We are the modern world we run and are made out of, “industrial capitalism, a system of nation-states and interstate wars, a growing gap between the richest and the poorest in our world, and (cause) mounting human impacts on the environment” (Mark 366). How did the world become this way; why is it we are ruled by capitalism and the need to industrialize using up our resource in this planet in order to compete and become more “developed” than each place that surrounds us? To answer this question Robert Mark address how our society has been build off of Eurocentrism in his introduction. Eurocentrism is the idea that, “the West has some unique historical advantage, some special quality of race or culture or environment or mind or spirit, which …show more content…
“The attention we give to contingency (past events that affect the future), accident (things humans have no control over), and conjuncture (individual events that eventually effect on another) means that our explanation of major developments in the making of the modern world will involve several causes, not just one. The way we can combat global warming and further problems is too look at these categories a good place is to start with the past and looking at humans basic needs. In order for a species to survive their basic needs must be met (food, water, shelter, reproductive conditions) if they are not met the species will die off. Though out history we can see this with our race. A little before the fourteen hundreds and well into the eighteen hundreds the majority of the population was peasants that farmed in order for them and their families to survive. As population increased as food production increased because of the good weather, and soil conditions for farming a crossed the …show more content…
If the empires had not set up the tax system on food or increased populations to the need of expansions than maybe the black plague wouldn’t have thrived. Because of their actions during the time of the black plaque many places still held taxes over farmers that ended up not being able to feed their families, leading them to become malnutrition and weak and extremely susceptible to disease. Due to the large numbers of people on top of each other in crowded cities/towns disease spread like rapid fire from germs being passed
It is approximated that the Australopithecus, a hominid, lived approximately four to one million years ago. From that point in time, the world history of humans has been an exhaustive, arduous task to document. With that in mind, world historians attempt to capture the events most important to the development of contemporary humanity. In fact, Tamim Ansary states that “World history, after all, is not a chronological list of every damn thing that ever happened; it’s a chain of only the most consequential events, selected to reveal the arc of the story-it’s the arc that counts.” Some have taken a European approach to the restrictions, but in response to such thought, Tamim Ansary’s Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes presents a sequential restating of history through an Islamic viewpoint. From the beginning of Islam with Muhammad to recent happenings, like 9/11, Ansary presents Islamic history in a larger context to commendably combine said history with world history. Furthermore, Ansary claims that Islamic history has often been seen as a side to Western history, as Western history has “prevailed and churned” Islamic history, although it has it is crucially significant in the larger context of world history. In the larger sense, Ansary proves his argument that Islamic history has developed independently and is important, but he does not project the importance of the Islamic history over European history.
In the 1340’s, an epidemic named the Black Death, erupted through Europe, killing nearly ⅓ of its population. The Black Death originated in China, rapidly spreading to western Asia and Europe. It killed about 30 million people in Europe plummeting its population. A lot of these people were peasants. This was because they had the least money, therefore putting them in the worst living conditions. There were so many of them that no individual could make a substantial amount of money. When the plague hit, the peasants were strongly affected. A huge population of them were killed. After the epidemic, the population of peasants was far less than before. This provided them with a chance to really improve their lives. The Black Death caused a change
The plague caused a labor shortage because many people died. So, people started demanding higher wages (which was strongly opposed by the guilds and nobles). When higher prices are demanded, revolt was put in their mind. These set the government officials off and they were either killed or left. These actions completely devastated the feudal system. Vassal was no longer subjected to lord because the lords were no longer providing for the vassal, but running for their lives from the plague, or dying. “Kings and dukes now had to bargain with their laborers over working conditions, and the under-classes were able to demand better compensation for their services.” 7
The Black Death is considered to be "the most severe epidemic in human history" that decimated Europe from 1347 to 1351 (Witowski). Not only did the Black Death depopulate Europe, but it also had long lasting social and economic effects as well. The social effects consisting of culture, morals, values, and social norms. The economic effects consisting of labor, payment, and the foundation of feudalism. However one would call it, the Bubonic plague, the resulting Pneumonic plague or the Pestilence, the disease scarred the social and pecuniary foundations of specifically the European Middle Ages and some of the impacts even carrying forth into further generations.
The Black Plague came to Europe at a time referred to as the late middle ages. At this time, the quality of living was looking better than in the past
In the 1300’s, there was an outbreak of a disease known as the Black Death that engulfed all of Europe. This sickness, also know as the Bubonic Plague, rampaged throughout Europe killing over a third of the population. A bacteria known as Yersinia pestis caused the disease. The bacteria, originating in fleas, spread to rats and then to people. Black Death was spread from trade throughout Europe. The large cities were affected first, and then it spread to the less dense and populated surrounding areas. The mortality rate in large cities was near fifty percent of the population, while in more rural areas the rate was lower. This lasting effects of this disease changed Europe both socially and economically. The bubonic plague triggered a loss of faith and generated negative feelings towards the church, but positively affected the masses by creating opportunities that they didn’t have in the past.
The Black Death started with a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis. “Yersinia Pestis, or known as pasteurella pestis, causes severe illness but more commonly death upon infection unless implanted with antibiotics,” (Sutyak). This bacteria spread quickly. ‘On average, bacteria can double every 4-20 minutes,” (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory). That means that when one person was infected, during the day 72 others could be infected if the rate was one person every 20 minutes. If the rate was one person every 4 minutes, there could be 360 people infected in a day. That rate is extremely horrendous rate of infection. Imagine if one person in your town got a terrible disease. Then the disease spread during one day. Three hundred sixty people infected in one day. That is exceedingly disgusting from my point of view. Now, lets take it broader. “Pandemics can affect 20% to 40% of the entire world's population”, (U.S Department of Health & Human Services). The Black Death caused 75 to 200 million people to die. That was a huge chunk of the population at the time. When all the people died, many places had little t...
The filth of the cities promoted the spread of disease faster than doctors could discover a cure. This encouraged large outbreaks of many deadly diseases. And it is said that throughout this period there were people who went about the cities and towns with wagons calling "Bring out your dead!" in a fashion similar to that of the Medieval era during the bubonic plague (Which, by the way, was not yet a dead disease).
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.
...ant events in the entirety of the history of Europe. The confusion and devastating effects of the plague on the people in Europe was the cause of a mass questioning of the effectiveness of religious authority leaders and ineffective attempts made by political authority leaders to inhibit the social growth of the lower class, a dramatic shift in the division of wealth in European society, and increased persecution and discrimination of Jews and other outlying groups in society. The Black Death was a very unexpected outbreak of disease in medieval Europe. Our modern society is still plagued by outbreaks of diseases, such as HIV and AIDS, Swine Flu [H1N1] and Bird Flu, [H7N9] so we must take in consideration the devastating mass effect this epidemic had on the people of the 14th century and be prepared should an epidemic similar in scale and proportion happen again.
Scranton believes that human beings are killing present life by ignoring the effects of global warming on the world. He continues to warn the reader that change is coming regardless of what people do now and that they human race must prepare for what is inevitably coming, as it will be the collapse of global civilization as it is known. Scranton states that this time we are living in, the anthropocene, presents humans with multiple challenges but mostly, “what it means to be human” (page 234). How to control the inevitable
In order to learn how societies were impacted by the Black Death, it is significant to note the situation prior to the epidemic. Britain and France had been at war since 1337, by August 1347 France was devastated. Many of the French people were left without homes, food or livestock, they were about to face a harsh winter and were unsure if they had enough seeds to plant crops the following year. The climatic changes that occurred over Europe had drastic consequences for agriculture, resulting in malnutrition which pre-disposed the populaces to disease. Inflation increased and famine soon spread across Europe, resulting in many deaths. Around 1339, Europe’s population began to increase, this growth began to surpass the capacity of the land to feed its populace. Therefore a severe economic...
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.
Throughout history, Western civilization has been an emerging force behind change in foreign societies. This is the concept that is discussed in the article the West Unique, Not Universal, written by Samuel Huntington. The author makes a very clear thesis sentence and uses a variety of evidence to support it. This article has a strong very convincing point. The thoughts expressed in this article can be related to a lot of events throughout history.
Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known. Chinua Achebe takes this idea into account when he wrote Things Fall Apart. He shows in this novel that unless you know about African culture, you can’t love it or hate it. He shows that Africans aren’t savages like the world thinks they are, and that the Eurocentric world that we live in isn’t correct.