Timeline / Defining Rights and Responsibilities / 1853: Smallpox epidemic spreads to Hawai‘i

1853: Smallpox epidemic spreads to Hawai‘i

Smallpox takes the lives of more than 5,000 Hawaiians, making it among the three worst epidemics in Hawaiian history. The first case arrives in the Port of Honolulu, on the ship Charles Mallory.

Theme: Epidemics

Region: Hawai‘i

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Hawaiian officials documented statistics of the smallpox epidemic, O‘ahu, 1854

Courtesy Hawai‘i State Archives