Philadelphia In 1793 The city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania was founded October 27th, 1682 by William Penn. It was home to about 50,000 residents, most likely due to the fact that two former presidents had lived there. From November 27th, 1790, to March 10th, seven years later, George Washington had lived in Philadelphia, as did John Adams from March 21st, 1796 to May 30th, 1800. In the summer of 1793, Philadelphia was hit with an outbreak of yellow fever, the first Yellow Fever epidemic in American history. Philadelphia, at the time, was the capital of the United States and had even been the city were the Declaration Of Independence was signed in the Pennsylvania State House, or now known by many as Independence Hall. Along with the Pennsylvania State Hall, now known as Independence Hall, Philadelphia was home to the …show more content…
Deaths from Yellow Fever had started being put on record between August 1st and November 9th. At first, many residents of Philadelphia believed Yellow Fever was being brought by refugees in the Caribbean that had Yellow Fever, but it was later discovered by Walter Reed that Yellow Fever was spread by an infected female mosquito, typically spread in cities by the Aedes aegypti, another type of mosquito most commonly found in the tropics. The reason Philadelphia was so susceptible to these mosquitoes was mainly because of its climate. It is said that in the summer of 1793, it was more hot, humid, and dry in Philadelphia than usual, making in an ideal habitat for these mosquitoes. The natural features of Philadelphia contributed to its vulnerability to the disease. The city of Philadelphia was surrounded by marshes and swamps at the time, that made a perfect breeding ground for the mosquitos as they prefer wetlands as a habitat. When Yellow Fever was at its prime, it is said it killed about 100 people per day by October of that year. When the cold of the Winter had killed all the mosquitos, the death rate dropped to about 20