After ruthless attacks by the press and working feverishly for years to establish the U.S. constitution as president, the retired George Washington’s death was approaching. It was a cold day on December 12, 1799 but that didn’t prevent the elderly Washington from supervising activities on his farm from morning until the afternoon. Before he finished for the day, the former president worked through rain, hail, and then snow. Upon his arrival back home, Washington refused to change out of his wet clothes.
By the next morning, he was already reporting a sore throat. However, he continued on with his work, pushing himself to go about selecting trees for clearing that were along the east side of his home. Washington went to bed early that day, still complaining of an irritated throat and, by the morning of December 14, a doctor arrived to help Washington who was now having difficulty breathing.
Three doctors later, it was noted that Washington was bled, a common practice at the time, until anywhere from 32 to 80 ounces of blood was removed. Physicians then decided to induce vomiting but his condition still did not improve. At some point in the day, knowing that he was about to die, George Washington put his affairs in order before physicians put a Spanish fly onto his throat in order to cause blisters that they, at the time, thought had healing properties. Unfortunately, in spite of all of the effort, Washington took his last breath between ten and eleven that night.
The Questions
George Washington’s death raised many questions but one seems to always come up: What exactly killed him? Around the time of his death, physicians suspected that the cause was something called ‘quinsy.’ Quinsy is a condition in which a collection of pus forms between the tonsil and the wall of the throat.
Modem physicians believe that Washington was suffering from a case of acute epiglottitis. Acute epiglottitis is a condition that causes the flap of tissue that sits on top of the throat to become swollen. This is often due to a bacterial infection. Doctors have come to the conclusion that the founding father died of this condition due to his symptoms which included difficulty breathing and a severe sore throat.
Modern Treatments
If Washington was alive now, medical professionals most likely would have placed a tube down his throat. He may even have had a tracheotomy done. This procedure is one where a medical professional cuts the throat open. Interestingly, tracheotomies were not foreign to doctors in Washington’s time. It was just that they were extremely dangerous and very rarely successful.
Dispelling Myths About George Washington’s Death
Of course, the main treatment that the former president did receive was bloodletting. Accounts of how much blood he lost vary. Many modern physicians admit that the bleeding probably didn’t help. Though, it may be too much to say that the procedures contributed to the large man’s death.
There is also a long-standing narrative that the cold caused Washington’s condition. However, the bacteria that caused his death was probably present before his long day in the cold air. Acute epiglottitis is commonly caused by a bacteria called Haemophilus influenzae type B that only begins to cause symptoms like a sore throat after two to ten days within the body. No matter the conditions surrounding George Washington’s death, he still remains one of the most well-regarded figures in American history.
