Hidden Terrors in America: The 1830s Cholera Pandemic

From 1832 to 1836, cholera swept through U.S. cities, towns, farms, prisons, and plantations, killing victims within hours and baffling Americans who lacked bacteriology. Though it struck all classes and regions, elites insisted it targeted only the supposedly immoral, blaming deaths among enslaved African Americans, Indigenous peoples, and Irish immigrants. As fatalities mounted, the universal threat became undeniable. Historian Paul Kelton reveals how this deadly germ collided with the social injustices of the era.