Thread by @AfricanArchives

Did You Know that a Black enslaved man was Responsible for Saving America from a SmallPox Epidemic

Onesimus (potrait unavailable) introduced the idea of vaccination based upon the African practice of inoculation in Libya,to help mitigate spread of smallpox

💉THREAD💉

Onesimus was an enslaved African who introduced the concept of inoculation to America and helped save hundreds of Bostonians from smallpox in 1721. But his role has hardly been told.

It began in 1716. When asked by his owner, prominent Puritan minister Cotton Mather, about a scar on his forearm, Onesimus described the basics of smallpox inoculation - a practice that was common Africa (and Asia) but relatively unknown in the American colonies.

Onesimus explained that when the pus from an infected individual's pustules is inserted into the broken skin of an uninfected person, the person suffers a mild reaction, but becomes immune to future infection.

In the words of Onesimus, as transcribed by Mather some years later, "People take Juice of the Small-Pox; and Cutty-skin, and Putt in a Drop."

Mather shared the enslaved African's suggestion with physician Zabdiel Boylston, who went in to attempt the procedure on his son, and then on other patients.

Inoculation saved hundreds of lives, and the two men have gone down in history as the lifesaving duo who took inoculation to the American colonies. The procedure eventually led to Edward Jenner's discovery of vaccination, which has spared millions of lives from disease.

Onesimus, however, was all but erased from this story of medical triumph. Let’s appreciate the millions of lives saved and still being saved through his discovery.

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