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Barrow Bookstore Presents:
Trivia
CONCORD
Q 1
Some diseases occur in alarming resurgences. What disease repeatedly plagued Massachusetts and America in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries?
2
Massachusetts Puritan Minister Cotton Mather is darkly memorialized in several of Concord author Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories. Mather was involved in the Salem Witch Trials where he shared his opinion that the accused were indeed witches, evil, and worthy of death. But Mather was also interested in science and was a key figure in introducing which of the following to Massachusetts? a) Swimming lessons b) Inoculations c) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation d) Jogging (preferably away from the gallows)
3
Dr. Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, prescribed which of the following for patients about to receive an inoculation? a) A cup of weak chocolate and a biscuit b) A cup of tea and two tablespoons of honey 40
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c) Strong coffee with a thimble of rum d) A dram of whiskey
4
In 1721, so many people were dying from smallpox in Massachusetts that selectmen in Boston limited which of the following? a) Visits to friends b) Number of people allowed in churches c) Number of times funeral bells could toll d) Right to assemble
5
The Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773. Covert events like that can be stressful and lifting heavy chests of tea could put strain on your heart. If you were among the 18th century colonists dumping the tea into the harbor and one of your comrades went into sudden cardiac arrest, which of the following actions might you take? a) Leave him behind as a scapegoat b) Throw his torso over a barrel, grab his legs and start rolling him back and forth c) Find the most odiferous seaweed in the harbor, expose his chest, and beat him with the seaweed
d) This is not a real tea party and there is no time for sentiment! Dump him into the harbor with the East Indian Trading Company chests
6
Have a fever? Stomachache? Sore throat? If you lived in 1780’s Concord, you might try making Harvard-educated physician Cotton Tufts’ recommended concoction of lime or lemon juice, salt, loaf sugar, and distilled cordial water served in a wine glass. But why might this treatment not be available to everyone in 18th century Concord?
7
In 1801, twenty-six years after “the shot heard ‘round the world” was fired in Concord, MA, the threat of smallpox once again loomed heavy over America. The highly contagious illness required the newly independent America to act. Although historically Massachusetts residents and other Americans clearly did not like an authoritarian figure telling them what to do or curtailing their freedom, in many places, politicians, clergy, and local town leaders worked together for the public good. Actions taken included which of the following?
