History of the United States II / Unit 8 USH2 1110 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Two Death Tolls
The idea
Two figures belong in the same entry. More than one hundred fifteen thousand American soldiers died in the war. Six hundred seventy-five thousand Americans died of influenza in the same months. The Yawp adds that among soldiers more died of influenza than of combat, and that the epidemic struck hardest during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. The virus spread through fourteen of the largest training camps between March and May nineteen eighteen, and infected soldiers carried it to France on troop transports.
In practice
A war memorial beside a hospital ward, and the second list far longer than the first.
Where people slip
The familiar version of nineteen eighteen is a war story. The larger killer that year was a disease, and the war helped spread it by gathering men in camps and ships. Keep the two tolls together, and remember that the soldiers' deaths themselves include many from influenza.
Your place on the trail
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Builds on
Unlocks
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