takes place in Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. This was the first major
outbreak of yellow fever in the United States. It hit Philadelphia in the summer of 1793,
following the Revolutionary War, and peaked in October of that year.
The book
contains many accurate historical details. For example, at that time, Philadelphia was serving
as the temporary capital of the country, and Congress was located in the city. In addition,
Eliza, the cook at Mattie's family's coffee house, is a free African American. There were many
free African Americans in Philadelphia at the time. The Quakers who ran Philadelphia were
opposed to slavery. Dr. Benjamin Rush, a figure in the novel, was a real-life physician and
signer of the Declaration of Independence who tried to cure fever victims by bloodletting them
and administering mercury, perhaps doing more harm than good. He recruited African American
volunteers to help the fever victims, as he falsely believed that African Americans were immune
to the epidemic. Many African Americans, such as Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, valiantly
helped nurse victims.
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