A Narrative of The Proceedings of the Black People During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia in the Year 1793

In 1793 Philadelphia was severely plagued by a severe yellow fever epidemic – so severe that by October of that year more than 100 people were dying per day. The majority of whites who were brave enough to attempt to care for the sick often then succumbed to the illness themselves. Many people fled the city, hoping to outrun the epidemic, and did not return until late December 1793/early January 1794. However the African-American community did not flee; for some reason that community seemed to be less vulnerable to the fever. Which explains why Mayor Matthew Clarkson asked Absalom Jones and Richard Allen to organize the African-American community to assist the city in caring for those stricken; and burying those who died. However, after the epidemic had abated, some people, like book and newspaper publisher Matthew Carey, accused the African-American community of charging whites exorbitant prices for their services, and stealing from the people for whom they were carrying and robbing the dead. Richard Allen (1760-1831) felt betrayed; and with his partner, Absalom Jones (1746-1818), wrote “A Narrative of the Proceedings of the Black People, During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia, in the Year 1793: And a Refutation of Some Censures, Thrown Upon Them in Some Late Publications,” to address the charges levied against their community.