What did President George Washington do about smallpox ? He followed SCIENCE....

[steve2470]

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/george-washington-beat-smallpox-epidemic-with-controversial-inoculations

By then, it was too late for thousands of American troops who marched on Quebec. Their commanding officer, Major General John Thomas, failed to follow Washington’s strict protocols during the ill-fated expedition, and he and one-third to half of his 10,000 soldiers perished from the virus. The force was soundly defeated. “The smallpox is ten times more terrible than Britons, Canadians, and Indians together,” Massachusetts statesman John Adams despairingly wrote in 1776.

As the epidemic spread, Washington decided to act. The following February, he informed Hancock that “I find it impossible to keep it from spreading thro’ the whole Army in the natural way.” He ordered all troops inoculated, noting to his leading medical officer that “necessity not only authorizes but seems to require the measure.” By the end of 1777, some 40,000 soldiers had been vaccinated.


Historians say the general’s bold move proved critical to the revolution’s success. “A compelling case can be made that his swift response to the smallpox epidemic and to a policy of inoculation was the most important strategic decision of his military career,” historian Joseph Ellis says.

When infection rates dropped from about 20 percent to 1 percent as a result of Washington’s order, even the skeptical Continental Congress was convinced. The lawmakers repealed bans on variolation across the colonies, the first major piece of American public health legislation. And, of course, after winning the war against smallpox, the United States went on to win its fight against Britain and solidify its standing as a new nation.

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