How Did The Yellow Fever Affect Philadelphia

Philadelphia was the nation’s capital, and its largest city in 1793. Important figures like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton lived there. It was also the city where one of the most devastating diseases spread through. (PBS). Beginning in the late seventeen hundreds and lasting almost a century, The Yellow Fever ripped through Philadelphia and some of the surrounding cities (Finger). The first major American yellow fever outbreak hit in July of 1793 and significantly got worse in the beginning of October. Philadelphia, was the most sophisticated city in the nation so far. About two thousand free African Americans and many white French-speaking civilians from a Santo Domingo colony who were escaping a slave rebellion
Rush though that the disease had originated from rotting coffee grounds left on a boat dock. He came up with a very aggressive approach to treatment, which was to bleed out his patients and to give them mercury. These aggressive approach became known, not always not always in a good way, as “heroic medicine” (Harvard University Library). Many doctors disagreed with Rush’s cure rate. A new committee led by the mayor of Philadelphia, Mayor Clarkson who put Bush Hill, the best hospital into operating order. There patients’ spirits began to improve. French doctor named Dr. Deveze volunteered to be the full time physician at the hospital. He did not believe in Rush’s cure. At first the committee was unsure about hiring a French doctor because then it could offend the American doctors. The way that Dr. Deveze handled his patients was carefully and gently. (Yellow Fever Attacks Philadelphia, 1793). His treatment was considered to be the more humane of treatments, but Dr. Rush was better known and had more doctors behind him. Rush thought that his treatments to cure the patient worked better. He would have the patients lie down and rest, and he also gave them sweet wine to drink (Yellow Fever 1793, Doctors). Even though there was a ton of evidence that the French doctor’s cure worked better, it was still highly criticized. Benjamin Rush attacked many doctor’s methods, even though he did not have any evidence to back up his accusations (Yellow Fever Attacks Philadelphia, 1793). In the end, Dr. Rush was wrong, because bleeding often killed the patient because they were too unstable and couldn’t handle such a loss of blood. Even though there isn’t a cure for the disease, Dr. Deveze saved many victims of the yellow fever (Yellow Fever 1793, Doctors). Most of the African American residents of Philadelphia stayed in the city to help