Onesimus’s Vaccination
In 1716 a man named Onesimus told his Puritan enslaver, Cotton Mather, that he had undergone an operation in Africa, which had given him “something of the smallpox and would forever preserve him from it.”
But the people of Boston wouldn’t listen as smallpox swept through their families.
This story tells about the ancient practice of vaccination, which seems to have sprung up independently in several places: India, China, West Africa, and elsewhere.
The idea was already an old one in 570 AD.
Retail link coming soon.
Scroll down to contact the author for updates.
© 2024 Mary D’Amore, All Rights Reserved