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Plague Dbq Essay

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In the mid 14th century, a devastating plague swept across the known world. This pandemic plague is most commonly known as the Black Death but has other alias such as The Great Pestilence and The Great Plague. The background essay states, “In five shorts years, it would kill between 25 and 45% of the populations it encountered.” The background essay also mentions “it would be the worst natural disaster and the single most destructive natural phenomenon in the history of the world.” This cataclysmic event drastically dwindled population sizes of Europe and the Middle East, breaking down civilizations, and leaving behind terror in survivors mindset. However, the Christian and Islamic followers in these regions would differ in their reactions …show more content…

The Black Death first appeared in China in 1333, Europe in 1348 and then spread to Muslim land in 1349. As it appears in Document A, the paths of the Black Death spread around the Black Sea and then expanding to other territories after reaching the Mediterranean Sea. Once the trade networks reached large area this is where majority of populations began being wiped out. Similarly another map, Document B, shows the spread by year of the Black Death over the European and Middle East continent. The map suggests the plague stops around dessert and forest regions, possibly because of sparse populations or trade routes did not pass through these areas. No matter where the plague was contracted it brought devastating mortality rates to any region. For example, Christian Europe …show more content…

The most common variation being bubonic, killing 50 to 80% of victims within three to six days. The name bubonic derived from the inflamed swelling of boils filled with pus referred to as “buboes”. The second variation of the Black Death, pneumonic, was less likely to be contracted but more deadly than bubonic, killed most of its victims within hours by infecting the respiratory system. The third, septicemia, was the deadliest variation killing all its victims by infecting the bloodstream. No matter which form was contracted all three-left vast amount of dead people. An Italian man in Document D recounts, “ And so many died that all believed it was the end of the world”. Also in the second half of Document D an Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi states, “The population was terrified by the multitude of dead” (Document D). These ‘multitudes’ scared both Muslim and Christian believers as entire families and cities vanished. Seeing the mass amount of dead Document D accounts that, “It seemed that almost everyone became stupdified by seeing the pain”. Although Europeans and Middle Eastern shared a similar sense of fear they differed in their behavior to the

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