Both Western Europe and Latin America experienced epidemics that caused significant economic, social, and political effects. The black death that had struck Western Europe between 1348 and 1349, was endemic to Central Asia and was unforeseen as it was introduced to Western Europe through infected rats. Western Europe with its very unsanitary conditions only promoted the spread of the plague. In Latin America, the Europeans who conquered them brought over western diseases, such as the smallpox, that were foreign to the indigenous people’s immune systems. In Western Europe, the black death caused the church’s influence and authority to decrease because they couldn’t cure the sick, the persecution of the Jews, and the increase of prices of simple …show more content…
goods. The smallpox in Latin America led to the decline of the empires of Latin America, the rise of the encomienda system to produce goods, and the disruption of indigenous societies. In Western Europe as the black death struck, inflation came into play and prices throughout the society greatly increased. G.H. Martin composed what is called Knighton’s Chronicle 1337-1396. The excerpt itself is from Henry Knighton who was a 14th century author and he wrote about the horrifying effects of the Black Death in England during the time of the black death, between 1348-1350. Henry Knighton believed the workers were taking advantage of the black death and were greedy for doing so. “Nevertheless the workmen were so...contrary-minded...and if anyone wanted to hire them…[they] had to give in to the workmen’s arrogant and greedy demands…” As the black death killed many people, including workers, there was a decline in production thus creating a high demand for workers and goods. “And thus the necessity of life became so dear, that what in previous times was worth 1d. Now cost 4d. Or 5d.…” Before the black death the necessities in life were taken for granted however when the epidemic struck the essentials in life, such as food, suddenly gained importance and became a high demand product. Using the same logic as before, the persons selling the food saw that it was in high demand and decided to raise their prices making it very difficult for majority of the population to afford simple indispensable items. Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron and his excerpt is also on the effects of the black death. He emphasizes how quickly the black death struck and how people of every class on the social hierarchy were dying, by the thousands. However he also believes that the workmen ignored their duties/tasks and by doing this they used the black death to their advantage. “Just as the townsmen became dissolute and indifferent to their work and property, so the peasants, when they saw that death was upon them, entirely neglected….their past labours...and thought of only enjoying what they had.” When the black death struck everyone thought they were going to die any moment and so they left any work they should’ve done and went to go do whatever they wished for the small amount of time they, supposedly, had left on Earth. In Latin America, the smallpox decimated the indigenous population and allowed the Europeans to install the encomienda system to exact labor. As the population of the incas decreased because they were exposed to smallpox the demand for labor by the Europeans grew because they wanted to make huge amounts of profit out of the new cash crops they were introduced to. The encomienda system, where the Europeans demand labor and tax from the natives, was established. “...grant of indigenous people to individual Spaniards in a kind of serfdom…” (Stearns 422). This was an easy transition from the Inca’s mita, which was mandatory forced labor for the government. The Europeans were able to enforce this system because the population of the natives decreased and they had no army to protect themselves leaving them with no choice but to become laborers for the Europeans. Jews throughout history have always been persecuted, so when the black death struck the Europeans blamed the Jews. The bankers in Western Europe were the Jews, and the Europeans having taken loans from the Jews owed a lot of debt to the Jews. They figured if the Jews are gone then their debt is gone as well. A contemporary chronicler’s account about the cremation of the Jews of Strasbourg was written in 1349. It is an account that’s taken place during the black death and clearly indicates he sympathizes with the Jews, describing their troubles a well as how and why the Europeans killed the Jews. “...they burnt the Jews on a wooden platform in their cemetery...took the cash that the Jews possessed and divided it...money was indeed the thing that killed Jews.” The Black Death was an excuse for the killing of the Jews. The real reason lies in the money the Europeans owed to the Jews. Latin America experienced a disruption of their indigenous societies because of the smallpox. The Incas and the Aztecs were both headed on their way to becoming noticeably advanced civilizations, however the Europeans arrival stunted their development. Elizabeth A. Foster wrote Motolinia history of the Indian of New Spain in 1977 and she clearly tells us the effects of smallpox in latin America. She also feels that the natives were horribly treated and did not deserve to go through the devastating effects of smallpox. She explains how houses were tombs because more than 50% of the indigenous population died due to the disease. Others died due to starvation because those who provided them with food were now among the deceased. “Indians did not know the remedy for the disease...smallpox, they died in heaps...others died of starvation...they could not care for each other, nor was there anyone to give them bread or anything else.” This shows how the Europeans arrival and bringing of smallpox lead to a sudden decrease in the population of the natives and that decrease led to a loss of many specialized workers, farmers and nobles, leaving the societies in a state of distraught. The Europeans also at one point tried to integrate the Native americans into their society by encouraging conversions to christianity however, many resisted and after a while many native americans were forced to move out of Hispaniola and into the borders of the empire. The Europeans when coming to the New World brought smallpox. The population crisis caused by the smallpox disrupted the Latin American societies that have been developing for hundred of years. The Black Death caused the decline of the Church’s power, which was once the center of authority, because they could not cure people from the plague. The Europeans first turned to the doctors and educated folks of their period but they were only told that this could be God’s doing, so the civilians turned to the Church. However, as time progressed and the plague spread even more and the death rates further increased, the Church had seemed to have lost its power. People started to believe the Church was illegitimate and that God was not with them once again. This idea was only strengthened and encouraged when some priests began to die from the plague as well. C. Warren Hollister wrote Medieval Europe: A Short History in 1968. He is writing to inform us about Medieval Europe during the time of the black death, specifically how the black death spread throughout Europe. He mentions how even religion could not protect people from the plague. “Some people...gave way to religious frenzy...hoping for divine protection against the pestilence...But none can have emerged from the ordeal unaffected…” For a great deal of time people turned to the Church for reassurance and stability, this is because in times of chaos and government isn’t strong, religion takes over as the enforcer of political order and stability. However concerning the black death the Church nor the Government could do anything about the deaths occurring and since medieval Europe barely had a government at that time it was the Church’s authority and power that decreased. It's been said that the Europeans tried to whip themselves to get rid of the disease because they realized the Church was of no help. This also goes to show that the Church became unreliable in their eyes and that also lead to a lose in the Church's legitimacy. In Latin America the smallpox introduction lead to the decline of empires. The native americans in latin america had no immunity towards smallpox, therefore there were many deaths among the civilizations in latin America. However these deaths lead to a decline in empires such as the Aztecs and Incas because as they loss masses of civilians, they lost their farmers, specialized workers, gov’t officials and in cases their ruler himself. Each empire has its own hierarchy and as each tier of the hierarchy gets disturbed and starts to deteriorate chaos within the empire increases. There is no order and stability, and not having a stable religion to help enforce that stability after gov’t falls is just increasing the rate at which your empire will disintegrate. So as they lost more and more farmers, specialized workers, and gov’t officials their society became more and more distraught until finally it will collapse making all civilians of the empire vulnerable to invasion and foreign influences. Western Europe experienced a multitude of effects from the black death, one of the most prominent and noticeable was in their art.
Their art usually depicted normal daily life however now the visual arts of the day centered on the Black Death and since the Black Death resulted in a mass of deaths their art represented a huge amount of death. For example, the grim reaper was founded, and as we may know the grim reaper in many cultures and in history represents death. The Latin American culture also changed and developed after the smallpox. After taking over the empire in Latin America the Europeans worked on integrating the natives into their society. Due to the process of integration the indigenous peoples such as the aztecs and incas had to adapt to spanish culture. Their languages mixed and a new local language was formed, many also were forced to accommodate to christianity and leave their old religion behind. Human sacrifice was practiced in both the Aztecs and the Incas culture, when the Europeans came they immediately sought to put a stop to this absurd idea of human sacrifice, failing to understand that it had cultural significance to the indigenous people. The Black Death diminished the power of the church, allowed Jews to be persecuted, and led to inflation within Western Europe. The smallpox gave the Europeans control of the Americas which forced them to find means of labor, introducing the natives to the encomienda system. The smallpox also led to a decline in empires in Latin America as well as a disruption in the indigenous societies. It is a wonder that these diseases occur on a microscopic
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Another piece of evidence to go along with it states,” Due to the shortage of workers all labor became very valuable and in-demand (Document 7).” The effects that the bubonic plague had on 14th Century Europe were that faith in religion had fallen, the demand for labor was high, and the economy had taken a toll. The Black Death devastated Medieval Europe, causing many uncontrollable effects, both good and bad. However, despite these effects, the European people were able to overcome this period of desolation, and move on with life.
The Black Death struck Europe in a time of great despair. "Although a `Great Famine' struck northern Europe between 1315 and 1322, nothing prepared Europeans for the horrendous onslaught of the Black Death" (Aberth, 2). The famine had caused a massive hunger shortage from which Europe had yet to recove...
Beginning in the fifteenth century with the arrival of Columbus, natives of the Americas were infected with European diseases that proved to be deadly to the Indians. The population in northern Mexico suffered an immense decimation of 2,500,000 peoples to less than 320,000 by the end of the sixteenth century (Vargas, 30). The Spaniards’ cruel treatment of the natives aided this vast reduction in the Aztec and Mexican population, enabling the Spaniards to conquer the lands of the Aztecs and other native tribes. By the end of the sixteenth century, the Spaniards had expanded their conquests into the southwest region of what is now known as the United States of America.
Colonization in Latin America had a major effect on the Americas because the Aztecs died of the disease that the Europeans brought over though the Columbian Exchange. Since the Aztecs could not do much about the diseases that were spreading a lot of them began to die. The evidence from the pictures show that the Columbian Exchange took place during the 16th century. (doc 1). A lot of the Aztecs got sick and died. People could not do much about the diseases because they did not know what kind of disease it was. The Aztecs were also not immune to any of the disease that were spreading. Those are some reasons why the colonization in Latin America had a major effect on the Natives.
The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe The Black Death is the name later given to the epidemic of plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. The disaster affected all aspects of life. Depopulation and shortage of labor hastened changes already inherent in the rural economy; the substitution of wages for labor services was accelerated, and social stratification became less rigid. Psychological morbidity affected the arts; in religion, the lack of educated personnel among the clergy gravely reduced the intellectual vigor of the church.
“I think a rat just climbed up my leg, Dad. And I’ve got fleas, too.” “John, there’s all this Black Death and all you care about is a few fleas and a rat.
Imagine living in a time filled with nothing but fear. The thing you fear cannot be touched or seen but will put you to a slow miserable death. In the 1300s people were struck with a great plague, which has now been named “The Black Death”. The Black Death killed off populations with just one sweep. Historians call this the biggest tragedy of all time. The question is what caused this plague and how does something like this happen? Overtime historians have boiled it down to 2 and some may say 3 explanations, which are religion, science, and humans. With the help of a book The Black Death by Rosemary Horrox I was able to find explanations of them all. Who may know which is the correct reason for such a thing but what your think caused it is for you to decide.
If there is one part of life that humans have trouble overcoming it is natural disasters. They are unexpected, incurable, and often unconquerable. One specific type of natural disaster is that of sickness. Plagues are disastrous evil afflictions of an epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality ( Merriam-Webster ). A historically famous plague in the fourteenth and fifteenth century is the Black or Bubonic Plague. The social and economic affects of the plague in Europe were detrimental to the population and economy.
It cannot be argued that the Black Plague was detrimental to every aspect of Europe’s communities. It was a powerful epidemic that wiped out a third of the continent’s population. Out of the midst of all its terror, however, positive after effects presented themselves. Some of these effects included revolutions in the church and society, eventually leading to the separation of church and state. Feudalism was also challenged as peasants demanded wages and revolted. Along with social changes came technological innovations, new inventions, and an attention to hygiene and the beginning of modern medicine. The plague may have devastated Europe, but it also gave way to a new era.
No other epidemic reaches the level of the Black Death which took place from 1348 to 1350. The epidemic, better regarded as a pandemic, shook Europe, Asia, and North Africa; therefore it deems as the one of the most devastating events in world history. In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350, John Aberth, compiles primary sources in order to examine the origins and outcomes of this deadly disease. The author, a history professor and associate academic dean at Vermont’s Castleton State College, specializes in medieval history and the Black Death. He wrote the book in order to provide multiple perspectives of the plague’s impact. Primarily, pathogens started the whole phenomenon; however, geological, economic, and social conditions
The Black Death and subsequent medieval plagues devastated Islamic societies. The Muslim world was hit harder more than most European societies due to the recurrence of plague epidemics in the Islamic world up until the 19th century. This continual resurgence of deadly disease triggered a collapse in Muslim societies that was never truly recovered from. The resulting economic and social changes debatably assisted Europe in surpassing the Islamic world's previous superiority in many subjects.
The Bubonic Plague, or more commonly known as ‘The Black Death’ or ‘The Black Plague,’ was one of the most devastating and deadliest pandemics that humans have ever witnessed in the history of mankind. The disease spanned two continents in just a few years, marking every country between Western Europe all the way to China. During the reign of the plague, which is estimated to be the years between 1347-1352, it is estimated that “20 million people in Europe–almost one-third of the continent’s population” was killed off due to the plague. The Black Plague would change the course of European history since the plague knew no boundaries and inflicted its wrath upon the rich and the poor alike. As a result, not only did the plague have a devastating demographic impact which encountered a massive social disruption, but also, an economic and religious impact as well.
The Black Death plagues had disastrous consequences for Europe in the 14th century. After the initial outbreak in Europe, 1347, it continued for around five years and then mysteriously disappeared. However it broke out again in the 1360s and every few decades thereafter till around 1700. The European epidemic was an outbreak of the bubonic plague, which began in Asia and spread across trade routes. When it reached Europe, a path of destruction began to emerge. Medieval society was tossed into disarray, economies were fractured, the face of culture and religion changed forever. However the plagues devastation was not all chaotic, there were benefits too, such as modern labour movements, improvements in medicine and a new outlook on life. Therefore in order to analyse the impact the Black Death had on societies in the 14th century, this essay will consider the social, economic, cultural and religious factors in order to reach an overall conclusion.
Although the Columbian Exchange allowed for the beneficial exchange of cultures, ideas, foods, and animals around the world during the 1450-1750 time period, it also had a dark side. One detrimental result of the Columbian Exchange would be the spread of smallpox from Europe to the New World. The great explorations and subsequent migrations of Europeans to the Americas in the 15th-18th centuries opened up those entire continents to the fatal impact of the infectious diseases of Europe. European conquests owed a good deal of their success to the effects of disease on the indigenous peoples, especially smallpox in the Americas. Before the Spanish conquest of the New World, there were no sickness or health related issues that Natives were forced to face.
During the 14th century most of Europe was struck by a devastating disease called the Black Death, or bubonic plague. This disease was carried by flees which lived on rats. When the rats died, the flees jumped onto humans and spread the disease. Even though the Black Death was controlled in Europe by 1351, it came back regularly over the next 150 years.