The Black Death

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Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has battled with the forces of nature in order to survive. One of the most terrifying of these forces is disease. Diseases can come in many different forms. They are caused by many things, such as viruses, bacteria, and some are even non-infectious and can be transmitted genetically. A select few of these ailments, called pandemics, are highly contagious and can afflict mass amounts of people in a short period of time. One example of a pandemic is the Black Death. It swept through Europe in the 14th century, killing an estimated 75 million people and causing the collapse of the Feudal system. The Black Death is considered one of the deadliest pandemics in history because of the speed of its spread, the death toll, and the lasting effects it had on humanity.

The speed at which the plague came about was a major factor in its lethality. The plague is believed to have originated in central Asia in the 1330's (Edmonds). European traders were the first to hear about the plague because they traveled to the east on trade routes. By the time they realized the extent of this brutal disease, it was too late. They had no idea what they were up against. The plague moved along trade routes and on merchant ships. The sailors on these ships would, not knowing what was afflicting them, stop at ports to trade. Citizens of the cities would catch the disease, and desperately drive away the ships, but it didn't matter. Once a few people contracted the disease, it spread like wildfire. In 1347, a town called Kaffa was attacked by the Tartar army (Edmonds). The Tartars, however, contracted the plague and began to die out. The people of the city had no idea what was destroying their enemies, but it didn't ...

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...ything about the plague was bad. If it hadn't have happened, we might still be just as filthy and medically uneducated as we were, and the tyrannical monarchies of Europe could still be in power. In the end mankind adapted to survive, just like we have since the beginning of time.

Works Cited

Cantor, Norman F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made. New York: Free, 2001. Print.

Edmonds, Molly. "How the Black Death Worked." HowStuffWorks. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. .

Ibeji, Mike. "Black Death." BBC News. BBC, 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. .

Kreis, Steven. "Lecture 29: Satan Triumphant: The Black Death." The History Guide. 03 Aug. 2009. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. .

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