some of the attempts that were used to stop the disease, discuss with your groups some of the things the people at this time either didn’t know or misunderstood.

5. What to do with the dead? • Where are they buried? • Some people are buried in churchyards and cemeteries, but most lie buried anonymously in Washington’s Square.

7. Even “Famous” Weren’t Immune from the Fever…. • Dolley Payne Todd Madison: first lady of the fourth president; first husband died of yellow fever • George Washington: his wife, Martha, had a friend who died of yellow fever • Dr. Benjamin Rush: famous doctor who contracted the disease and survived • Stephen Girard: transformed Bush Hill into a safe hospital; survived yellow fever