1764

In the face of another smallpox epidemic, Boston “in the spring of 1764, attempted the largest general inoculation in either Great Britain or its colonies.” By June 30, of 699 cases of natural smallpox, there were 124 deaths. A total of 4,977 people were inoculated, with only 40 deaths: “the scale of the general inoculation, and the universality of Boston’s general inoculation by race and class exploded the demand for the procedure” (Wehrman, 61-2). “The anger toward Parliament’s revenue acts [Sugar and Stamp Acts] in 1764 and 1765 was, at least in part, rooted in their costly effort to inoculate the city against smallpox. . . . Parliament deserved none of the credit for Boston’s triumph over smallpox (67).