tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339009608152299571.post4177511935979901287..comments2024-02-20T05:13:40.565-05:00Comments on The Maiden's Court: Book Review: Pox Americana by Elizabeth FennAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16609161113240681299noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339009608152299571.post-75228943259937348042016-10-18T10:22:21.764-04:002016-10-18T10:22:21.764-04:00That is certainly a possibility. What is likely to...That is certainly a possibility. What is likely to keep attention more is another possiblexample consideration for skipping it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16609161113240681299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339009608152299571.post-40944040134614328892016-10-18T10:17:01.139-04:002016-10-18T10:17:01.139-04:00I could also identify with "smallpox is too h...I could also identify with "smallpox is too humdrum", and War of Independence is Our Glorious War. Such thinking. Or if not identify with, strictly, at least consider it a possibility.Hans Georg Lundahlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055583255516264955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339009608152299571.post-80288713521438720732016-10-18T08:03:17.521-04:002016-10-18T08:03:17.521-04:00I wasn't suggesting directly or indirectly tha...I wasn't suggesting directly or indirectly that the effects of disease itself on history isn't covered in classes, but rather specifically smallpox on the events of the Revolution and its time period beyond just the battlefield, since that is what this book was about. I too learned about diseases and history, but it was usually within the context of a war and battlefield - as you said WWI, or the Civil War. While covering the war element here too, it explored a lot more outside of the battlefield: natives in the west, the fur trappers and traders of the North, etc and dug in deep. But I can assuredly say that we didn't cover anything about smallpox in school beyond the basic: it came over with the early explorers and decimated the native population on first contact. Additionally, as I stated, I can see why in a survey class on the Revolution the issue of smallpox might be skipped or glossed over as there is only so much time and they want to cover the "big" events, figures, etc, not because it's too gruesome to discuss disease.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16609161113240681299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5339009608152299571.post-76837353115629592332016-10-18T05:55:54.469-04:002016-10-18T05:55:54.469-04:00"I can understand why a subject like the smal...<i>"I can understand why a subject like the smallpox epidemic might not be covered in American history survey classes in high school or college."</i><br /><br />Homer covered the plague among the Greeks.<br /><br />We are not spared the medical horrors about WW-I trenches or Stalingrad battle.Hans Georg Lundahlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055583255516264955noreply@blogger.com