How did the the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 affect the growth and development of the city of Philadelphia? |
The central character of the novel Fever 1793, Mattie Cook, is separated from her mother and must learn to cope with the horrors of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. Your class will produce an historical newspaper about the city of Philadelphia in 1793, the yellow fever epidemic, Free American Blacks, immigration, medicine, and urban development. You will select a topic from the list below.
Bush Hill |
Free African American Society |
Benjamin Latrobe |
Dr. Benjamin Rush |
Yellow fever |
Lazaretto Station |
Yellow Fever Treatments |
Federal Gazette |
Richard Allen and Absalom Jones |
....
The most difficult part of a research assignment is knowing where to begin! You may feel overwhelmed by the assignment, the vast amounts of information, all the reading you will need to do, and the decisions you must make in order to ace this assignment.
Check out the the Information Literacy Process Model for a step-by-step guide.
Research Process Assessments:
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Final Product Assessments: |
How did the the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 affect the growth and development of the city of Philadelphia? |
Subsidiary Questions:
- What conditions in Philadelphia lead to the yellow fever epidemic of 1793?
- What are the physical symptoms of yellow fever?
- What were the early explanations as to the cause of the disease and how did people alter their behaviors as a result?
- Who was Benjamin Rush?
- What were some of the early treatments for yellow fever?
- Who was Benjamin Latrobe? What contributions did he make to the city?
- What role did quarantine play in yellow fever prevention?
- How did the African Methodist Church come to the aid of fever victims?
- What challenges did the Free Blacks face as a result of their assistance to the epidemic?
- What challenges did newpaper publishers face during the epidemic?
Gather information about your research topic from a variety of sources.
Record and sort your research findings using this note-taking organizer or note cards.
Be sure to avoid plagiarism and keep track of your resources for an MLA-style bibliography.
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Analyze your completed graphic organizer or sorted note cards to determine if you have gathered enough information about your topic:
- Do you have information pertaining to each of your subsidiary questions?
- Do you have additional information that would be of value to your audience?
- Is there any unrelated or unimportant information you should eliminate?
Synthesize your findings by writing a first draft of your article or editorial.
Evaluate the effectiveness of your research for the task using the following questions:
- Have you gathered sufficient details about your topic?
- Are your details organized in the right categories or sub-topics to make sense for your audience?
- Are you ready to write your article or editorial?
Publication: Prepare for the publication of your newspaper article.
- Be sure that all articles are written and edited
- Select appropriate illustrations (keep in mind copyright issues)
Reflection: Now that you have researched an epidemic from an historical perspective, what current diseases and situations could you compare to the yellow fever epidemic of 1793? If an author wrote a novel set in contemporary time around an epidemic would there be similarities?
Extension Activity: Write a letter to a freind or relative as if you were a resident of Philadelphia during the epidemic and request how you could arrange to stay with them during this chaotic time for the inhabitiants of the busy city.