Procedures

• SET UP

  This lesson offers several options for you to use with your students whether you are teaching in class, using a hybrid model, or engaging through distance learning. It can be completed in steps as a class or students can move at their own pace and complete the activities independently.

  You can post links to the videos in the lesson along with the related handout and engage in discussion to share responses on a discussion board or learning management system.

  You can also save and share the following Google resource for students to use with this lesson.

  Handout: Graphic Organizer (Google Doc).

  In Google, choose "File" then "Make a Copy" to get your own copy. You can make any needed adjustments in the instructions such as which activities students need to complete, when it is due, etc. and then make it available to them via Google.

• WARM UP

  Pose the following brainstorming questions to your students, directing them to record their responses in their graphic organizer, share with a partner, and then with the class if they choose.

  • When was the last time you were sick? What did you do to get better?
  • How were diseases treated in the past?

• INTRODUCTION

  Play the following introductory video clip of author Andrew Wehrman providing opening remarks for his lecture on how inoculation became a sought-after medical procedure in the 18th century and helped American colonists achieve independence from Great Britain. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

  Clip #1: A Massachusetts Diary (3:55).

  • What did Andrew Wehrman want to know more about?
  • What object did Wehrman find during his research?
  • Why was Ashley Bowen “angry,” and what did he often write about?
  • Over what was Bowen “seething?” Why?
  • According to Wehrman, what did several angry sailors in Marblehead, MA do?
  • Access this link to a copy of Ashley Bowen’s diary. Find an example of Bowen discussing smallpox and summarize your findings.

• VOCABULARY

  Direct your students to their graphic organizers to view and define the vocabulary terms that will appear in the lesson in the chart in their graphic organizer handout. The vocabulary words are also listed to the right on this webpage.

  We recommend having your students complete the activity in a jigsaw format to save time. Or, depending on time and resources, you may consider having your students engage in a Frayer's Model activity, where each student is responsible for completing one or two items. Students can then post their models around the room for reference throughout the lesson.

  Note: this is not an all-encompassing list of terms included in each video. We recommend you preview the video clips to determine any necessary additions/subtractions to this list for your specific students.

• BACKGROUND

  Direct students to the background section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following two video clips that provide background information about smallpox and the procedure of inoculation. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #2: What Was Smallpox? (2:46).

  • What kind of “disease” was smallpox?
  • According to Andrew Wehrman, what did colonial Americans call smallpox? Why?
  • How did smallpox, or variola, “ravage” the body? What was the mortality rate?
  • What was the only “salvation” of smallpox? Explain.

• Clip #3: Inoculation of Smallpox (4:19).

  • What were the “last places” to experience smallpox epidemics?
  • Based on the clip, what is inoculation? How does it differ from vaccination?
  • How did knowledge of inoculation spread? Summarize the story from 1721 that Andrew Wehrman shares about Cotton Mather, Onesimus, and Zabdiel Boylston.
  • How was the “procedure” initially viewed in America, and how did this change over time?

• FACT AND FICTION

  Direct students to the fact and fiction section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following three clips that detail the varying historical views regarding smallpox inoculation. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #4: A Historical Exaggeration (2:34).

  • How have historians “often” told the story of George Washington and smallpox inoculation?
  • What have historians “long known?”
  • According to Andrew Wehrman, to what degree has the story of Washington inoculating the Continental Army been exaggerated? Summarize his comments.
  • Based on the clip, what is the correct version of the story?

• Clip #5: Rarely Practiced? (5:22).

  • Which city kept “pretty careful records” of smallpox inoculation? Were these numbers accurate? Explain.
  • Summarize the “pattern” that the numbers depict.
  • According to Andrew Wehrman, what occurred in 1764? Why?
  • Describe what the map shown in the clip depicts, and what it suggests.

• Clip #6: Virginia, Washington, and Smallpox (3:37).

  • Where did smallpox do its “damage?”
  • Based on the clip, why did George Washington have less experience with mass smallpox inoculation?
  • Why was Washington “familiar” with smallpox?
  • According to Andrew Wehrman, how did the experience affect Washington?

• CONTINENTAL ARMY

  Direct students to the Continental Army section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following four clips that describe what led to the smallpox inoculation of the Continental Army. Direct your students to answer the related questions on their graphic organizer and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

• Clip #7: Washington Takes Command (4:23).

  • Why did George Washington take “two years” to inoculate the Continental Army?
  • What policies had already “been set” when Washington arrived in Boston in 1775? Why?
  • Why were the soldiers in Boston in 1775 “forbidden to inoculate?”
  • Why did regulations start to “break down quickly” as the war progressed? Summarize the example from Canada.

• Clip #8: Calls for Inoculation and Washington’s Response (4:06).

  • What were people “calling” for, and what made these voices grow louder?
  • For what did Surgeon General John Morgan “torch” George Washington in 1776? Why?
  • Why did Washington “double down” on inoculation?
  • What did Washington make as “policy” in the Continental Army?

• Clip #9: News from Martha and Artemis (2:37).

  • According to Andrew Wehrman, what did Martha Washington know was a risk?
  • What did George Washington “doubt?”
  • In what way did Washington’s “stance” on inoculation change after his wife successfully inoculated? How do we know?
  • Based on the clip, who was Artemas Ward and what was he allowed to do? Why?

• Clip #10: A Changed Mind (3:40).

  • What was George Washington trying to keep “together” in the fall of 1776? Why?
  • According to Andrew Wehrman, who were John Cochran and William Shippen Jr., and how did they influence Washington?
  • What did Washington “ultimately” realize?
  • What was “ordered” on Feb. 6th, 1777? Summarize the logistics of the process.

• REFLECTION

  After your students finish sharing their findings from the lesson, direct them to the reflection section of their graphic organizers. Instruct your students to view the following final video clip in which author Andrew Wehrman discusses the impact of the inoculation of the Continental Army and George Washington's emergence as a "proud evangelist" of the procedure. Direct your students to answer the related questions and share their findings with a partner, small group, or the class when finished.

  Clip #11: A “Proud Evangelist” (3:48).

  • According to Andrew Wehrman, how successful was the smallpox inoculation of the Continental Army?
  • What is “important to remember” about the decision?
  • In what ways did George Washington become a “proud evangelist” of inoculation?
  • What is a “good way” to think about the Washington Monument? Why?

• CLOSURE

  After your students are finished with the lesson, direct them to the final culminating writing prompt in their graphic organizers.

  OPTIONAL EXTENSION: In preparation for writing their responses, consider having your students view an extra video clip, in which author Andrew Wehrman answers questions related to the lesson. In Clip #12: Q&A About Smallpox, Inoculation, and the American Revolution (20:21), Wehrman discusses smallpox's use as a bioweapon, the lack of inoculation for the enslaved and Native Americans, the cost of inoculation and the details of the procedure itself, religious arguments for and against the procedure, and its importance to the Continental Army

  Direct your students to complete the following writing prompt and have students share their responses, comparing their perspectives with their classmates' perspectives: Having learned about the smallpox inoculation of the Continental Army, assess what lessons can be learned from this historical episode. Be sure to include evidence from the video clips in the lesson to support your response.