The Syphilis Explosion of the American Civil War

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, History, Education, Sex, Scandal

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2026

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It's been estimated that between eight and twelve percent of soldiers contracted a venereal disease during the American Civil War. What on earth were they up to?

Kathryn Olivarius is a Professor at Stanford. She joins Kate to discuss syphilis, why it spread so far during the war and how it's impact continued after the war ended.

Kathryn is the author of 'Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom'.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

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Transcript

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0:20.9	Hello, my lovely betwixters. It's me, Kate Lister. You are back once again and you are listening to Betwix the Sheed. So well done for being in the right place. I'm so pleased that you have made it once again. But before we can go any further, I do have to tell you. This is an adult podcast, spoken by adults to other adults about adulty things in an adulty way covering a range of adults. Subjection used to being adult too. Actually, we are getting a bit grim today.
0:40.1	We're talking about syphilis. So you might just not want to listen to something about postulist, gangrenous, might not want to listen to that, in which case, this is your fair-doos warning. Get out now, we still can. And for the rest of you that are still hanging around, should we get on with it? I think we shall. America in the 1860s was a particularly dangerous time to be around. I mean, looking at current
0:45.8	global events, it's not doing too great right now. But in the 1860s, they were in the grip of a
0:51.4	civil war. And that meant that every day brought a risk of being shot or blasted
0:56.8	or stabbed with a bayonet
0:58.3	and even if you weren't on the battlefield
0:59.8	your house was constantly at risk of destruction and food
1:02.9	well that was in short supply as well
1:04.7	and then there was another risk
1:06.4	a danger muted somewhat by the shame that it bought
1:10.0	so it flew under the radar but it it was no less devastating. Syphilis. I'm Hello and welcome back to Betwigs the Sheath, the history of sex scandal and society with me, Kate Lister.
1:41.8	We've all been through COVID. So we are a group of people that
1:46.0	know a thing or two about a super spreader event. And in history, there are so many of these
1:51.9	kind of events, ones that wreaked horrendous devastation. And syphilis is definitely one of those.
1:58.7	And it does tend to rear its ugly head around wartime.
2:03.3	Perhaps it was the sheer volume of young men being away from home who were facing an impending
2:07.8	cannon who thought, do you know what?
2:09.7	I'm going to have a shag before I go.
2:11.5	That might have had something to do with the boom in syphilis.
2:14.5	Well, today I'm joined by Stanford's Catherine Oliverius to find out about
2:19.7	syphilis and civil war. Condoms at the ready betwixters, let's do this.
2:29.6	Hello and welcome to betwixtor sheet. It's only Catherine Oliverus. How are you doing?
	...

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