← Evidence Library

Museum or archive

The 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic: The Washingtons, Hamilton and Jefferson

Library of Congress

Where this source supports the record

Each entry separates the article’s editorial relevance note from its exact, section-level claims. A bibliography link without a direct claim is labeled plainly.

  1. Epidemics & public health · August–November 1793

    The Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

    Old City waterfront and former Dock Creek district · United States

    Open article references →
    Why editors use it here

    Uses manuscripts and contemporary publications to document flight, federal officials, relief, and mortality.

    1. Quick read

      Yellow fever swept Philadelphia, then the national capital and largest American city, from late summer until frost in November 1793.

      Reviewed 26 July 2026
    2. Trigger and conditions

      Physicians noticed a cluster of severe fever near the Delaware waterfront in August.

      Reviewed 26 July 2026
    3. Uncertainty

      Contemporary death lists were incomplete and historians commonly use an estimate near five thousand.

      Reviewed 26 July 2026
    4. Why it matters

      The epidemic shows that uncertainty does not affect everyone equally.

      Reviewed 26 July 2026