Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 | Outbreak | 1

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2022

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the hot and humid summer of 1793, a deadly epidemic struck Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States. Thousands suffered high fevers, yellow skin, and bloody vomit. Many died within days.

At first, the cause of the illnesses was a mystery. Then the city’s leading physician, Dr. Benjamin Rush, identified it as yellow fever, one of the era’s deadliest diseases. Panic soon spread through Philadelphia. Schools, stores, and churches shut their doors, as the epidemic began to threaten the stability of the young nation.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon music.
0:05.8	Download the app today.
0:09.0	Imagine it's August 6, 1793 in Philadelphia.
0:23.2	You're a doctor, fresh out of medical school.
0:25.5	Today you've come to a boarding house in a narrow alley near the Wharf to treat a patient.
0:30.3	As you sit beside the man's bed, you feel his forehead and it's burning hot.
0:35.1	He's a French sailor who's been fighting a high fever and chills for the past few days.
0:41.1	You stand as the woman who manages the boarding house walks in.
0:44.7	It's sweltering in the cramped room and her hair is sticking to her face.
0:48.7	Well, how is he?
0:50.2	He's getting worse.
0:51.2	I'm sorry, Mrs. Denny.
0:52.7	I'm not sure what more I can do for him.
0:55.1	This fever just doesn't want to break.
0:57.6	Mrs. Denny shakes her head, looks down at the sailor sadly.
1:01.1	Oh, poor boy.
1:02.8	Dying in a foreign place.
1:04.7	No one but strangers by his side.
1:06.8	It is horrible, but it's more than that that's troubling me.
1:10.4	Something about this case seems strange.
1:13.1	Mrs. Denny shrugs.
1:14.4	These sailors are always coming through with one illness or another.
	...

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