Editing Five Points, Manhattan (section)

==Infectious diseases==
[[Infectious disease]]s, such as [[cholera]], [[tuberculosis]], [[typhus]], and [[malaria]] and [[yellow fever]], had plagued New York City since the Dutch colonial era. The lack of scientific knowledge, sanitation systems, the numerous overcrowded dwellings, and absence of even rudimentary health care made impoverished areas such as Five Points ideal for the development and spread of these diseases. Several epidemics swept the City of New York in the 18th and 19th centuries, some of which originated in Five Points. Others were introduced by passengers disembarking from ships from overseas, including immigrants. In June 1832, an outbreak of cholera in Five Points spread rapidly throughout the crowded, unsanitary dwellings of the neighborhood before spreading to the rest of New York City.<ref>Peters, Stephanie True Peters. ''Cholera: Curse of the Nineteenth Century''. p. 26.</ref> With no understanding of disease vectors or transmission, some observers believed that these epidemics were due to the immorality of residents of the slum:

<blockquote>Every day's experience gives us assurance of the safety of the temperate and prudent, who are in circumstances of comfort …. The disease is now, more than before rioting in the haunts of infamy and pollution. A prostitute at 62 [[Mott Street]], who was decking herself before the glass at 1 o'clock yesterday, was carried away in a hearse at half past three o'clock. The broken down constitutions of these miserable creatures, perish almost instantly on the attack …. But the business part of our population, in general, appear to be in perfect health and security.
—''New-York Mercury'', July 18, 1832</blockquote>