Description
Book Synopsis Five deadly epidemics, chiefly typhus and smallpox, struck Mexico City in the years between 1761 and 1813, claiming a minimum of fifty thousand lives. Mexico City was at that time the major metropolis of the New World and the capital of New Spain—by far the richest and most sophisticated city in that vast empire. It had the best medicines, the best doctors, and the best hospitals of the New World. What caused these devastating epidemics?
Donald B. Cooper here makes a thorough study of the problem. Based almost entirely on unpublished manuscript materials from the national archives of Mexico and the municipal archives of Mexico City, his work represents the first detailed study of the impact of epidemic disease on the history of New Spain, primarily of its capital. The course of each epidemic, its inclusive dates, the mortality it caused, and its effect upon the community are fully described.
At the time a major epidemic was in progress, the author says, all le
Table of Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Part I: The Background
- Introduction
- 1. A Menacing Natural Environment
- 2. Public-Health Administration
- The Ayuntamiento
- The Protomedicato
- The Viceroy
- The Audiencia
- The Church
- Part II: The Five Epidemics
- 3. Typhus and Smallpox: Partners in Death (1761–1762)
- 4. Inoculation: Rejected Lifesaver (1779–1780)
- 5. Sickness in a Time of Famine (1784–1787)
- 6. Smallpox: Word of Terror (1797–1798)
- Early Reports of Smallpox
- The Threat Draws Closer
- Preparations for an Impending Crisis
- The Epidemic Begins
- The Chief Council of Charity in Command
- A Glance at the Monterrey Outbreak
- Final Report of the Chief Council of Charity
- 7. The Year of Mysterious Fevers (1813)
- Part III: The Cycle of Sickness
- Bibliography
- Index
