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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow Crude Smallpox Inoculations Helped George Washington Win the War
I love history. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it
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When George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775, America was fighting a war on two fronts: one for independence from the British, and a second for survival against smallpox. Because Washington knew the ravages of the disease firsthand, he understood that the smallpox virus, then an invisible enemy, could cripple his army and end the war before it began.
Thats why Washington eventually made the bold decision to inoculate all American troops who had never been sickened with smallpox at a time when inoculation was a crude and often deadly process. His gamble paid off. The measure staved off smallpox long enough to win a years-long fight with the British. In the process, Washington pulled off the first massive, state-funded immunization campaign in American history......
By the following winter, Washington and his troops were camped in Morristown, New Jersey, where the threat of smallpox was as dire as ever. Americas stoic general waffled back and forth on whether to inoculate or not, even making the mass inoculation order and then rescinding it. Finally, on February 5, 1777, he made the call in a letter to John Hancock, president of the Second Continental Congress.
The small pox has made such Head in every Quarter that I find it impossible to keep it from spreading thro the whole Army in the natural way. I have therefore determined, not only to innoculate all the Troops now here, that have not had it, but shall order Docr. Shippen to innoculate the Recruits as fast as they come in to Philadelphia.
Fenn says that inoculating all troops without natural smallpox immunity was a daunting task. First, medical personnel had to examine each individual to determine if they had contracted the disease in the past, then they conducted the risky variolation procedure, followed by a month-long recovery process attended by teams of nurses.
Meanwhile, this entire processthe first of its kind and scalehad to be conducted in total secrecy. If the British caught wind that large numbers of American soldiers were laid up in bed with smallpox, it could be the end.
Thats why Washington eventually made the bold decision to inoculate all American troops who had never been sickened with smallpox at a time when inoculation was a crude and often deadly process. His gamble paid off. The measure staved off smallpox long enough to win a years-long fight with the British. In the process, Washington pulled off the first massive, state-funded immunization campaign in American history......
By the following winter, Washington and his troops were camped in Morristown, New Jersey, where the threat of smallpox was as dire as ever. Americas stoic general waffled back and forth on whether to inoculate or not, even making the mass inoculation order and then rescinding it. Finally, on February 5, 1777, he made the call in a letter to John Hancock, president of the Second Continental Congress.
The small pox has made such Head in every Quarter that I find it impossible to keep it from spreading thro the whole Army in the natural way. I have therefore determined, not only to innoculate all the Troops now here, that have not had it, but shall order Docr. Shippen to innoculate the Recruits as fast as they come in to Philadelphia.
Fenn says that inoculating all troops without natural smallpox immunity was a daunting task. First, medical personnel had to examine each individual to determine if they had contracted the disease in the past, then they conducted the risky variolation procedure, followed by a month-long recovery process attended by teams of nurses.
Meanwhile, this entire processthe first of its kind and scalehad to be conducted in total secrecy. If the British caught wind that large numbers of American soldiers were laid up in bed with smallpox, it could be the end.
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How Crude Smallpox Inoculations Helped George Washington Win the War (Original Post)
LetMyPeopleVote
Aug 2021
OP
So, LITERALLY the USA EXISTS ... because George Washington mandated vaccinations
Hugh_Lebowski
Aug 2021
#2
Best_man23
(4,898 posts)1. Until the wars of the 20th century
Diseases killed more soldiers than battle wounds. The Napoleonic wars had an 8:1 ratio of soldiers killed by diseases.
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)2. So, LITERALLY the USA EXISTS ... because George Washington mandated vaccinations
Granted, inoculation is a crude form of vaccination, but the principle is almost identical.
Simultaneously, the dipshit wingnuts insist that the government requiring vaccination is like teh most un-American thing ever!!!1!!
It's very tough to combat this level of stupid.
crickets
(25,969 posts)3. Fascinating. K&R
LetMyPeopleVote
(145,176 posts)4. This makes me smile