Have you ever watched a vaccination commercial and started to wonder why we take vaccines in the first place and where this idea came from? Although many people are opposed to them today with the new anti-vaxx movement, the majority of Americans receive many vaccines as children and young adults. We take about 26 vaccines in our early lives that help us prevent 14 different diseases. Vaccination is a treatment that produces immunity against a certain type of disease. The practice of vaccination started in the 18th century, but for decades prior to vaccinations there was a practice called variolation. Variolation was the method first used to immunize an individual, but unlike vaccination, this practice was only used for treating smallpox. The practice of variolation first took place in Asia and made its way to Africa and the Middle East. But, do you know how this practice was first introduced to America? By a young African-born slave named Onesimus. 

During the early 1700s, the smallpox virus was spreading rapidly throughout New England and other American colonies. There was not much that that authorities could do other than treat the sick and bury the dead. However, this changed in 1721 due to the wisdom of Onesimus.  Onesimus was owned by Cotton Mather, an influential minister in Boston. Mather purchased Onesimus in 1706 and came to talk with him about his past in Africa. When he asked if he ever had smallpox, Onesimus described the practice of variolation to prevent the smallpox virus. After hearing Onesimus’s story, Mather began to research this foreign procedure. He found out that this practice took place in many parts of the world, not just Africa. With his research and connections with many medical experts at the time, Mather encouraged the idea of variolation for the colonies. A lot of people didn’t agree with this idea due to the fear of catching the virus by getting variolated. In 1721, most of Boston’s population was infected by the smallpox virus. After careful experiments and a lot of research, Zabdiel Boylston, a physician who believed Onesimus on variolation, found a risk ratio of 5:7;  people who got the disease naturally were six times more likely to die than those who got the disease from variolation. 

At the end of the epidemic, 14% of the Boston population died. Based on the experiment with variolation, this practice became more common and accepted in the American colonies. Later, Onesimus partially purchased his freedom but still remained in the service of Cotton Mather. Because of his contribution to understanding smallpox and how to prevent it, Onesimus was able to save many lives during the epidemic as well as introduce the practice of variolation to the American colonies. This is something that deserves way more credit than he received.