The world continues to endure the Coronavirus pandemic with many locations reaching their peak in the coming weeks. This isn’t the first virus or disease to affect the world, so what can we learn from one previous example in American History?

To answer that question, Tony Williams joins me to discuss a book he had written detailing the 1721 Smallpox epidemic. Though Tony’s book isn’t Virginia History exactly, he mentions that one particular Virginian used Cotton Mather’s incredibly controversial inoculation method to protect his army more than 50 years later.

Join us as we discuss the events surrounding that fateful 1721 outbreak, and discover how many things are still quite similar in how we approach these fearful situations.

LINKS TO THE PODCAST:

• Lessons from 1721 Smallpox on Libsyn
• RSS Feed
• VA History Podcast on iTunes
• VA History Podcast on Podbay
• VA History Podcast on Stitcher
• VA History Podcast Store

MORE FROM TONY WILLIAMS:

• Williams, Tony. Hurricane of Independence: The Untold Story of the Deadly Storm at the Deciding Moment of the American Revolution. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2008.
• Williams, Tony. The Pox and the Covenant: Mather, Franklin, and the Epidemic That Changed America’s Destiny. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2010.
• Williams, Tony. America’s Beginnings: The Dramatic Events that Shaped a Nation’s Character. Latham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield in association with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2010.
• Williams, Tony. The Jamestown Experiment: The Remarkable Story of the Enterprising Colony and the Unexpected Results That Shaped America. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2011.
• Williams, Tony and Knott, Stephen. Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Forged America. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2015.
• Williams, Tony. Hamilton: An American Biography. Latham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield, 2018.
• Bill of Rights Institute
• The Washington, Jefferson, and Madison Institute
• Constituting America
• Tony Williams on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
• The George Washington Society of Virginia.
• Tony Williams Interview – Economic Influences on and from Early Virginia (Pillars of 17th Century Virginia Society, Part 3)
• “A Pox and the Social Covenant: 1721 and 2020” – Article written for St. Luke’s Historic Church and Museum, April 2020.

All photography used on this site is owned and copyrighted by the author. The Featured Image is of “The Cow-Pock or the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation” by James Gillray, 1802.

Music used for this episode – Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers,”Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” available on iTunes, and Max Bruch – Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26 – Prelude. Allegro moderato performed by Sarah Chang and the Dresdener Philharmonie conducted by Kurt Masur, also available on iTunes.