{"id":3825,"date":"2018-06-30T10:58:31","date_gmt":"2018-06-30T10:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/?page_id=3825"},"modified":"2026-05-28T16:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:06:31","slug":"john-snow-the-broad-street-water-pump-and-the-spread-of-cholera","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/medicine-through-time\/medicine-through-time-teachers-resources\/john-snow-the-broad-street-water-pump-and-the-spread-of-cholera\/","title":{"rendered":"John Snow, the Broad Street Water Pump and the spread of Cholera"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ideas about the cause of disease: What was the cause of the cholera outbreak in Soho in 1854?<\/h2>\n

Learning Outcomes:<\/p>\n

To identify the main beliefs in the early 19th Century about the causes
\nof cholera (miasma, spontaneous generation) and evaluate to what extent
\nthese beliefs changed as a result of John Snow\u2019s research.<\/p>\n

Activities:<\/p>\n

* Students identify, from a range of primary sources, what was believed
\nto cause cholera in the early 19th Century.
\n* Students use an interactive map to investigate the Soho cholera outbreak
\nof 1854 to try to establish the cause of the outbreak.<\/p>\n

What did people think caused Cholera?<\/p>\n

Listen to these three recitals of advise given at the time of the second
\nmajor cholera outbreak: Extract
\none<\/a>, Extract
\ntwo<\/a>, Extract
\nthree<\/a>. (External links to the National Archives website).<\/p>\n

What parts of the advise are good and which parts are bad? Share
\nyour thoughts on this page. <\/a><\/p>\n

Look
\nat the sources on this site<\/a>. There are a number of questions on the
\nsite for each source. Click on the links to the source material and answer
\nthe questions.<\/p>\n

Now go
\nto this page<\/a> on the National Archives website. Search the map to see
\nhow many people died of Cholera in each area. Then answer the questions
\nat the foot of the page to show whhether or not it supports John Snow’s
\nfindings. To see how the deaths occured in phases, view the interactive
\nmap on this website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When you have completed that task, take
\na look at this flash game<\/a>. In it, you have to decide whether suggestions
\nare good advice or bad advice – will you cure the cholera patient?<\/p>\n

Then look
\nat this page<\/a> and consider the way in which infectious diseases affected
\nindustrial towns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What the Victorians did for us – playing god.<\/p>\n

Watch this video to get an overview of how John Snow worked out what
\nthe cause of the cholera outbreak at Broad Street was. For a video about
\nthe Cholera outbreak in Manchester go to this
\npage of the timelines.tv website and select clip 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ideas about the cause of disease: What was the cause of the cholera outbreak in Soho in 1854? Learning Outcomes: To identify the main beliefs in the early 19th Century about the causes of cholera (miasma, spontaneous generation) and evaluate to what extent these beliefs changed as a result of John Snow\u2019s research. Activities: *… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3808,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":100,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3825","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t