Black Death Dbq

The Black Death. . . . .

An epidemic that claimed a third of Europe’s population was a calamitous disease called The Black Death. The disease spread through fleas carried by rats that traveled on boats going on trade routes to the major boat docks. It hit Europe at weak state when famine was common, over-population, harvest failures, and constant war. It happened between the late 1340s to the early 1350s. The plague originated in Eastern Asia, killing millions on its way to Western Europe. The Black Death was able to spread quite rapidly because the lack of people not knowing the cause. Many went to the religious conclusion that it was a punishment from god for the sins of the people. “Some people took more extreme measures. Lamenting their

sins – which they believed had brought on the plague – and attempting to placate god, men and women, wandered from city to city whipping themselves ( text 401).”
Much of Europe followed the Catholic Church during the plague.

The people, who didn’t think it was a punishment from god, blamed the Jesuits. The Jews were accused of contaminating the drinking water with poison. “Jews planned to wipeout all the Christians with poison….many Jews confessed as much under torture (source 258).” “In Germany, thousands of Jews were slaughtered(text 401).” Again, this was caused because of ignorance to what was the actual reason as to why the plague was spreading. Today, we know that the disease was carried in the bloodstream of rodents and was transmitted to humans through fleas. The unsanitary conditions and open trade routes caused this infectious disease to kill over 20 million people. That’s the population of the state of New

York.
Such was the number of the victims there was no more hallowed ground in which to bury the dead. Corpses lay abandoned; bodies were buried hundreds at a time in plague pits outside city walls. In fear of the plague, families abandoned each other. “Uncles abandoned nephews, sisters abandoned brothers, often wives abandoned their husbands, and (a greater thing and barely believable) fathers and mothers abandoned their children, as if they were not even theirs (net).” Though trying to escape their fate, instead they brought the disease with them, therefore spreading it faster throughout Europe.
Ships with their lethal cargo of infected rats and fleas were the fastest means of spreading the plague. Within days of a ship being ported the entire town would be exposed. Coming from the Mediterranean ports and following the trade routes it spread in all directions, covering all the land with a blanket of death. Many villages were deserted and miles of the countryside were littered with bodies. The plague would stay at a place for several months then move on.
Many doctors tried to help the infected, but instead got themselves sick.

This came off as an embarrassment to doctors for not being able to help their patients. Most people had no confidence in doctors. The rich simply fled from the plague, but most could not. In the modern world, doctors would be able to isolate themselves from the disease while trying to find a cure via a hazmat suit. With today’s technology, if an outbreak similar to the Black Death was to happen, a lot less people would die of the disease. In comparison to the Plague of Medieval Europe, today we have the Ebola virus. In West Africa where 3rd world countries are common the virus has killed thousands of people, but in America, where technology and medicine is more advance, not many people have died from the virus. The victims were able to be treated and therefore not spread the virus among the

country.
In just two years, it had swept across Western Europe, spread north over to England, and then finally to Scandinavia. By 1353 it had run its course. Before the plague arrived in Europe, the west had been suffering from overpopulation. Famine had many people starving. Due to a large percentage of Europeans dying out, this improved the living conditions of the fortunate survivors. “The Black Death brought new opportunities for those who survived its murderous path. With a smaller population to feed, less land was needed for cultivation (text 402).” Shortage of labor shifted the balance of power between the lords and their tenants. “They were able to negotiate better conditions or higher wages from their landlord or employers (text 402).”
The cause of the plague would remain a mystery until the 19th century. It was then discovered that the rats and fleas were the carriers of The Black Death; but that the fleas were the ones that transmitted it to man. A single flea bite can cause death. After the Black Death, the plague returned every few decades, though never again as ferocious as the first major wave.