Social Effects of the Black Death Free Essay Example
Do you know what effect the Black Death had on society? The black death is a plague that was caused by bad bacteria. It had a tremendous effect on the lives of the people who lived in that era of time. The black death changed society by killing off more than half of Western Europe's population, innovative religious proclmations, and the increase in slavery.
To begin, the black death killed almost half of Western Europe. Source 1 states, “Modern historians estimate that between 25%-50% of the entire population of Western Europe died in those two years”. To clarify, this is stating that almost half the population was wiped in just the span of two years. It also states, “It killed healthy adults as easily as children, the old and the sick. No one anywhere seemed safe from it”. This states that the Black Death didn't seem to have a pattern and just simply killed everyone who got it. This caused people to go into panic since no one knew how to protect themselves from it.
Additionally, as the panic arose, people began to blame religion and witchcraft. According to Source 2, it states, “ The belief in witchcraft was revitalized”. This is stating that because no one knew how to cure the black plague, they started believing in anything that seemed reasonable to them and so witchcraft was what they turned to for a solution. In Source 2, it also states, “People called the Flagellants believed that the plague was the judgment of God on sinful mankind”. Meaning that some people blamed God for making them go through such a harsh time. The Flagellants traveled the country flogging one another but this movement was condemned by Pope Clement VI in 1349.
Furthermore, the demand for slaves increased due to no one being able to work. Source 3 states, “And in Western Europe the shortage of labor brought on by the plague increased the demand for slaves, cutting into the demand for free labor”. In other words, this meant that people were forced to be slaves with nothing in it for them. In Source 3, it also states, “And more slaves were put on the market as hungry parents sold their children, preferring their children's enslavement to watching them starve to death”. To clarify, some people had no other choice but be sold into slavery because they barely had enought to even eat and at the time it seemed like the best option. Wealthy people wouldn't have survived without the help of their servants.
In Conclusion, the Black Death killed almost 50% of Europe's Population, began innovative religious proclamations, and increased the demand for slavery. Sadly many people were killed due to the fact that the Plague was very different from anything they've gone through before and they weren't prepared for the result. People going into panic did not help maintain the Black Death from spreading, it only made it spread faster. The Black Death had a tremendous impact on the lives of the people who managed to survive.
