History Matters September 15, 2023
American smallpox
An Explosive Issue
A small bomb is hurled through the window of a local pastor’s home in Boston. Attached to the explosive (which failed to explode) is a message, “I’ll inoculate you with this.”
This was a violent response to a minister’s public promotion of vaccination. This was not an isolated response. In this Boston community, there were politicians who said that it is a person’s choice and not the business of a preacher. There were other preachers who said this shows a lack of faith in God to run to manmade interventions based upon fear. A local paper had a young writer that ran a scathing political editorial against the pastor. There were even medical professionals who said that the science isn’t there. You can’t trust the source where you learned this information.—“we shouldn’t do harmful medicine based upon desperation.”
And there was a certain desperation. In the city of Boston, 14% of her residents had already died from the virus. The pastor had lost three of his own children to the virus that year. But the pastor had sought out rational and scientific proof. He found a physician, Dr. Boylston who was willing to do the research. Dr. Boylston began by inoculating his own 6 year old son; as well as two people who worked in his house. This was later followed by inoculating 242 people in the Boston community. The decrease in infections was dramatic with only a 2% mortality rate with the inoculation compared to the 15-20% without the inoculation. These scientific findings were reported in The Boston Gazette on July 17. In spite of the white minister’s good reputation and research proof, many of the common folk of Boston ridiculed him and were outraged that this supposed therapy which could be lethal was based upon the word of a black man.
The day of the house bombing was July 17, 1721. The pastor was Cotton Mather of the Massachusett’s Bay Colony. The young writer for The New England Courant was Benjamin Franklin. And the viral epidemic was smallpox (variola virus).
The Colonial Introduction of Smallpox & Slaves
1634 - John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony witnesses the abso-lute decimation of the Native American people with small pox. He writes in his journal “They are all dead of the smallpox so the LORD cleareth our title to what we possess.”
Another colonizing puritan writes, “The good hand of God favored our beginning in sweeping away the multitudes of the natives with the small pox.”
1638- The American colonists tried to enslave the remnant of the Pequot Indians that were left; but they found them too defiant. They shipped the Indians to Bermuda in exchange for African slaves. The first African slaves arrived on the ship Desire from the West Indies with cotton, tobacco, and the first enslaved Africans in 1638 to Massachusettes- the hub of the early slave trade.
1641- Massachusettes Bay Colony is the first of the British colonies to make slavery legal.
1677- There is a local outbreak of smallpox in Boston.
1689-90 - A second outbreak of smallpox occurs.
1702- A third outbreak of smallpox occurs. (Ships coming into port from the West Indies become a major source of recurrent outbreaks)
1706 - 1000 African slaves are now in Boston -10% of the population and a central role in the economy. Cotton Mather, a Puritan minister purchased a West African slave in 1706 and names him Onesimus (after the slave in the book of Philemon in the New Testament. Ironically, the name Onesimus in the Greek means useful). Many of the slave owners be-lieved they had a duty to convert slaves to Christianity and educate them. But they feared their “devilish African rites” and worried about a slave rebellion.
Mather did not trust Onesimus. He wrote in his journal about having to watch him for “theivish” behavior and recorded that Onesimus was “wicked” and “useless”.
1716 - Onesimus shares with Cotton Mather that he knows how to prevent smallpox. Mather writes, “He had undergone an operation which gave him something of the smallpox and would forever preserve him from it and whoever had the courage to use it was forever free of the fear of contagion.” Mather continues, “Onesimus is a pretty intelligent fellow.”
1721- The worst of the smallpox pandemics occurred when passengers from a ship named Seahorse from the Caribbean were identified as having smallpox on board and landed on April 22, 1721 - the passengers were taken directly to a house and quarantined. A red flag was placed on the house with the inscription “God have mercy on this house.”
Hundreds in Boston and the surrounding areas began to flee for their lives. Hundreds were killed. Smallpox was highly contagious. Half of Boston was infected. The mortality rate could be as high as 30%. 844 people in Boston died, nearly 14% of the whole population.
Mather writes, “Because of the destroying angel over the Town, a day of prayer is needed that we may prepare to meet our God.”
Mather had over the years verified Onesimus’ story with other enslaved African people. In colonial America, the minister was the most educated person in a community. Cotton Mather’s father, Increase Mather, was the President of Harvard University (1685-1701). The vestment of the cleric and the robe of the academician were the same cloth. Their
knowledge was a regal cloak of protection for a community, body and soul. Cotton Mather sought out the published writings of a British physician, Dr. Emanuel Timoni who was the British Ambassador in Constantinople (Turkey). Dr. Timoni who himself was initially op-posed to the idea of inoculating healthy persons with the putrid discharge of an infected person; learned of its success from his wife, Lady Mary Montagu. She had observed the pro-cedure in 1718 from healers in Constantinople, and had it performed on their 6-year-old boy while her disapproving husband was out of town. Lady Montagu was particularly pas-sionate against smallpox given her innate beauty had been significantly marred by pox scars on her face only 3 years earlier.
The Complexion of an Epidemic
The practice of inoculation— placing a sample of fluid from an infected person into the scratch on the skin of a healthy person took painstaking time to catch on. Once it did, for-profit hospitals sprung up called “inoculation hospitals” where the healthy could get inocu-lated and quarantine. Unfortunately, many of these for-profit hospitals released patients prematurely and unknowingly spread smallpox into the community.
In spite of the demise of the inoculation hospitals, inoculation continued to gain advocates. Ben Franklin, who as a young man worked for a paper that took aim at this practice as an African superstition, changed his position and became a zealot for “vaccination” after the death of his 4-year-old son, Francis, from smallpox in 1736 (Franklin did not have his son “vaccinated”). Benjamin Franklin publishes his pamphlet Some Account of the Success of In-oculation for the Small Pox in England and America.”
But “inoculation” with the variola virus (also called variolation) was not without its risk. It was a live virus inoculation with smallpox, albeit they waited till day 12 of the infected indi-vidual when the virus was much less virulent. 1-3% of children and adults that were healthy died from inoculation and could potentially infect others if not adequately quaran-tined after inoculation. While countless lives were saved by the secret of an African slave, the colonists longed for something with less gamble.
In 1780, there was a farmer and cattle breeder, Benjamin Jesty, in Dorchester England who was drawn to the beautiful complexions of his two servant girls who were “milk-maids”. Their faces were not disfigured from pox scars though they lived in an area endemic with the variola virus. They had been infected with “cowpox” from milking cows which caused local lesions on the hands but spared them smallpox and its dangers and facial disfigure-ments.
Variola, meaning “spotted” was called “smallpox” to differentiate it from the large pox marks seen with syphilis. The pox marks were disfiguring as they had been to the beautiful Lady Montagu. They also significantly disfigured the complexions of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Jackson (which are all “painted over” in portraits, but in their death masks, their scarred complexions from smallpox are more telling). But the ab-sence of facial scarring among milkmaids was striking. Local sayings like “as smooth as a
milkmaid’s skin” were popular. This was not just the observation of an admiring farmer, but had made its way into popular verse:
Where are you going my pretty maid?
I’m going a-milking, sir, she said.
May I go with you, my pretty maid?
You’re kindly welcome, sir, she said.
What is your father, my pretty maid?
My father’s a farmer, sir she said.
What is your fortune, my pretty maid?
My face is my fortune, sir, she said.
Benjamin Jestsy using cowpox “vaccinated” his wife and two sons who never acquired smallpox. “Vaccinated” was a later term owing to the idea that the virus of a cow (Vaca) could be used to prevent disease in humans.
Edward Jenner, a physician from Glouceshire England is the name Americans associate with the smallpox vaccination, using the less virulent cow pox. On May 15, 1794, Jenner se-lected a 8 year old boy named James Phipps to receive an inoculation from a cow pox from a milkmaids hand. Seven days after the inoculation, he began to run fever but by day ten (like COVID-19); he was well. Then 5 weeks later, he was inoculated with smallpox and had no symptoms. Dr. Jenner repeated this in 12 other subjects and published his results in a pamphlet, The Origin of the Vaccinae Inoculation” (1801). Smallpox vaccination became mandatory in 1809 in Massachusetts. Dr. Edward Jenner would be the first person in the history of the world to use science in producing a method that changed medicine from dis-ease treatment to disease prevention. He took folk medicine and scientifically tested and validated it. Using dead or weakened microbes from animal sources to prevent infection is monumental. In the 2oth century alone, 300 million people have died from smallpox; three times more than all of the wars from the same century. By comparison COVID-19 has been responsible for less than 1 million lives worldwide. Vaccination was not only the answer for survival among the American colonists; it remains the current single hope for COVID-19. Vaccination without a doubt is the #1 human achievement of the past century. But the American history vaccination (which is small pox vaccination) really begins with a slaves’ secret, a royal lady’s loss of beauty, and the complexion of milk-maid servants.
(more information after the references…)
REFERENCES
1. Herbert, E. “Smallpox inoculation in Africa.” Journal of African history (1975) ; 16.
2. A destroying angel: the conquest of smallpox in colonial Boston by O. Winslow (1974)
3. Best, M. et al. “Cotton Mather, you dog, dam you. I’ll inoculate you with this; with a pox to you.”: smallpox inoculation-Boston 1721. Quality and safety in health care (2004):13:82-83.
4. US national history of medicine: smallpox: a great and terrible scourge.” www.nim.nih.gov./exhibition/smallpox
5. Stern, AM “the history of vaccines and immunization: familiar patterns, new challenges” health affairs 24(3):611-621.
6. Smallpox vaccination: a review part I background, vaccination technique, normal vac-cination, revaccination, and expected results” coin infect dis 2003; 37:241-271.
7. Fauci, A. “smallpox vaccination policy: need for dialogue” new engl j med April 25, 2002; 346:1319-1320.
8. omer, s. et al. “vaccine refusal, mandatory immunization, and the risks of vaccine pre-ventable disease.” New Engl J Med 2009;360:1981-1988.
A Global Afterthought
This is one small condensed American story about smallpox and vaccination. The larger story of smallpox in world history as well as American history is every bit as important and fascinating. One should not focus on just this single historical morsel of smallpox without pushing back from the table of history and seeing the immense bounty which smallpox has served not only in the health of colonial America, but how it has literally shaped world powers, dynasties, wars, economics, and the survival of whole races of people. For those with an appetite for that kind of information, I have added a few more historical servings:
Smallpox in Antiquity
Our first records of smallpox go back to Egyptian papyri in 1350 BC. The virus slowly immi-grates with people groups moving from the Nile Valley to the Middle East to Southern Asia, and into Northern Europe. Now using post-mortem modern archeological histopathology, we can find archeological artifacts and even viral footprints from the Hittites (1346 BC) to India (1000 BC), to Persia (430 BC) to China (48 AD), to Japan (585 AD) and into Northern Europe (700 AD). Smallpox did not make it to the western hemisphere until Hernando Cor-tez brought it to the island of Hispaniola in 1507.
Dynasty Breaker
Entire dynasties have changed hands due to smallpox. Pharaoh Ramses V died in 1157 BC from smallpox. In the 16th century, the Japanese emperor died of smallpox. Several Kings and Queens of Europe have disrupted dynasties and changed alliances because of smallpox deaths (Joseph I of Germany; Peter II of Russia; Louis XV of France; William II of Orange; and Queen Mary of England who died in 1694 at the age of 32).
Changed the Outcomes of Nations & Wars
･ Indigenous tribes in the West Indies would have defeated Spanish & French forces early and remained in control of the West Indies if 90-95% of their people hadn’t been ravaged by diseases including smallpox.
･ The West African slave trade would not have begun in the West Indies and in colonial America except for the fact of smallpox and the decimation of Native Americans.
･ Native Americans on their mainland would have remained an independent fabric of the United States. One-third to one-half of all American Indian tribes were killed by smallpox. Some were made completely extinct.
･ The Aztecs of Mexico would have beaten the Spainards if not for smallpox.
･ Latin America would likely have not been colonized or Christianized if not for the physi-cal decimation and psychological demoralization of the European God protecting Europe-ans while the Aztec gods failed in protecting the Aztec tribes.
･ England would have been invaded and defeated by French-Spanish naval forces except for smallpox.
･ Quebec and ultimately all of Canada would belong to the US except that smallpox infected 5,500 out of the 10,000 American colonial troops who were set to conquer Quebec.
Political Influence
･ John Adams and Abagail Adams get vaccinated and he becomes the second President of the US during a smallpox outbreak.
･ Thomas Jefferson gets inoculated in 1782 and overseas the inoculation of his children. Thomas Jefferson then gets Lewis and Clark and their men vaccinated to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase.
･ The Federalist party forms a coalition in 1820 to repeal the mandatory vaccination law of 1809. This legacy of anti-vaccination will find fuel from the “irregulars” (those that prac-tice alternative medicine); and the genesis of this vehement stance will continue until this present day.
･ At Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln’s son, Todd will become ill with smallpox. Mary Todd (Lincoln’s wife) had already lost two sons to smallpox and begged Abraham Lincoln to not go to Gettysburg. Lincoln went and gave the Gettysburg address in spite of her plead-ings. On the train that day returning to Washington, Abrahm Lincoln developed a head-ache and a fever, and 2 days later the characteristic rash. He had given the Gettysburg Ad-dress while infected with smallpox. He was quarantined at the white House and out of commission for two months. His face bore the scars of smallpox the rest of his life. Had he gotten ill one day sooner; or had he listened to the insistence of his wife; we would not have the Gettysburg address.
Biological Warfare
･ Sir Geoffrey Amhert, British Commander in Chief, intentionally planted infected blankets in the encampments of the American Indians. He wrote, “Could it not be contrived to send the smallpox among those disaffected tribes of Indians? We must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them.”
･ General George Washington was concerned about the British using smallpox as a biologi-cal weapon of war against the colonists. Washington delayed his attack on Boston for that reason. In 1777, Washington ordered the entire continental army “variolated” as a mili-tary strategy to win the war against the British.
･ The Japanese used smallpox as a biological agent in Ping Fan Unit 731 against Manchu-rian and Chinese civilians and captured soldiers.
･ In 1998, President Clinton allotted 300 million dollars to destroy all the stockpiles of smallpox virus throughout the world and keep only remaining smallpox virus in two labs—the CDC in Atlanta and the Research Institute for Viral Preparations in Novosibirsk, Russia.—with recommendations that these be bilaterally destroyed in the near future.
･ In April 29, 1999 in the periodical Nature; it was reported that the Soviets had a secret Russian smallpox bioware program.
･ September 11, 2001 decisively changed minds about the need to destroy smallpox virus caches. While anthrax made the news more; it was smallpox that was considered the ideal biological warfare agent that could have fallen into enemy hands from the Soviets. Smallpox had high transmissibility, high mortality rates, a proven ability to decimate large populations young and old, and a relative lack of immunity. The last smallpox case in the US was 1949; and the Health Departments of the Us discontinued routine vaccina-tion in 1971—leaving 50 years of unvaccinated civilians. This is all well documented in an article written in 2002 in The New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Anthony Fauci.
･ 2014, President Obama
A Final Word
Smallpox was first eliminated in China. 1970 saw the irradiation of smallpox throughout Africa. The last known case was in Somalia in 1977. And in 1980, the World Health Assem-bly officially pronounced the death of “the speckled monster” that had fed on the citizens of the world.
It has taken 200 years of advocacy, education, laws, technology, and international coopera-tion to fulfill the prophetic words of Dr. Edward Jenner, “The annihilation of the Small Pox, the most dreadful scourge of the human species, must be the final result of this practice.”