An American Plague Quotes

“Sometimes...I lose myself in looking back upon the ocean which I have passed, and now and then find myself surprised by a tear in reflecting upon the friends I have lost, and the scenes of distress that I have witnessed, and which I was unable to relieve.

—Dr. Benjamin Rush”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

“His concern focused on a series of illnesses that had struck his patients throughout the year—the mumps in January, jaw and mouth infections in February, scarlet fever in March, followed by influenza in July. “There was something in the heat and drought,” the good doctor speculated, “which was uncommon, in their influence upon the human body.”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

“Historians now estimate that as many as 20,000 people abandoned the city during the fever.”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

“The sickness began with chills, headache, and a painful aching in the back, arms, and legs. A high fever developed”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

“right”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

“August 23, 1793. (THE LIBRARY COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA)”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

“No one knew that a killer was already moving through their streets with them, an invisible stalker that would go house to house until it had touched everyone, rich or poor, in some terrible way.”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

“Washington was then president of the United States, and Philadelphia was the temporary capital of the young nation and the center of its federal government.”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

“Philadelphia was then the largest city in North America, with nearly 51,000 inhabitants”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

“Dead animals were routinely tossed into this soup, where everything decayed and sent up noxious bubbles to foul the air.”
― Jim Murphy, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793