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Sawbones: The Cholera Riots

An illustration of two blue snakes twisting around a radius and ulna bone topped with a handsaw coming off either side to form a caduceus staff. The snake on the left is wearing a red dunce cap and the snake on the right is wearing a red graduation cap. The background is a pop art style red to blue fade. At the bottom of the image it says “Sawbones” with “A marital tour of misguided medicine” written below that.

Fear that the government and doctors were allied in a grand conspiracy to oppress the populace was at a fever pitch. The people took to the streets to prove that they would not abide by quarantine, that they would defy the powers that be and go on about their daily lives.

The year is 1831. The disease is cholera.

Music: “Medicines” by The Taxpayers

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Transcript available here