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Lone Clerk Keeps Treasury Afloat
- Joshua Dawson stayed alone to keep the US Treasury running while colleagues fled Philadelphia during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic.
- He continued work even after his young daughter died, driven by duty to the fragile federal government.
Government Paralysis From Absent Papers
- The epidemic paralyzed the federal government as Washington and key officials fled without crucial papers.
- Isolation and missing records made presidential decision-making and diplomacy nearly impossible.
Medicine Tangled With Politics
- Benjamin Rush insisted on aggressive bleeding and purging and saw opposition from doctors favoring gentler French treatments.
- Medical rivalry mixed with partisan politics intensified the controversy over how to treat yellow fever.