To inoculate or vaccinate : that has always been the question

Donald. Dean

Graduation Date

2005

Document Type

Project

Program

Other

Program

Project (M.S.S.)--Humboldt State University, Emphasis in American History, 2005.

Committee Chair Name

Delores Nason McBroome

Committee Chair Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Keywords

Smallpox--Vaccination., Humboldt State University -- Projects -- Teaching American History, Smallpox inoculation, Humboldt State University -- Projects -- Social Science

Abstract

To inoculate or vaccinate: that has been the question regarding the threat of smallpox. The scourge of smallpox has plagued mankind for centuries. Its effects, upon arrival in the New World, if anything, were magnified, especially among the native populations. Yet, even among the flood of northern European pioneers, pilgrims, and paupers, periodic smallpox epidemics decimated the population. The introduction of the inoculation from the Middle East in the early eighteenth century offered a respite, if not a solution, to the terror. However, while the inoculation proceedure resulted in a yet-unexplained less virulent form of smallpox and granted life-long immunity, it also killed about one per cent of its patients and could still transmit the disease to others. Because of its danger and required quarantine period, smallpox continued its rampage. During the American Revolution, the impact of a North American pandemic created a crises for both Rebels and Loyalists. Washington, a smallpox survivor himself, struggled to create an army while the pox snuffed his ranks. Indeed, smallpox and winter combined to stop an American drive on Quebec. African-American slaves who answered the call of Virginia's governor to win their freedom were cut as if by grape shot by the smallpox virus. Edward Jenner's discovery in 1796 that a cow pox vaccination proved pivotal in the battle against smallpox, although it did not provide lifetime immunity as he initially claimed. Because it too was not risk free, the debate over its use raged on until the scourge was declared eradicated in 1980. 5 This study will trace the inoculation and vaccination controversy from the eighteenth century through the present, examining the risks versus rewards each has presented in turn to the populations involved. The contentious debates that swirled around the religious, social, economic, and medical reasons to inoculate and later, vaccinate, in eighteenth through the twentieth century, will be addressed and viewed in the light of recent events involving the threatened use of bioterror weapons like smallpox in a country once again virtually defenseless against such a scourge. Within the classroom, students will read and examine historical documents, maps, letters, photographs, drawings, and charts to: 1. Understand that some things change in the course of history and some things do not. 2. Understand the impact of smallpox as well as its cure in America history. 3. Understand that smallpox is also an issue today with potential consequences as grave as those in colonial times.

https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/gb19f8037

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