Smallpox, a highly deadly and contagious disease, threatened the majority of populations around the world. This disease has been around for hundreds of thousands of years, even in British Columbia. Smallpox was feared by the places it threatened. These people wanted and needed a way to protect themselves from the virus that scared them. Smallpox had a huge impact on several civilizations until treatments such as inoculation and vaccination were practiced. Smallpox, the scientific name for the virus that causes smallpox, became a part of history around the world (Marrin 15). Smallpox, also known as the speckled monster, helped a Spanish conqueror. Hernan Cortés attempted to conquer a large Aztec city and had to retreat the first time. While Cortes and his men reorganized, the Aztecs captured the speckled monster and disorganized. Ultimately, Cortés' army defeated the Aztecs with the help of an invisible friend (Jeanette 29). Smallpox also helped Francisco Pizarro overthrow the Inca Empire in Peru in 1533. The Inca ruler and 250,000 of his subjects died from the disease (Marrin 28). Queen Elizabeth I of England contracted smallpox and survived in 1562. She was twenty-nine years old and doctors used "withdrawal" treatment, but the disease left her nearly bald, with no eyelashes and a covered face. hollow. As a result, smallpox left Queen Elizabeth I wearing a wig and heavy makeup for forty-one years until her death at the age of seventy (Marrin 25). Lady Mary Montagu of Turkey promoted smallpox vaccination by persuading Princess Caroline of England to do all these vaccination tests on other people and then having her three daughters vaccinated (Jeanette 20-21). Smallpox had many effects on civilizations around the... .. middle of paper ...... in fact, smallpox inoculation was named vaccination after "vacca" meaning cow (Jeanette 34). Therefore, smallpox was feared all over the world until preventive measures such as inoculation and vaccination emerged. Without vaccination, there would still be several epidemics. If Jenner hadn't realized that cowpox could be used preventatively, most of us probably wouldn't be alive today. New York: Hilland Wang, 2001. Jeanette, Farrell. Invisible enemies: stories of infectious diseases. New York: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1998. Marrin, Albert. Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster: The Search for the Smallpox Vaccine. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2002. Preston, Richard. The demon in the freezer. New York: the Random House publishing group, 2002.