Falsities of the 1841 New Orleans Times-Picayune

In 1841, New Orleans was a thriving hub for trade with a booming economy and a steady influx of travelers. Posed on the lip of the Mississippi River, the city maintained control over all major imports and exports to the Southeast of the United States. The growth of the city had steadily ascended since The Battle of New Orleans in 1815 against the British. Dominance over New Orleans was tantamount to the success of the pubescent United States, awarding the country with a vital link to the global supply chain, economic growth, and transportation flexibility. With 102,193 residents, New Orleans was the third most populated city in the United States. The potential to reach metropolitan levels, such as New York or New Jersey was tantalizing. Eagerly following this path to wealth, New Orleans officials sacrificed the health and safety of their citizens. Through The Times-Picayune, 1841 New Orleans purposefully covered up the virulence of disease in its city, fabricating a thriving metropolis unencumbered by infection and death.

Government administrators were aware that if their rates of illness were exposed, the city’s status as a dominant power in the United States would be jeopardized. As stated in a Times-Picayune article from the 11th of December, 1868, “the salubrity of New Orleans depends on its expansion and importance, and that the degree of this salubrity is in the ratio of the city’s purity and cleanliness.” Despite this publicized push to make New Orleans more hygienic, there was no immediate action to curb the spread of sickness or the accumulation of filth. The Louisiana swamp was a hub for disease-carrying insects and the grime that gathered in the streets polluted the water supply. The economy rested upon the thousands of sailors and steamboat workers that passed through the port daily, but those laborers frequently introduced afflictions such as cholera, smallpox, malaria, and yellow fever. Sexually transmitted diseases were also widespread in New Orleans with gonorrhea and syphilis awarded the nicknames of “Big and Little Casino.” 

Picture advertising medication “Peruna” for catarrh from The Times-Picayune.

To remedy this influx of infection, New Orleans formulated an array of medications advertised on The Times-Picayune that promised “universal success” and to “cure in 48-hours time.” The advertisements were often vague statements such as, “It opens and purges out all obstructions, strengthens the glands, and gives a healthy action to the parts affected.” “Gleet Detergent” for gonorrhea was a popular prescription, as well as, “Dr. Marshall’s Aromatic & Headache Catarrh Snuff” for a cold, and “Panacea” for the purification of the blood. These medications functioned as a facade to coax travelers into the city and put a temporary bandage on the health anxieties of New Orleans residents. Because of New Orleans’ dependency on the illness-ridden port and fervent desire for monetary gain, inhabitants were forced to find normalcy relying on spurious medications. By flooding the newspaper with advertisements that ensured effective results, New Orleans appeared to have illness rates under control. In reality, from 1820-1850, New Orleans’ death rates of infected individuals climbed from 36 in 1,000 to 1 in 15, proving that the “universal success” medications were anything but a cure.

During the 1840s, yellow fever was also rampant in the United States. This plague was most commonly passed through mosquitoes, which thrived in the New Orleans humid climate. Yellow fever overwhelmed the highly populated areas of the U.S., such as New York and Philadelphia. These cities mirrored the conditions of New Orleans, however, The Times-Picayune continued to claim that Louisiana was free of the infection, stating in a July 1837 article, “We are much encouraged to think that October will find us without having been scourged with yellow fever or any epidemic.” 

At the heart of this deception was the Know-Nothing political party. The Know-Nothings exercised heavy influence over New Orleans in 1841. A defining characteristic of this political party was their xenophobic agenda that inspired a nativist movement across the United States. They continually questioned the economic impact of immigrants, wanting to combat foreign influence and uphold “traditional American values.” Wealthy residents had the resources to escape New Orleans during the months of June to November when yellow fever was the most virulent. This left immigrants, children, laborers, and the poor as the primary victims of the disease. Yellow fever threatened the vitality of trade in New Orleans. In 1853-36, 1,272 steamboats arrived at the Mississippi port carrying 437,100 tons of produce with an estimated value of $39,237,762. For context, rent during 1841 was about $4.00 a week. To maintain this wealth, and keep a wide-open port unhindered by quarantine, Know-Nothing politicians pushed the narrative that New Orleans was free of yellow fever. They were also hesitant to spend any money on the prevention of the disease because, as they reasoned, most victims were Irish, German, and French immigrants who threatened the abundance of American jobs and vitality of American ways. Newspapers were instructed to not publicize the true mortality rate within New Orleans, projecting a solely positive light on the wellbeing of the city. 

The timing of the July 1837 report was no mistake. Summer months were not only the pinnacle of yellow fever, but also the peak season for European travel. The Know-Nothing party achieved two objectives in one fell swoop; promoting an image of cleanliness that supported their economic goal while luring unsuspecting immigrants to the city, knowing they would arrive to a populace infested with yellow fever. There was no hesitation to weave a prosperous narrative around the city. As the newspaper proudly boasted, “At present, no city in the union is more healthy or more pleasant than New Orleans.”