How did Americans up through the middle of the 19th century approach and fight disease? What role(s), if any, did government play? How does this compare to attempts in the modern era (particularly recently) to fight disease?

Minimum 1200 words in length in the main body, not counting the mandatory footnotes and source list; penalties kick in at 10% under the minimum.
I will cap at 90 any essay over 1600 words in the main body.
Bibliography is NOT annotated in this version.
Failure to make significant reference to the assigned PDFs on disease will result in a your grade being capped at a 80 as per instructions. “Significant” means at least five (5) footnotes, from three different assigned PDFs on disease. 
Failure to bring in any sources besides what I’ve already assigned you will cap your grade at a 75.
All sources must be properly cited.  Your paper must include footnotes as well as a source list, even if you’re just using the assigned PDFs.  Severe penalties will apply if instructions are not followed. 
The late penalty will be in accordance with the late cap policy given in the Syllabus.
If you have been “wonky” on your formatting up until now, please fix it.

No single-spaced papers.  Space-and-a-half is preferred, double-space is fine.  I may get cranky at a triple-spaced paper.
Twelve- or fourteen-point font is preferred –don’t make me squint.  Ultra-big fonts won’t fool anyone, the word counter doesn’t care.
Left-aligned or full-justified (your choice) are the ways to align the text in your papers.
You do not really need a separate title page, since the computer knows who’s who.  A title at the top of your first page, though, is always appropriate.