The Black Plague Dbq

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The Black Plague spread from the years 1346-1353, and killed an estimated 50 million people in Europe, which was roughly 60% of the population. The Mongols were successfully conquering Europe when a mysterious disease began to spread so quickly that it seemed as though it would destroy the world before the Mongols would be able to gain full control. This illness was so unknown to the people at the time that it was only later named “The Black Plague (or The Black Death)”, after French biologist Alexandre Yersin discovered that the causes of this disease was bacterium (named after himself), Yersina Pestis. The disease spread mostly through infected rat colonies, and the fleas that fed on these rats. After the fleas fed on the rats that were …show more content…
There were in fact many positive changes from the depopulation caused by the Black Death. Because there were such fewer populations of workers, the men that worked were able to demand higher rates of pay. The shortage of skilled workers created a greater sense of supply and demand between workers and businesses, such that businesses had to pay workers whatever they demanded otherwise the jobs would not get done. In addition to previously skilled workers earning raises, the workforce grew to include women and peasants who were previously unemployed (History.com). The demand for good workers was so high that businesses were willing to employ any type of person that would get the job done. The addition of women to the workforce also resulted in less childbirths per woman, because they were too busy outside of the home to have as many children. Just as businesses had to raise wages, landlords were forced to lower rent prices, “deciding it was better to receive some revenue than nothing at all,” which was the case in the households where all members fell victim to the plague (Frankopan