The Historical Events Surrounding the Tuskegee Syphilis and the Significance - Article Example

Most selected men for the study were poor and illiterate from the agricultural regions of the county. The objective of the study was to document the natural history of the disease in order to validate treatment programs for African Americans (CDC, 2009). According to Benedek, (1978, p 38)the infected men used in the experiment did not make an informed judgment because the researchers told them that they were treating them for “bad blood” a phrase that was locally used to describe various diseases that affect blood though they did not intend to treat them.

Consequently, many of them died, infected their wives who later gave birth to children with medical problems caused by syphilis. Benedek, (1978, pp 42-43) notes that at the end of the study on November 16, 1972, 128 men had died from syphilis. Moreover, 40 women had been infected and they transmitted the disease to nineteen children during birth. The historical events surrounding the experiment began in 1895, when Booker T. Washington lobbied for African American economic empowerment, receiving a lot of support from philanthropists.

Consequently, the Rosenwald Fund was created to spearhead economic programs for the blacks including a Tuskegee educational experiment in 1900.