Chapter 21- Bubonic Plague
By Vamsi and Alyssa
What was the Bubonic Plague?
Also known as the Black Death or the Black Plague, the Bubonic Plague was a pandemic which spread throughout Europe and Asia from 1347 to 1352.
It killed about 75 million lives, greatly impacting the population at the time.
- The disease which was spread was an infection of the bacteria Yersinia pestis.
Origins
As they struggled during the cooling climate or the Ice Age, people encountered the new challenge of the bubonic plague
The Bubonic Plague spread from the Yunnan region of southwestern China
It was mainly spread by the Mongols, merchants, and other travelers along trade routes
It spread to Europe mainly by Italian merchants who fled the area around the Black Sea, which had already been infected.
The plague bacillus would spread from fleas to rodents such as rats, squirrels, and prairie dogs. When fleas couldn’t find a host, they would infect humans with the plague bacillus.
Effects
Symptoms included swellings around the body, dark patches, and coughing up blood.
It spared no group of people, and even reached small villages in the country.
People demanded higher wages, there were labor shortages, and there was unrest amongst the people.
Some areas did not suffer directly from the plague- Scandinavia, India, and sub-Saharan Africa are examples.
- It took at least a century for civilizations to completely recover. Some societies, such as Egypt, did not reach the population levels which were present before the plague until the nineteenth century.
What Made the Bubonic Plague a Unique Event
What mainly made the Bubonic Plague so unique was its unforgivingness. It killed 60-70% of it’s victims and 25% of Europe’s population. It also wiped out entire villages and towns.
It completely halted economic development in Europe, causing labor shortages and unrest of the people
The Bubonic Plague had such an impact on the World that it may have set time back a few hundred years. Who knows what the lives lost could have contributed towards science, technology or agriculture…
- Despite the large population loss, the plague caused a period of cultural, economic, and political revival in China and Europe in the following years.
Bibliography
Bentley, Jerry H., and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the past. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000. Print.
Casas, Robert. "The Black Death and the Later Middle Ages." Westview AP Euro Forum. N.p., 25 July 2013. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.
"The Black Death - Infogram, Charts & Infographics." Create Online Charts & Infographics. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.
- "The Spread of Black Death." The Spread of Black Death. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.
- Cohen, Jennie. "Little Ice Age, Big Consequences." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.
"www.ahsapworldhistory.com/textbook." Mrs. Matranga (La Pointe) - AP World History. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.