Philadelphia's Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

History Shorts · Jun 17, 2026 · 1m

In the summer of 1793, the nation's capital became a city of fear. As a mysterious disease swept through Philadelphia, thousands fled, businesses closed, and government officials abandoned the city. By the time the crisis ended, nearly ten percent of Philadelphia's population would be dead. In this episode of History Shorts, we explore the devastating Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, one of the deadliest public health disasters in early American history. We follow the desperate efforts of doctors, volunteers, and ordinary citizens as they struggled to understand a disease they could neither…