1832: U.S. vaccinates Native peoples on the frontier against smallpox

Congress passes the Indian Vaccination Act and appropriates $12,000 to hire physicians to vaccinate Native peoples living near white frontier settlements. Settlers, who fear that Indian populations will spread disease to them, support the act—although the history of the spread of smallpox has, more often than not, been one of transmission from whites to Indians.

Theme

Epidemics, Federal-Tribal Relations

Region

California, Great Basin, Great Plains, Northeast, Northwest Coast, Plateau, Southeast, Southwest