The U.S. Public Health Service · Episode 1 of 34 · 30 min
The Guard at the Gates (1798)
Long before the CDC, the United States built its first health system for merchant sailors. A 20-cents-a-month wage deduction in 1798, under the Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen, became the seed of the U.S. Public Health Service. It set up a dual mission of care and quarantine that would last two centuries.
Who's who
- John Adams+3 more episodesPresident who signed the 1798 seamen's relief act
Where it happens
- Boston, Massachusetts+11 more episodesEarly port city for marine hospitals
- Norfolk, Virginia+2 more episodesEarly port city for marine hospitals
- Charleston, South Carolina+2 more episodesEarly port city for marine hospitals
Timeline
- 1790sYellow fever epidemics strike American coastal cities
- July 16, 1798Adams signs the Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen
- 1799Marine hospital benefits extended to Navy officers and men
- 1818Navy begins building its own hospitals
- 1912Agency renamed the U.S. Public Health Service
Still debated
The 1798 act is often called America's first national health insurance. That is a fair analogy, but it is a modern lens, since contemporaries saw it as relief for a specific maritime workforce.
Connected episodes in other series
Twenty Cents a Month: America's First Federal Health LawThe Fourth Arm · Episode 2Also features John Adams
Boarding RoundWho Taught the Teachers · Episode 1Also features John Adams
Marbury v. Madison: How the Court Gave Itself Its Greatest PowerThe Least Dangerous Branch? · Episode 3Also features John Adams
The Cure of RestThe White Plague Returns · Episode 3