Thursday, April 11, 2013

Module 11 - An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, by Jim Murphy

Summary

In 1793, Philadelphia was experienced an unparalleled health crisis.  It started subtly, with only one person.  Doctors didn't notice it, until the cases started adding up.  Murphy details the Yellow Fever epidemic from beginning to end and beyond.  It started gradually.  One man became ill, and died.  It became troublesome when more and more men at the same boardinghouse died from the same symptoms.  After doctors became aware of the epidemic, there were issues with trying to treat the disease and stop its spread.  There was much disagreement about the cause and the treatment.  Murphy details how the epidemic affected all walks of life.  Families abandoned sick family members, strangers stepped in to offer assistance.  Murphy closes his expository with how the toll of the epidemic was felt in the years following.  He closes the novel with a large source list for readers wanting more.

Murphy, J. (2003). An American plague, the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

My Impressions

Wow!  I never thought that a book about an epidemic would be so enthralling.  Once I started reading this book, I did not want to put it down.  The author does an amazing job creating a journal that encompasses what happened in Philadelphia right before the Yellow Fever epidemic through the resolution of the epidemic.  The book closes with how doctors experimented and eventually found the cause of Yellow Fever.  Murphy was able to tell a horror story without creating unnecessary sensationalism.  I would recommend this to any middle schooler, boy or girl.


Reviews

A mesmerizing, macabre account that will make readers happy they live in the 21st century. The yellow fever epidemic of 1793 snuck up on the people of Philadelphia during the hot summer; by the end of the year, some 10 percent of the city’s population lay dead. Drawing heavily on primary sources, Murphy (Inside the Alamo, p. 393, etc.) takes readers through the epidemic, moving methodically from its detection by the medical community; through its symptoms, treatment, and mortality; its effects on the populace, and what Philadelphia did to counter it. Individual chapters recount the efforts of the heroes of the epidemic: the quasi-legal committee of 12 who took over the running of the city government; the country’s preeminent physician, Dr. Benjamin Rush; and the Free African Society, whose members toiled valiantly to ease the victims’ pain and to dispose of the dead. Powerful, evocative prose carries along the compelling subject matter. Even as the narrative places readers in the moment with quotations, the design aids and abets this, beginning each chapter with reproductions from contemporary newspapers and other materials, as well as placing period illustrations appropriately throughout the text. The account of Philadelphia’s recovery wraps up with a fascinating discussion of historiography, detailing the war of words between Matthew Carey, one of the committee of 12, and Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, the leaders of the Free African Society—interesting in itself, it is also a valuable lesson in reading and writing history. Stellar. (bibliography, illustration credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10+)


An American plague. (2003, April 21). Kirkus Reviews, Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jim-murphy/an-american-plague/

Suggestions for Use in Library
  • Scientific Research: Humans have been “plagued” by terrible epidemics throughout history. Encourage students to research one of these diseases, list ten facts about it, and share their findings with the class. Your suggested list might include: botulism, bubonic plague (Black Death), cholera, diphtheria, influenza, leprosy, Lyme disease, malaria, measles, polio, smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, yellow fever, etc. 
  • Current Events: Epidemics and pandemics have become a byproduct of the “globalization” of the modern world. Invite the students to investigate news sources to discover if there is currently an epidemic in some part of the world. Ask them to share what this epidemic is, how it spreading, and what measures are being put in place to control it.
Stover, L. (2010, January). An american plague: Library lessons. Retrieved from http://www.librarysparks.com/pdf/librarysparks/2010/lsp_jan10_ll.pdf

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