In the book Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82 by Elizabeth A. Fenn, the author offers a new look at the face of North America at the time of the American Revolution. Fenn provides the reader with a perspective of the American Revolution from the perspective of the variola virus and its effects on the North American population. His thesis for the book is: “While colonial independence forever shaped world politics, contagion was the defining event of the era for many residents of North America. Except for the war itself, the smallpox epidemic was the greatest upheaval to hit the continent in those years. Fenn does not rule out war, but rather provides more information about the era of the American Revolution and the role of smallpox during this period. Considering the author's argument, Fenn clarifies the varying impacts that smallpox had on North Americans based on their race and social status during the American Revolution. One of the determining factors in whether a person survived the smallpox virus during the period of the American Revolution in America was race. Although the variola virus itself does not take race into account when determining whether to infect one person over another, race has a significant impact on survival rate if exposed to the virus. Part of Fenn's argument is that Europeans had an innate immunity to diseases that those not originally from Europe did not have. She argued that because Europeans came from a world with a wide range of diseases, their bodies developed certain protections against the smallpox virus. This innate immunity that Fenn talked about caused certain mechanisms within the body that favored revolutionary North America. In conclusion, the smallpox virus affected a large number of people during this time, especially the military. strategy, trade and indigenous populations. Elizabeth A. Fenn's book, Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82, sheds light on an important aspect of this era that had not previously received sufficient credibility. It also highlighted the effects of smallpox on race and social status. Regarding race, smallpox decimated a large portion of non-European populations, in part due to their lack of innate immunity to this virus and the lack of respect of Europeans for those of a different race. Fenn's argument about social status showed how poorer sections of society suffered more severely from the smallpox virus due to their lack of financial means to be vaccinated; thus, the poor often suffered from a more severe strain of the virus, which often resulted in death..