Chapter 21
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  • Long distance trade considering diplomacy and missionary impulse.
  • Missions of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta
  • Taxation and Standing Armies
  • The centralization process of Hongwu and Yongle.
  • Humanist Concept of the Rennaissance
  • Impact of Bubonic Plague
  • Voyages of Zheng He
  • Impact of Christopher Columbus

IMPAct of the bubonic plague



Eliana Yamouni

College Board theme:  Interactions Between Humans and the Environment

The Bubonic Plague in the 14th century relates to this college board theme because it shows how a disease that originated in animals (the environment) can deeply impact a population (the humans).
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Origin:

  • started in the Yunnan region of Southwest China
  • initially spread between rodents
  • fleas began seeking human hosts after a decrease in rodent population

Spread:

  • 14th century Mongul campaign aided in spreading the disease into the interior of China
  • By 1331, about 90% of the population in the Chinese Hebei province had been killed by the disease
  • By 1350, 2/3 of all the Chinese population had passed away due to Bubonic plague
  • Bubonic Plague then began spreading along trade routs and in oasis and popular trading cities (especially those with many domestic animals)
  • 1346,  disease spread to Caffa and Tana (Black Sea ports)
  • 1347, merchants spread the disease through the Mediterranean Basin
  • 1348, widespread of the disease occurred in West Europe 
  • In general, the disease killed approximately 60%-70% of those infected with it
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Link to ThingLink

Other facts:

  • Bubonic Plague had little effect on Scandinavia and India
  • It takes about a century or more for an area to recover from the demographic consequences of the Bubonic Plague
  • Negative effects of the disease outbreak include labor shortages, and demand for higher wages
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←MAP OF BUBONIC PLAGUE SPREAD OVER TIME






 

Comparison: 
14th century Bubonic plague (A)     VS   2nd & 3rd Century Disease epidemic (B)

  • Both were notorious for killing large populations

-Bubonic Plague killed about 2/3 of the 14th century Chinese population
-Measles and Small Pox killed about 25% of the post-classical Chinese and Roman populations
  • While Bubonic Plague put a pause to the success of the 14th century Chinese population, West Rome did not recover from the Measles and Smalls Pox epidemic (causing it to collapse)

Catchy song about Bubonic Plague in the 14th Century:

More on the bubonic plague (Aka "black death"):

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