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Partisanship and Pandemics
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"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
— George Santayana
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History has an eerie way of repeating itself, particularly when society fails to see its importance.
For example, the partisanship that we have seen during the coronavirus pandemic echoes that of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic—Jeffersonian Republicans and Hamiltonian Federalists vehemently disagreed about the best approach in stopping the fever. Partisan divides even developed between which courses of treatment were best.
In "Alexander Hamilton and the Politics of Pandemics", JMC fellow Andrew Porwancher writes:
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... The country at large was divided between Jeffersonian Republicans and Hamiltonian Federalists. And these two factions fiercely disagreed on the question of what caused the mysterious fever ravaging Philadelphia. Even medical experts could differ in their assessment of the fever’s origin and treatment based on political allegiance.
The prominent Federalist physician Edward Stevens was a devotee of Hamilton and an advocate for the theory that the illness was imported from abroad. He also advocated the so-called “Federalist cure” involving red cinchona bark, doses of wine, and baths in cold water...
Hamilton’s critics, most notably Benjamin Rush, subscribed to a competing theory: yellow fever had local origins. Dr. Rush championed the “Republican cure” of bloodletting and doses of mercury, which left many of his patients disfigured. (In 1901, Walter Reed demonstrated that yellow fever was actually spread by mosquitoes, an etiology that neither side understood in the 1790s) ...
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Have we learned from the partisanship seen during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic? Or will partisanship prevail over historical knowledge? Clearly, political divides continue to stymie our ability to orchestrate a well-ordered and effective response.
What we know is that epidemics and pandemics will come and go. But how we fare depends greatly on understanding our history and learning from our mistakes.
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History can always teach us something about the present, but only if it remains a priority. Without knowledge of how we solved such problems in the past, we have no basis to make important decisions about our country's future.
JMC supports those teachers who are championing education in America's history and its founding principles. Our growing network of more than 900 dedicated professors are making a difference on hundreds of campuses across the country. So far, they have taught more than one million students. Will you help us reach more?
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Historic Epidemics and Pandemics
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Prehistoric Epidemic in Northeastern China (c. 3000 B.C.)
Archaeological and anthropological findings suggest that a region in modern day northeastern China underwent a lethal epidemic in c. 3000 B.C.
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Plague of Athens (430-427 B.C.)
This devastating plague impacted Athens immediately after it had entered the Peloponnesian War with Sparta. Historians believe that the disease spread easily because of overcrowding from siege warfare.
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The Antonine Plague (165-180 A.D.)
The Antonine Plague, spread through trade and military expeditions, ultimately damaged the power structure of the Roman Empire, killing the emperor Lucius Verus and possibly emperor Marcus Aurelius as well.
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Plague of Justinian (541-542 A.D.)
The Plague of Justinian, a wave of the bubonic plague in the 500s, took the lives of millions of people and contributed to the decline of the Byzantine Empire (25% of the population perished).
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The Black Death (1346-1353)
The Black Death, thought to be another strain of bubonic plague, was one of the most deadly pandemics in history, killing 100-200 million people worldwide. It is believed that ½-⅔ of Europe was wiped out.
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The Smallpox Epidemic in North America (prevalent 1518-1800s)
While a common deadly disease throughout the world, smallpox was particularly devastating to the Native American populations of North America.
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Cocoliztli Epidemics (1545-1548 & 1576-1578)
Cocoliztli, a fever caused by salmonella, combined with megadroughts, killed up to 80% of the Native American population in what is now modern-day Mexico.
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Philadelphia's Yellow Fever Epidemic (1793)
The yellow fever epidemic of summer 1793 devastated Philadelphia, the largest American city and our nation's capitol at the time. 4,000 - 5,000 residents, about one-tenth of the city's population, died as a result.
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Cholera Pandemics (prevalent 1800s-present)
The world has endured several cholera outbreaks, with the first occurring in India in 1817. The largest American outbreaks in 1832, 1848-49, 1866, and 1873 were devastating, killing approximately half of those infected.
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The Third Plague (1855)
The Third Plague originated in Asia and spread through major coastal shipping centers. Overall, it killed roughly 12 million people.
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The Russian Flu (1889-1890)
The Russian Flu was notable as the first pandemic to spread rapidly because of modern innovations in travel. Unlike previous pandemics, the Russian Flu took only 4 months to circumnavigate the world.
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The Spanish Flu (1918-1922)
The Spanish Flu, one of the deadliest pandemics of modern times, killed over 50 million people worldwide and roughly 675,000 in the United States. The flu's spread was exacerbated by the worldwide transport of troops during World War I.
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The Asian Flu (1957-1958)
In February 1957, a new influenza A (H2N2) virus emerged in Singapore. The number of deaths was about 1.1 million worldwide with 116,000 occurring in the United States.
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HIV/AIDS (1981-present)
HIV/AIDS is an ongoing pandemic that has killed 25-35 million people since it was first identified.
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More timelines for epidemics/pandemics
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About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.
We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.
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