I chose to do my research paper on the effects that smallpox had on the indigenous population during the late 18th century because I have always had a keen interest in the history of illness, disease, vaccination and early hygiene practices.
I started off by researching the specific epidemics that happened during pre-confederation Canada and I found that smallpox was one of the most heinous killers during this time so naturally, I went with that. Immediately I realized my biggest obstacle was finding journal articles that pertained to the same topic. I found that most historians were writing about a very specific topic.
Rereading my paper it is mostly just regurgitated facts without much of my own interpretation. There are some original observations made throughout the paper with the last couple of paragraphs being the observations that I had made throughout my research. Looking back on this paper I have mixed emotions. I know I could do a lot better job now with the knowledge I have gained since then but I also feel like I learned a lot and picked an interesting topic.
HBC Smallpox - Research paper