1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:11,479 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: a show that connects the dots between events of the 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: past and what's happening today. I'm Gabe Louzier and in 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,959 Speaker 1: this episode, we're talking about the Montreal vaccine riot and 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: the delicate balancing act between public health and public perception. 7 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: The day was Septem an angry crowd of more than 8 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: two thousand people marched through the streets of Montreal, Canada, 9 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: after the city announced a mandatory vaccination program to fight 10 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 1: the smallpox epidemic. The ensuing riot would result in extensive 11 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: property damage, the deaths of two people, and the further 12 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:08,119 Speaker 1: erosion of an already divided city. As you may know, 13 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: smallpox was a deadly infectious disease that's now considered eradicated. 14 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,759 Speaker 1: It was most commonly caused by a virus called very 15 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,559 Speaker 1: Ola major. It's spread in saliva droplets and through contact 16 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: with the infectious rash. It produced other symptoms included fever, headache, 17 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,680 Speaker 1: and vomiting, but the rash was arguably the worst part. 18 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: It caused rash blisters and scabs to form, which would 19 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: then burst, leaving deep pitted scars or pock marks in 20 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: the majority of patients. Historically, smallpox caused by very ola 21 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: major had a case fatality rate of about thirty percent. 22 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: Those who survived infection developed immunity. Canada has been smallpox 23 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: free since the early nineteen sixties, but in the years 24 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: before widespread vaccinations, outbreaks of the disease were frequent. Montreal 25 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: smallpox epidemics started in early eighteen eighty five, when an 26 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: infected train conductor brought the disease to the city and 27 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: was then treated by several doctors while in town. As 28 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: the deadly virus spread in the weeks ahead, Montreal launched 29 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: a voluntary vaccination program. Inoculation against smallpox had been going 30 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: on since the late seventeen hundreds, but in Montreal, many 31 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: French Canadian residents distrusted the English run government that was 32 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: administering the shots. They believed the vaccinations were dangerous and 33 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: would just make people sicker. So, for this reason, among others, 34 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: many people in Montreal's French Canadian neighborhood resisted the voluntary campaign. 35 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: As the months went by, some of these fears were 36 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:03,519 Speaker 1: seemingly confirmed when mult stable cases of erysipolis were reported 37 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: after vaccination. This infection of the surface layers of the 38 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: skin was most likely the result of unsanitary conditions when 39 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: the vaccine was administered. However, health officials concluded that it 40 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,639 Speaker 1: might be a sign that they were using a contaminated 41 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: batch of vaccine, which was not unheard of at the time. 42 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,639 Speaker 1: As a result, the vaccination program in Montreal was suspended 43 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: for three months, beginning in May of eight During this time, 44 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: the residents who opposed vaccination felt justified and even emboldened. 45 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:45,119 Speaker 1: They started tearing down warning signs that health department workers 46 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: had posted on the homes of smallpox patients. Anti vaccination 47 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: pamphlets began to circulate, and some religious groups declared the 48 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: vaccine to be the mark of the beast, a biblical 49 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: concept that signifies loyalty to Satan. Meanwhile, as the summer 50 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: war on the epidemic grew more severe, when the city's 51 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: death toll surpassed three thousand people, the Montreal Board of 52 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: Health made the controversial decision to make vaccinations mandatory and 53 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: to impose a fine on anyone who refused to comply. 54 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: The chairman of the board tried to get ahead of 55 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: the opposition, saying quote It does not mean that people 56 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: are to be seized and manacled and so vaccinated by force. 57 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: It means that the vaccinator will go to the door 58 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 1: of a house and ask for proof that all residing 59 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:42,799 Speaker 1: there are vaccinated. Needless to say, the anti vaccine crowd 60 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: was not appeased by this clarification. They viewed the compulsory 61 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:51,039 Speaker 1: shots as a violation of their individual rights, and this 62 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 1: perspective was solidified when city officials began enforcing their control measures. 63 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: Rumors soon spread that vaccinators were forcing their way into 64 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: women's bedrooms and tying down children to make them take 65 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: the shot. The result of this misinformation was that on 66 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: the afternoon of September, the day of the vaccination deadline, 67 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: restless crowds began to form downtown. The Detroit Free Press 68 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: reported that three French Canadian city council members were present, 69 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: and that they threatened to burn the city and shoot 70 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: anyone who supported compulsory vaccination. As the day went on, 71 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,919 Speaker 1: more and more people gathered, some of whom were armed 72 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: with stones, knives, and handguns. At seven pm, the crowd 73 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,919 Speaker 1: stormed an office building and wrecked a branch of the 74 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: health department, before doing the same to city Hall. Then 75 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: they marched through the city, chanting and shouting kill the vaccinators. 76 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: The riotous crowd smashed up pharmacies that attributed the vaccine 77 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: and vandalized the homes of public health officials. Next, they 78 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 1: turned their anger on the central police station, where the 79 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,720 Speaker 1: chief was reportedly stabbed and stoned, though he did survive. 80 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: According to the Boston Transcript quote, revolver shots were freely 81 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: fired at the police, and to scare the men, the 82 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,599 Speaker 1: police returned fire over their heads, only to be received 83 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 1: by jeers and laughter. Eventually, the overwhelmed police began clubbing 84 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,799 Speaker 1: the rioters, causing them to split into groups that carried 85 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:42,359 Speaker 1: on their destruction at multiple sites. By one am, the 86 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: crowd had been dispersed and the city was quiet again. 87 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: Two protesters were reported killed in the scuffle. Although the 88 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: riot didn't lead to an immediate shift in views on 89 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: either side of the issue, it does seem like at 90 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: least one person changed their mind mind. Two weeks after 91 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: the incident, one of the French Canadian City Council members 92 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: who had stirred up the protesters was stopped by a 93 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: health inspector while on a train to Chicago. According to 94 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: the st Louis Post Dispatch. This leading advocate of the 95 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: anti vaccination movement had in fact been vaccinated. Opponents of 96 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: vaccination in Montreal continued to speak against it at city 97 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: council meetings and eventually at activist leagues and in court 98 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: rooms for decades to come, but thankfully there were no 99 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: further instances of anti vaccine related violence, at least not 100 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: in Montreal. I'm Gabe Louizier and hopefully you now know 101 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 102 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: You can learn even more about history by following us 103 00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d i HC show, 104 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions that are 105 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: not related to vaccines, you can write to us at 106 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: this Day at i heart media dot com. Thanks to 107 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: Chandler Many's for producing the show, and thank you as 108 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: always for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 109 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: for another Day in History class. For more podcasts from 110 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 111 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.