Yesterday's Diseases, Natalie, C Block

YESTERDAYS DISEASES YELLOW FEVER/PHILADELPHIA 1793

Natalie M. C block

IN LATE AUGUST OF 1793 YELLOW FEVER WAS STARTING TO SPREAD IN PHILADELPHIA. IN EARLY SEPTEMBER ABOUT ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE WERE REPORTED DEAD. BY THE END OF THE MONTH THAT NUMBER HAD AT LEAST DOUBLED. FAMILIES IN THIS TIME PERIOD REACTED DRASTICALLY TO THE RAPID SPREADING OF THE FEVER WHICH HAD NO TREATMENT BY FLEEING CITIES, WHICH ULTIMATELY CAUSED THE CRASH OF THE ECONOMY AT THE TIME.

Rapid Spread

A map of deaths in the area

YELLOW FEVER WAS SPREADING RAPIDLY. FAMILIES WITH MANY PEOPLE IN THEM LIVED TOGETHER IN SMALL HOUSES, WHICH MADE IT EASIER FOR THE FEVER TO GET AROUND. ALSO THIS TIME OF YEAR WAS VERY HOT OUTSIDE. MULTIPLE PEOPLE WERE DYING PER DAY. ACCORDING TO HISTORY.COM “BY THE MIDDLE OF OCTOBER, 100 PEOPLE WERE DYING FROM THE VIRUS EVERY DAY.” IT WAS ALSO FOUND THAT 5000 PEOPLE WERE DEAD BY THE END OF THE EPIDEMIC. AS A RESULT OF THE RAPID SPREAD MANY WEALTHY FAMILIES FELT UNSAFE AND FLED THE CITY.

Families Fleeing AS THE FAMILIES IN PHILADELPHIA WERE SEEING PEOPLE-SOMETIMES IN THEIR OWN FAMILIES-DROPPING DEAD FROM YELLOW FEVER, THEY DECIDED TO LEAVE TOWN. THE PENNSYLVANIA CENTER FOR THE BOOK SAYS THAT, “THERE WAS SO GREAT A TERROR THAT CARTS, WAGONS, CHAIRS, AND COACHES COULD BE CONSTANTLY SEEN LEAVING THE CITY OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.” MANY CHILDREN WERE ORPHANED BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS DIED OR SENT THEM AWAY. ALL THESE WEALTHY FAMILIES LEAVING BECAME A HUGE PROBLEM FOR THE BUSINESSES IN TOWN THAT NEEDED MONEY TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES. EVENTUALLY TOO MANY PEOPLE HAD FLED AND THE ECONOMY CRASHED.

Orphaned children at an orphans home

Timeline of events that led up to and happened after the Yellow Fever Epidemic

Economy Crash AS THE FEVER STARTED TO PUSH THE WEALTHY FAMILIES OUT OF TOWN MANY BUSINESS OWNERS WERE IN TROUBLE. THERE WAS NO ONE TO BUY THEIR PRODUCTS SO THEY HAD NO MONEY. HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OPEN COLLECTIONS PROGRAM SAYS, “5,000 OUT OF A POPULATION OF 45,000 DIED, AND CHRONICLER MATHEW CAREY ESTIMATED THAT ANOTHER 17,000 FLED.” AS YOU CAN SEE IF NO ONE WAS AROUND TO BUY THINGS NO MONEY WAS EXCHANGED AND THE ECONOMY CRASHED.

This is a map of outbreaks/epidemics near the time period of 1793

IN CONCLUSION FAMILIES IN THE TIME PERIOD OF 1793 FLED CITIES BECAUSE OF RAPID SPREAD OF YELLOW FEVER. FLEEING THE CITIES CAUSED THE ECONOMY TO CRASH. This is a picture of a doctor doing Heroic Medicine.

LEXICON ~Droll amusing in an odd way ~Mangle a laundry machine in that time ~Apprentice a person who works for another in order to learn something ~Lad another word for a boy ~Orphan House where the orphaned children were sent ~Scullery Maid a female servant who was responsible for washing the dishes etc. ~The death cart the cart they pushed around that picked up dead people from the streets ~Bed Chamber a bedroom ~Heroic Medicine when a doctor would draw blood from the patient

BIBLIOGRAPHY PBS. Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 05 June 2017.

2010, Samuel A. Gum Summer.

The Pennsylvania Center for the Book - Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. Web. 04 June 2017.

"St. Vincent’s Guest House." Bill Chance. 10 Nov. 2012. Web. 05 June 2017.

"The Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia, 1793." Open Collections Program: Contagion, The Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia, 1793.

Web. 01 June 2017.

"Yellow Fever Breaks out in Philadelphia." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 01 June 2017.

Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Web. 05 June 2017.

Nature News. Nature Publishing Group. Web. 05 June 2017.