World History

that led to the Salem witch trials, was given an African slave as a gift by his oh-so-pious congregation. The name Mather gave the slave was Onesimus. We don't know what his real name was.

We also don't know where Onesimus came from in Africa, but it was a place where inoculation had been practiced successfully for some time. He taught Mather how to do it. Mather inoculated his family and advocated inoculation of the Boston population when smallpox hit in 1721.

The response from the public was ALMOST EXACTLY the same as the response from the public to the Covid vaccine. Some embraced the procedure. MANY threw shit at Mather's door, spoke against vaccines as being from the devil, spoke against Mather as being a false minister (remember: they adored him for telling them there were witches in the butter churn, but they insisted inoculation was from the devil) and tried to outlaw the practice.

1721. The imbeciles will always be with us.