Abstract

AGUILERA-NUNEZ, Ana-Rosalía. The Smallpox Epidemic of 1796-1797 in Oaxaca (Mexico): Variolation, Discourses, (Re)actions and Demographic Impact. Historelo.rev.hist.reg.local [online]. 2023, vol.15, n.34, pp.167-204.  Epub Mar 15, 2024. ISSN 2145-132X.  https://doi.org/10.15446/historelo.v15n34.102962.

This article analyzes the smallpox epidemic of 1796-1797 in the parish of Teotitlán del Valle and in the city of Antequera, under a social and demographic approach, which will allow to know, on the one hand, the actions of the civil, ecclesiastical and medical authorities to slow down the progress of the epidemic and the reactions of the population to these and, on the other hand, the demographic effects of smallpox, mainly on people who were born after the epidemic of 1780. The discourse of the authorities and the population was analyzed from archival documents, while the parish information that gives support to the demographic work with the aggregative method. It could be observed that the intensity of the epidemic was less deadly, in relation to the previous one, probably due to the application of measures such as variolation and isolation of the patients, but these were not completely accepted, and certain "reactions" were provoked against them.

Keywords : epidemic; smallpox; variolation; Teotitlán del Valle; Antequera of Oaxaca; demography.

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