Indian Vaccination Act of 1832 is a US federal law passed by the US Congress in 1832. The purpose of the act was to vaccinate the American Indians against smallpox to prevent the spread of the disease.
History The act was first passed on May 5, 1832. Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, designed the act. Members of Congress appropriated US$12,000 (approximately $ in current money) to vaccinate them. By February 1, 1833, more than 17,000 Indians had been vaccinated.
Congress allocated $12,000 for the entire program, to be administered by Indian agents and sub-agents. Some US army surgeons refused to participate due to the lack of funds, leaving agents themselves and others with no medical training to produce and administer vaccines. However, not everyone was included. As a result, a few years later, smallpox killed 90% of the Mandan Indians, who had been excluded from the act. It also excluded Hidatsas and Arikaras.
See also 1721 Boston smallpox outbreak 1738–1739 North Carolina smallpox epidemic 1770s Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic 1775–1782 North American smallpox epidemic 1837 Great Plains smallpox epidemic 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic History of Variola InoculationBenjamin Waterhouse Ottoman Smallpox InoculationEdward Jenner Smallpox VaccineJames Smith Vaccine Act of 1813John Redman Coxe Valentine SeamanNorfolk Anti-Inoculation Riot of 1768 Variolation
References
Plenipotentiary letters regarding smallpox in Colonial America
General Court of Massachusetts Province Laws
Audio media archive
External links