An American Plague

Bibliography:

Murphy, Jim. 2003. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. New York. Clarion Books. ISBN 0-395-77608-2

Plot Summary:

It is the summer of 1793, the streets of Philadelphia are “particularly ripe this year.” (p.1) The bustling port city has the putrid stench of “roasting meats, strong cheeses, days-old sheep and cow guts, dried blood and horse manure.” (p. 3) When many of the city’s poorest citizens become gravely ill in the raunchiest of alleyways, no one seems to notice. It doesn’t take long for the fatal illness to reach the city’s middle and upper class, causing those with financial means to flee the city. Philadelphia, as the capital of the burgeoning United States, finds itself in the throws of a deadly plague. Members of the government, including President George Washington, leave for safer havens. Only the mayor, the poor, and the few brave are left as the Yellow Plague reeks havoc, claiming victims with out mercy. There is much controversy among doctors as to which method of cure is the most effective. One very controversial doctor, Benjamin Rush, prescribes a treatment of ten grains of mercury and fifteen grains of a poisonous root to purge the body of the toxins. This poisonous concoction results in violent bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. Despite doctors’ best efforts, the mortality rate continues to be high, reaching 120 on the worst days, and many doctors, nurses, and caregivers find themselves stricken by the terrible illness. In desperation the mayor of the city pleads with the Free African Society to care for their sick white brothers and sisters. Despite having faced less than equal treatment by white people, the leaders of the society found compassion in their hearts and rallied the black community of Philadelphia to nurse the sick. When November cold begins to settle in over Philadelphia, the Yellow Fever seems to come to an end. Those who left the city begin to return, including the President. The people of Philadelphia are encouraged to keep better sanitary conditions, and despite their best efforts, the Yellow Fever continues to return to the city during the summer months. It is not until 1900 that the source of the illness, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is identified.

Critical Analysis:

Jenkins is a well-known author of nonfiction books for young adults. This particular book received several accolades including a Newberry Honor, National Book Award Finalist, and The Robert F. Sibert Medal. The author of this accurate account of the Yellow Fever Epidemic makes use of firsthand accounts from citizens such as, Elizabeth Drinker, “Tis a sickly time now in Philada, and there has been an unusual number of funerals lately here.” (p. 17). The author used 96 resources in the making of this very enjoyable book.

The organization of this book follows the events of the plague epidemic in Philadelphia. The book narrates the events of the summer of the epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia, but the author satisfies the reader with information about the subsequent findings regarding the Yellow Fever. It is suggested that the Yellow Fever, even today, is a “Time Bomb” with no vaccines currently in production.

The layout and design of this book is appealing and well-planned. The names of the chapters are interesting to the reader, such as, “No One Noticed, All Was Not Right, Church Bells Tolling.” The author has included both a table of contents and an index. There are many illustrations of interest--pictures or portraits of people, drawings and renderings from the time of the yellow fever, and many copies of newspaper and book covers. These pictures add interest to this historical account.

The author’s style of writing draws the reader in from the beginning, “In Philadelphia itself an increasing number of cats were dropping dead every day, attracting, one Philadelphian complained, ‘an amazing number of flies and other insects.” (p. 1) This book reads more like a novel with Murphy’s descriptive style. He intertwines the factual knowledge and true accounts like a master weaver; the facts never become cumbersome to the reader.

Review Excerpts:

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10-If surviving the first 20 years of a new nationhood weren't challenge enough, the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, centering in Philadelphia, was a crisis of monumental proportions. Murphy chronicles this frightening time with solid research and a flair for weaving facts into fascinating stories, beginning with the fever's emergence on August 3, when a young French sailor died in Richard Denny's boardinghouse on North Water Street. As church bells rang more and more often, it became horrifyingly clear that the de facto capital was being ravaged by an unknown killer. Largely unsung heroes emerged, most notably the Free African Society, whose members were mistakenly assumed to be immune and volunteered en masse to perform nursing and custodial care for the dying. Black-and-white reproductions of period art, coupled with chapter headings that face full-page copies of newspaper articles of the time, help bring this dreadful episode to life. An afterword explains the yellow fever phenomenon, its causes, and contemporary outbreaks, and source notes are extensive and interesting. Pair this work with Laurie Halse Anderson's wonderful novel Fever 1793 (S & S, 2000) and you'll have students hooked on history.
Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 6-12. History, science, politics, and public health come together in this dramatic account of the disastrous yellow fever epidemic that hit the nation's capital more than 200 years ago. Drawing on firsthand accounts, medical and non-medical, Murphy re-creates the fear and panic in the infected city, the social conditions that caused the disease to spread, and the arguments about causes and cures. With archival prints, photos, contemporary newspaper facsimiles that include lists of the dead, and full, chatty source notes, he tells of those who fled and those who stayed--among them, the heroic group of free blacks who nursed the ill and were later vilified for their work. Some readers may skip the daily details of life in eighteenth-century Philadelphia; in fact, the most interesting chapters discuss what is now known of the tiny fever-carrying mosquito and the problems created by over-zealous use of pesticides. The current struggle to contain the SARS epidemic brings the "unshakeable unease" chillingly close. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Reviews accessed at:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Plague-Terrifying-Epidemic-Newbery/dp/0395776082/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8469801-1224113?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193361345&sr=1-1

Connections:

Murphy, Jim. 2006. The Great Fire. Scholastic. ISBN 0439203074.

Murphy, Him. 1993. The Boys War. New York. Clarion Books. ISBN 0395664128.