The Toll of the Old World: Smallpox and
Healthcare in the Viceroyalty of Peru
Abstract:
This project examines the role that smallpox played in the creation of new medical culture in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Due to the increased number of infections of smallpox and the increased morbidity, the Spanish were forced to create new methods of healthcare and policies aimed at assisting with the problem of smallpox. However the distribution of these new methods wasn’t equivalent. Different cities with different demographics received care on a basis that often only helped further Spanish goals and economic policy. All of this medical change eventually culminated in the 1803 Royal Philanthropic Vaccination Mission which represents the totality of what Spain produced in their time controlling the Andes. Incorporating evidence from chroniclers, scholars, and letters, this project shows that Spanish medical culture was transformed by smallpox into a tool of governance.