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Smallpox, Inoculation, and the American Revolution
The importance of preventing an epidemic to winning the war
Epidemics have occurred at many times in America’s past, including during its colonial period.
In the 1600s, the most dreaded illness was smallpox. It decimated the Native Americans, proving far more deadly to then than European guns.
A skilled archer could fire 12 arrows a minute. So while muskets were better long range weapons and could pierce armor, they had an inferior rate of fire. They were also noisy, while bows allowed greater stealth. In the American wilderness, bows were probably more effective.
If smallpox had not ravaged indigenous communities, America might look very different today.
What is smallpox?
It is an infectious disease caused by the variola virus. Symptoms include pustules and fever. Obviously this would have made it hard for soldiers to fight, but, even worse — it killed up to 30% of Europeans who were sickened. Among Native American communities, the death rates could approach 100%. Those who survived were left scarred. Many were left blind or deaf.
There were about a dozen smallpox epidemics in the 17th century.
