1500-1799 | Biological weapons | United States

GENERAL AUTHORISES USE OF SMALLPOX TO KILL NATIVE AMERICANS

ByAlisdare Hickson

7 July 1763 In 1763, Major General Jeffrey Amherst, was the highly respected governor general of British North America and commander-in-chief of British forces. In 1760, he had led the successful campaign to drive the French from North America and now he was infuriated when Native Americans challenged the new British hegemony, by resisting the…

1500-1799 | Biological weapons | United States

13 JULY

ByAlisdare Hickson

GENERAL’S PLAN TO USE AFRICAN AMERICANS TO SPREAD SMALLPOX [ 13 July 1781 ] On this day in 1781, during the closing months of the American War of Independence, Brigadier General Alexander Leslie outlined his plan to use African Americans suffering from smallpox, as biological weapons to spread the disease among the slave populations on…