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The bucolic Town of Amherstburg has existed for more than 200 years, though its namesake hasn’t weathered as well.

General Jeffery Amherst, after all, supported genocide against Indigenous people.

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Academic research that is generating new discussion points to the commander-in-chief of the British army in North America for advocating the idea of infecting First Nations people with smallpox, not to mention wiping out the population entirely.

Amherst’s most damning letter was part of correspondence with Swiss mercenary Henry Bouquet, who suggested handing out smallpox-laced blankets to “inoculate the Indians.”

Amherst liked the proposal, writing back that, “This is a good idea to spread smallpox just be careful you don’t get it yourself.” He also wrote in 1763: “You will do well to try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets, as well as to try every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable race. I should be very glad your scheme for hunting them down by dogs could take effect, but England is at too great a distance to think of that at present.”