8. The smallpox epidemic of the American Revolution
During the American Revolution, smallpox threatened the health of the armies of both sides. George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, survived smallpox in his youth. He ordered the troops under his command inoculated during the war, which undoubtedly saved lives and the fighting ability of the troops. In 1775, British occupied Boston and the American armies in Canada suffered outbreaks of the disease. By the end of that year, smallpox raged in epidemic proportions across the continent, from Upper Canada to New Orleans, and from the Eastern Seaboard to the trans-Mississippi. At the end of the decade, a smallpox epidemic stretched from Alaska into Mexico, carried by the migratory tribes of the plains.
The Native American population of the Pacific Northwest was reduced by about a third from the disease. The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Apache felt a similar effect. In the east, Washington’s efforts directed against the disease led to the introduction of mandatory inoculations and quarantine of the afflicted. The Indians had no such programs, nor any idea of what afflicted them. Tens of thousands, and probably hundreds of thousands, died across what became the United States and Mexico. Smallpox struck the Plains Indians several additional times during the 19th century, including through the deliberate distribution of infected blankets and other items in a primitive form of biological warfare.