During the months of March and April 1764, Paul Revere closed his silversmith shop and locked himself and his family inside their house. Although this disease is rare today, it was a serious threat to people living in colonial America.
Smallpox is similar to chicken pox but far more deadly.
People who catch smallpox run a high fever, and pustules break out on their skin. In Revere's time, one out of six people who caught smallpox died. Those who survived often bore deep scars. In cities, where people lived in close quarters, the disease spread quickly from one person to another. When a smallpox epidemic struck Boston in 1764, hundreds of people closed their homes and fled the city, hoping to get out before they fell ill.