There was a significantly increased risk for spreading contagious diseases within armies living together than in the more dispersed civilian population so the motivation was higher. That had been well known for centuries. The virtues of variolation were relatively new knowledge in the colonies, having been popularized in Boston by Cotton Mather who actually learned of it from his his African slave in 1706, then from medical literature out of Turkey in 1714, then was able to try in during an epidemic in 1721. Subsequent experience convinced most Bostonians and the practice gradually spread. Revolutionary War successes spread the process further. Jenner’s discovery gradually replaced it, but even that was slow to become automatic. Abe Lincoln, who never was vaccinated, delivered the Gettysburg Address during the prodrome of smallpox, became ill the next day and nearly died. He was essentially comatose for over a week. The medical history of smallpox is fascinating; I wish we could be certain it’s all written.
I know that this isn’t necessarily a good idea, but sometimes I wish they would destroy the stored smallpox virus that the government and the WHO had in possession, just to be sure that smallpox is extinct.
But you haven’t answered my question. In the name of public safety, why didn’t the original gov’t force everyone to be vaccinated? Of course the men in the military were more susceptible because of close quarters, but there were still outbreaks in the cities and many deaths could have been prevented.