" 

 ==400,000 to 500,000 Figure== 
 Not to sound like Dr. David Henige, but where do the authors get their numbers from? We can see a map drawn by Thomas Hutchins with the emplacement of Native American camps that Hutchins visited on his 1762 expedition, whose account we find here Further, we have somewhat of a rough census of the Delaware populations by Croghan (1759), Bouquet (1764), Hutchins (1768) and Dodge (1779) in the Virginia Library system found here. No contemporaneous report, direct or inferred, suggests such astronomical figures for even the Eastern Seaboard. When we have source accounts of populations, we don't really need ""experts"" like Dr David Stannard and Ward Churchill inflating numbers... simply look at the map and the numbers given by the people sent to count them and look for corroborating/disputing sources.     
 :I checked the presently cited sources following the 400K-500K sentence.  I'm not finding that figure in the sources (and one of the sources doesn't even exist as described).  If I'm missing something in those cited sources, please clarify here.  Of course we need experts to sift through information, contemporaneous reports, and source accounts for us, because as Wikipedia editors, we know that we are required to avoid novel interpretations of primary sources. All analyses and interpretive or synthetic claims about primary sources must be referenced to a secondary source, and must not be an original analysis of the primary-source material by Wikipedia editors.       

 ==Resolving Issues with Article== 

 General 

 The controversial issue with this article is the cause and effect to wit: we have the eyewitness artifacts to the cause (Trent, Ecuyer, McKee) and eyewitnesses to the effect (Turtleheart, Trent, McCullough, Hicks, Hutchins, Jameson et. al.). The point isn't to disagree with the people who were there, and took the time to report what happened, but to convey the circumstance as accurately as possible. In short, the attempt to deliver smallpox was made - but the attempt was unsuccessful. 

 Unless more information comes to light that contradicts this causality, we have a duty to anyone reading this to be honest and refrain from critical theory or any other biases... we should simply stick to the facts wherever they may fall.   

 Special 

  

 Apparently, we have proponents of Critical Race Theory (CRT) contributing on the page to engage in CRT's key elements of storytelling and revisionism - to highlight social injustices, specifically, ""white supremacy"" or ""white privilege"" and acquire some degree of empathic fallacy: 

 This would be fine if the CRT proponents could cite documented evidence that the effort was successful. The problem with the CRT narrative is that we have documented evidence that the recipients and the deliverers of the sundries did not die of smallpox - at least not within the next five years. The door is always open to present contradictory evidence and this article can always be modified to reflect that evidence. 

 Resolution 

  

 Being that the article was flagged POV and disputed by an anonymous flagger, in what appears to be a ""hit and run"" attempt, and that this article has a long history of sabotage (as far away as Punjab Province, Pakistan) I am going to give considerable response time - then flag this issue resolved.  

 Consensus 

 Can we agree on two key points: that an attempt to deliver the infected sundry items was made and that the attempt was apparently unsuccessful? If so, please indicate by writing ""Agreed"" and signing below. 

 :Agreed    
 :Disagree with both key points as worded. As we know from reliable sources, there was not just ""an attempt""; infected items were indeed delivered to Native peoples. As for ""the attempt was apparently unsucces