Albert Coss has written an interesting book on how the 1721 smallpox outbreak in America, changed the course of history, even inspiring the Revolutionary War. The PRI global network interviewed the author on Sept. 24, 2016 and it is worth the 16 minutes. Coss paints a picture of the political and social forces that smallpox created but so often not recognized in American history.
He points out that smallpox got out of control in Boston because the government was in such conflict over what to do. You may remember the famous U.S. Supreme Court case, which established that states have the sovereign power to demand vaccinations which outweigh the individual Constitutional liberty when the public health is more critically important to society.
Coss also points out that Cotton Mather, famous for his role in the Salem Witchcraft Trials was among the first advocates for innoculation, the procedure that saved 100s or 1000s of lives in Boston. Ironic.
Coss further ties in the American Revolution by exploring the free press finding that it really emerged during the smallpox epidemic when information was vital, and public opinion was loud. Benjamin Franklin wrote in the Boston Globe and was a big leap in his journalism activity, propelling him into the public eye as a public commentator, like maybe the modern day, Bill O'Reilly.
He points out that smallpox got out of control in Boston because the government was in such conflict over what to do. You may remember the famous U.S. Supreme Court case, which established that states have the sovereign power to demand vaccinations which outweigh the individual Constitutional liberty when the public health is more critically important to society.
Coss also points out that Cotton Mather, famous for his role in the Salem Witchcraft Trials was among the first advocates for innoculation, the procedure that saved 100s or 1000s of lives in Boston. Ironic.
Coss further ties in the American Revolution by exploring the free press finding that it really emerged during the smallpox epidemic when information was vital, and public opinion was loud. Benjamin Franklin wrote in the Boston Globe and was a big leap in his journalism activity, propelling him into the public eye as a public commentator, like maybe the modern day, Bill O'Reilly.
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