An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. How do viruses spread? What are some precautions people can take to avoid becoming sick with a virus?

Teaching Suggestion: This question supports students with a basic understanding of viruses and their easily transmissible nature. Many times, the causes of both epidemics (in which a disease spreads quickly and affects many people at the same time) and pandemics (in which a disease spreads quickly and affects a significant proportion of the population in a wide geographic area, sometimes worldwide) are related to a lack of adequate sanitary conditions; however, Murphy highlights that many 18th-century Philadelphians believed that yellow fever was caused by conditions unrelated to either sanitation or scientific evidence, connecting to the theme of Folk Remedies Versus Science.

While the study of viruses and diseases, along with the introduction of health codes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, significantly improved public health in the United States, many viruses are still transmissible today. Murphy makes this link between improved public health and safety codes and the advancement of scientific study related to viruses in Chapter 11.

• Medical News Today shares essential information about viruses.
• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s website provides information regarding yellow fever.

2. Consider what you know about the American Revolution. When did the American colonies revolt? Whom did they revolt against? Why did the colonists revolt? What was the result of the revolution?

Teaching Suggestion: This question situates students historically in the setting of the text: 1793-1794 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thirty years prior to the yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia, colonists sought independence from the British government, signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776. After their victory in the Revolutionary War, the first states of the US were still solidifying their status as a newly independent country in the late 18th century; for example, many logistical decisions, such as the sharing of power between federal and state governments, were still being negotiated by politicians exercising Leadership in a Crisis. This question ties in well with US history classes and directly links with the Personal Connection Prompt.

• This succinct timeline of the American Revolution highlights the significant events prior to the war, which officially ended in 1783.
• PBS’s American Experience discusses some of the challenges that the US government faced in the years immediately after winning independence from Britain.

Short Activity

What do you think of when you hear the word “plague”? Working in small groups, research a plague in history. When and where did this plague occur? What was the cause of the plague? What were the lasting effects of this plague on the society in which it occurred?

Teaching Suggestion: This activity familiarizes students with the word “plague” in the content of group work. Murphy refers to the 1793 outbreak as a plague because yellow fever was known colloquially during this time as an “American Plague.” Today, public health studies would use the term “pandemic” or “epidemic” to refer to highly transmissible illnesses that have a significant effect on a specific population. Using the link below as guidance, students can select a “plague” other than the yellow fever outbreak of 1793 and research it in a group, including the basic information and visuals (if possible). To conclude the activity, students might share their findings with the class.

• Live Science compiles a list of “The Worst Epidemics and Pandemics in History.”

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Imagine that you are living in the newly independent United States in the year 1793. How would your daily life be different from now? How would it be similar?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt encourages students to compare and contrast late 18th-century life with contemporary life through their own lens. In addition to some of the more obvious answers, such as access to technology (phones, computers, social media, etc.) and a lack of modern amenities (indoor plumbing, electricity, etc.), students should also be encouraged to think about the lack of access to public services that many people take for granted today, such as healthcare systems, clean cities, garbage removal, and so on. Depending on the class, this question works well as either a personal writing prompt or an in-class discussion.

• The World History Encyclopedia’s “Daily Life in Colonial America” provides an overview of the challenges many Americans faced in the late 18th century.

Differentiation Suggestion: For more advanced classes, this question can be reframed as follows: Compare and contrast life in the late 18th century to life in the early 20th century. This question encourages students to consider two historical eras from a third-person perspective (i.e., more objectively), as opposed to applying their first-person perspective to one other era.