As you can see by the due date, this assignment may be completed any time over the next two weeks (as a result of the holiday and all the extra-curricular activities going on). As we discuss the Crusades this week you will learn that, as military endeavors, they were mostly failures. Given the fact that nearly a thousand years later these events still shape the identity of Christianity in the minds of many people world-wide, one might be tempted to believe that the brutality and loss of life and fortune were without benefit. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
The returning European crusaders brought back two things that would forever change the world - Bubonic Plague and knowledge from a very advanced society. Prior to the Crusades Europe operated under the feudal system, where power rested in the hands of the wealthy and the vast number of poor people were individually unimportant (they had no valuable skills and could easily be replaced should anyone decide not to comply with the demands of the lord). However, after the devastation of the plague, workers were in high demand - giving them much more bargaining power. While the Bubonic Plague destroyed the economic system, the new knowledge acquired from their Muslim enemies gave Europeans the opportunity to build new systems, both political and economic.
You can read more about the crusades at the following link: http://history-world.org/crusades.htm . Since we'll be spending so much time in class discussing the information and technology that Europe gained from the Crusades, I'd like to take this homework assignment to ask you to consider the possibility and effects of a global pandemic like the Bubonic Plague occuring in our own life times.
You have heard dire predictions about things like bird flu, etc. Suppose that disease hits humanity and we are unable to stop it before it rapidly spreads. Remember, due to air travel, a disease can become intercontinental in a matter of hours. Assume 50 percent of the world’s population is killed off in a matter of a few months. Discuss some general ways that you think the United States might change and support your ideas with information you learned during the study of what the bubonic plague did to Europe in the Middle Ages. The link http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm should provide you with all the materials you'll need for your research. Remember to respond to the work of others, and that this isn't due until the 26th. Thanks!
First I'm going to start my essay with the meaning of epidemic, an epidemic is a widespread disease that affects many individuals in a population. An epidemic may be restricted to one locale or may even be global (pandemic). An outbreak of a disease is defined as being epidemic, however, not by how many members or what proportion of the population it infects but by how fast it is growing. When each infected individual is infecting more than one other individual, so that the number of infected individuals is growing exponentially, the disease is in an epidemic state. Thus even if the number of people affected is small, the phenomenon may still be called an epidemic, although for small epidemics the term "outbreak" is more often used.
ReplyDeleteOne example is the Black Death (also The Bubonic Plague, and more recently The Black Plague) was a devastating epidemic in Europe in the 14th century which is estimated to have killed about a third of the population. Most scientists believe that the Black Death was an outbreak of bubonic plague, a dreaded disease that has spread in pandemic form several times through history. The plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis which is spread by fleas with the help of animals like the black rat - what we would call today the sewer rat. Sometimes, the term "Black Death" is used for all outbreaks of plague and epidemics.
I think if something like this happened in our life time. I think it would be devastating, but I don't think it would be near as bad because of our far advanced medical technology. Like when the swine flue epidemic(H1N1) started, they quickly made a vaccine, and started vaccinating people, and know there aren't near as many cases of swine flue. SO that is my essay on how we would handle a epidemic like the Bubonic Plague.
Everyone has heard of the Bubonic Plague. How it ravaged through England killing thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children. The disease could be spread two ways: by inahling the air of a victim's breathing and by infected fleas that came on the backs of rats. The Bubonic Plague caused swellings to appear and certain areas (including neck and arm pits) of the body and it affected the respiratory and blood system. Most who caught any of the three forms of Bubonic Plague (bubonic varient, pneumonic variation, and septicemic version) died. Any who survived lived through horrible pain.
ReplyDeleteNow, if a disease was to hit the world like the Bubonic Plague in seriousness, who would America fare and who would we change? Well, when I thought about this question, the first thing that popped into my head was "We already have had epidimics like this yet we are still here." Here in America we have suffered from huge cases of smallpox, which has now been all but wiped out in America. In the 1800s during the Manifest Destiny to the West, and even in the years before and after and in big cities like New Orleans and New York City, cholera killed thousands. In the years of the War Between the States, the childhood disease of measles ravaged through the camps of both armies. In 1918, an outbreak of the Spanish Influenza killed over 500,000 people all over America in nine months. Three other epidimics that have spread across America in various years are yellow fever, polio, and the more
recent H1N1 (swine) flu.
What I am getting at, is that America has already suffered lots of epidemics and thousands upon thousands of lives lost to these diseases. So how do I think America would fare in another huge epidimic? I think we would fare fairly well. We do have advanced technology and medicine and the ability to find new cures should we need to. Because of airlines and stuff, not only can a disease be spread quickly, but it can be stopped quickly. When a cure is found and administered in America, we can ship it worldwide to help stop the epidimic.
Works Cited: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm and http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001460.html
To start off im going to tell a little about the Bubonic plague (also known as the Black Death). It killed 1.5 million people out of an estimated total of 4 million people. All this happened between 1348 and 1350. That must have been a very rough time for life in England. One thing that made this disease even worse was there was no amount of medical knowledge. Englands social structure was majorly impacted. The Bubonic plague was caused by fleas carried by rats that were very common in towns and cities. These fleas bit into their victims and literally injecting them with the disease. The first signs of the plague were lumps in the groin or armpits. next, livid black spots started appearing on the arms, legs, and other body parts. Sadly few recovered and most victims died within three days, usually without even having a fever. Because many fields had to go unploughed, towns and cities struggled with starvation.
ReplyDeleteObviously England faced many hardships and challenges throughout this time period. If something similar to this were to happen in the United States life would no doubt change in almost every way. Looking back on all the changes that occured because of the Bubonic plague, I can say that the United States would more than likely go through the same struggles and probably more. Since we are blessed to have much medical knowledge we could probably prevent some ways of this disease spreading but not stop it. If 50% of the U.S. population were to die out the supply and demand line would be at a shortage. It would bring chaos to our Economic system. There wouldn't be much law and order, if any at all. Politically, who would even run our government? Disposal of all the dead bodies would be tragic and very costly. Nothing would be the same if something similar to the bubonic plague were to happen in the United States.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_death_of_1348_to_1350.htm
Billy tha Squid,
ReplyDeleteYour report was very informative and I didn’t know that an outbreak of a disease was called an epidemic. I agree with you that if something like the bubonic plague were to happen in the United States today it wouldn’t be near as bad because of our medical advancements but, it would still be pretty dreadful. I mean just the thought of 50% of our population dying out is a scary thought. So good job Billy!!
Private Elijah,
ReplyDeleteGood job, I liked reading your essay. I never realized until now that there have been so many outbreak of all kinds of diseases across America. I have to say that now I disagree with my report. Now that I have realized what all America has been through already with all the diseases. I changed my mind and now think that the bubonic plague in England did much more damage than any disease now. Good Job, you convinced me to rethink my opinion about this.
The bubonic plague started in China and moved to the Black Sea. One of the theories states that a group of Tarters laid a siege against a Genose outpost. During siege warfare a common practice was to throw human waste, dead animals and dead bodies over the walls. They would use this method
ReplyDeleteto incite fear in the people, trying to get them to surrender. They usually wanted castle or town walls to be kept intact, so they could move in.
What was so awful was the unknown factors concerning the plague. I find the more ignorant the person is and susceptible to superstitious
foolishness, the more fear is able to create a paralyzing factor in a community. Fear will show what character qualities you are made of.
Parents abandoning children, wives their husbands and vice versa is a horribe act.
During Henry VIII whenever a sickness would break out, people that were able would flee a city, trying to get to the country. People felt diseases could breed faster in a city than anywhere else.
The disease of aids comes to my mind as a global pandemic. Had we not the information that we do have on it, we would be just as devastated. I think the more information we can have on a subject the better chance we have to defend ourselves.
Last Fall a friend of our family was in China on a mission trip. She went through a security scanner and immediately they pulled her out and quarantined her and sent her to the hospital. Her husband had no idea where they were taking her. She had shown up as having a low grade fever.If people resent full body scans. I can't imagine what they would do with a fever detector.
source cit:http://www.eyewitnesshistory.com/plaguehtm
Have you ever thought of dying? How would you die? Would you rather it be quick and simple or stretched out over a long period just to spend more time with your loved ones? If I had to choose, I would like to live life until I was 105 years old and die in my sleep. But many didn’t have this choice in Italy, 1348. The Black Death swept across Europe within three years and completely wiped out more than fifty percent of the population. There are three different types of this Black Death, three of them equally horrific and triumphant in its need to suck life out of the individual who is infected. The first is bubonic variant (which is the most common) it develops tumor like swellings on the neck, arm pit, and groin areas of the body. This is spread by flees that which were infected and infested rats, and the rats- spreading throughout Europe through trade and travel infected those who came in contact with the things that the rats had. Victims that had this would survive for only a week. The second is pneumonic plague which attacked the respiratory system. This was spread through the ones who were infected by the bubonic variant through breathing on others who were not infected yet; the life expectancy was one to two days. The third is septicemic version, which infected the blood system.
ReplyDeleteIf the Black Death spread throughout the United States and the rest of the world, then the results would be devastating. Yes, things are different now and we have better health care than when we did in the 14th century. But what if, and only if- what would happen if we could do nothing to stop it. I believe that there would be a lot of quarantine. Things would be different. Things would change, but aren’t they always? Always revolving, always moving towards the stigma of being- well.. Being.
The Black Death. Its name alone makes your skin crawl. This devastating disease came to Europe from the East during the times of the crusades in the spring of 1348. It quickly spread throughout all of Europe over the span of 3 years and killed between 25% and 50% of the populace of the country. The Black Death has 3 variants. The most common for would be the bubonic variant. This form derives its name from the swellings or buboes that appear on victim’s necks, armpits, or groin. These tumors would vary in size of an egg to the size of an apple. Those infected with this had about a week left to live. The next form is called pneumonic plague. This was spread by being breathed on by those who were infected by the bubonic variant, and attacks the respiratory system. Finally the third form, the septicemic variant, attacked the blood system.
ReplyDeleteIf an epidemic such as the Black Death spread throughout the world today the effects would be drastic. Even though we have advanced medical technology then they did in 1348 it would still catch us off guard, and take time to analyze the disease and make a cure. It may not be as bad as then, but it would still affect our society. Everyone who was even suspicious of having the disease would most likely be quarantined to help slow the spread.
Death... its everywhere! everyday people die from a huge variety of reasons. have you ever thought about how you might die? what would you do if yopu knew you didnt have a choice and death was right outside your door?
ReplyDeletewell the people who lived during the time of the bubonic palgue which was between 1348 and 1350 did not have much of a choice but to spend everyday concerned with this topic. the bubonic plague or the (black death) killed right around 4 million people, the disease was spread when a flea bit into one of its victims injecting the poison into their body. the people of england were so heavily devistated by this that half their population depleated. i can not imagine living in this time period.
so lets suppose something of this capacity happened today. today we have so much more medical knowledge and there are cures for a very large percentage of our diseases. with our health care system on a downward spiral in my opinion it may be a small challenge to get the system to pay attention to ALL of the citizens healthcare needs but none the less we would definitely have the recources.
i am confident that now in the 21st century we would have the ability to overcome something like this, sure it wouldnt be easy but we could maintain stubility now that they would never have been able to imagine back then.
paco,
ReplyDeletei really enjoyed your essay and how discriptive it was i got alot from it and it really kept my interest. the way you started it out caught my attention and geld me there the whole time i was reading it. well anyways great job on your essay :)
alexandria,
i really liked your essay it as well was extremely discriptive and i liked how you went deep into the subject and explained every point you brouhgt to the surface.
biggin,
i liked the things you touched on in your essay and i really liked the way you stated everything it was easy for me to get interested with. and your views were exceptional i really enjoyed it. great job it was great :)
charity,
i liked the way you started your essay with askin the questions and stuff to be honest it kinda inspired me on the way i began my essay. your essay was full of detail and with lack of a better use of words on my part your essay was very
"colorful" lol well anyways great job :)
Today I will tell you something about the Black Death, which was 1348 in Europe, and killed between 25% and 50% of the european population. I think one of the biggest problems in the past was, that the poeple had no idea to handle a sicknes like the Black Death, and also this uncerntainty about what to do. I also think that the panik and the way these people lived was a problem. In the past they lived in big Families and communities close together, which was not really helpful when a deseas like this broke out, when one member of the familie got the Black Death, the possibility was high that all the others get it too. The houses in the past were not really clean, which supported the deseas.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think the countries should do, when a illness which is really contagious breaks out, is to prevent panik and to tell the people what to do. It is not really helpful, when no one tells the residens what to do and what this illness really is. We should get informed , with helpful information when we recognize that we have the sickness and what to do afterwords. I really think that is the most important think we should do!!!
Charity,
ReplyDeleteI really love how you wrote your essay. It kept me interested and it was really interesting. I agree with what you put aboutwanting to live to be 105 and dying in your sleep, that is how I would want to die as well. It's sad how the people then didn't have that oppurtunity. Also, I realy enjoyed how you wrote your essay. Good job!! :)
Jess_Megs15,
ReplyDeleteGreat essay!! It was very well written and I enjoyed it. I agree with wha tyou said about us having the technology today to help prevent and stop the disease. I really like your first paragraph, it was interesting, well written and caught my attention and kept my attention throughout the essay. Good job!!! :)
The Black Death came to Italy in the spring of 1348. This horrific plague lasted three years and destroyed almost 50% of the population. The Black Death came in three different forms: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. If anyone experienced the systems of these three forms such as tumors and black and purple spots on the body, that person could expect death. This sickness was highly contagious. If you were sick, you could expect isolation. No talking with anyone or even seeing anyone. I can only imagine the fear everyone went through during those three years. Doctors couldn’t do anything about it either.
ReplyDeleteImagine a plague such as the Black Death striking America. How would we react? I believe we would panic. Things would change forever. The medical industry would be totally transformed. If we think we know the meaning of keeping doctors’ offices and hospitals clean now, imagine how sterile those facilities would be then. Our government leaders would have to step up and communicate the danger of the situation without sugar coating their words. They would have to financially support the hospitals and provide them with the means necessary to stop the plague. Do we have the means to fight such an illness? Well, I really hope we won’t have to worry about that.
When i think about death i only pray that my death would be fast: something that wouldn’t hurt. I
ReplyDeletewould want to die in my sleep or something peaceful like that. I pity those people that suffered to
death over a variety of diseases. Between 1348 and 1350 close to four billion people died of the
Bubonic plague (also known as the Black Death.)
The victim of the plague may have experienced everything from headaches, to nausea , to lumps
all over the body. These lumps caused internal bleeding and could grow to be very large (which i
will not going into detail.) Imagine the pain and discomfort these people went through.
As far as this plague breaking out in America goes: I think that it would depends on the medical
treatment the person got. There would be some lucky ones and some not so lucky. If the person
recognized the disease and gets medical attention: they would probably get through, but you
never know. I believe that the medical knowledge America has today would help many, but again
there is no promise that all treatments will work for everyone. I can only hope and pray that
something like this would never happen in American and i pray that it would cease to continue in
other countries as well.
Jess,
ReplyDeleteI liked your essay alot. I like what you said, " with our health care system on a downward spiral in my opinion it may be a small challenge to get the system to pay attention to ALL of the citizens healthcare needs but none the less we would definitely have the recources." Because it is ssoo true. Great Essay!
Abbie,
I like how you said, "If we think we know the meaning of keeping doctors’ offices and hospitals clean now, imagine how sterile those facilities would be then." because when the swine flu thing was going they didn't even let some of the people in because they wanted to keep it clean. It was panic for most... For sure. I also liked how you said the people with this disease would more than likely we comepletely isolated becaue this disease would spead so fast and that makes me feel more pity for hose people. :(
Good essay!
-Emily
The Bubonic Plague or the Black Death that we heard a lot, was one of the worst natural disasters in Europe history (1347 A.D.) . This plague swept over Europe, ravaged cities causing widespread hysteria and death. One third of the population of Europe died.
ReplyDeleteThe impact upon the future of England was greater than upon any other European country." (Cartwright, 1991) The primary culprits in transmitting this disease were oriental rat fleas carried on the back of black rats. And there was one Italian man named Giovanni Boccaccio that could lived thourgh this plague ,he wrote the story .According to this link http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm
“ The Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio lived through the plague as it ravaged the city of Florence in 1348. The experience inspired him to write The DECAMERON, a story of seven men and three women who escape the disease by fleeing to a villa outside the city. In his introduction to the fictional portion of his book, Boccaccio gives a graphic description of the effects of the epidemic on his city.”
The most important reason is ,there wasn’t enough doctor's advice and not enough medicine could overcome or alleviate this disease, A large number of ignorant doctors in addition to those who were trained. Either the disease was such that no treatment was possible or the doctors were so ignorant that they did not know what caused it.
Abbie ,
ReplyDeleteI really like your essay and I enjoyed reading it a lot .Your essay gave us a lot of great details and I agreed with you that ,if this plague ,the Black Death happened in America.I believe that the medical industry would be totally transformed. And they would have to financially support the hospitals and provide them with the means necessary to stop the plague.And we really don’t have to worried about it :) Good job Abbie !!
First I want to tell you a little bit about the Black Death. The Black Death killed 1348 about 25% to 50% of the population in Europe.
ReplyDeleteThe population was simply helpless, because they didn’t have anything like this before. All their education and knowledge in the medical was just too little.
Even today are some countries helpless, even if they know how to fight against the diseases or flu and where it comes from. For example in Haiti the cholera. Everybody knows about cholera and how to medicate it and what the symptoms are. But still the cholera is spreading out in this region and reached a few days ago even Florida in the USA!! So even today with all our knowledge and medicine, we can‘t prevent everything.
If 50% of the world‘s population is dead I think you can‘t prevent panic and tell the people how to behave. I mean if 50% is dead every second person you would see would be dead!!! Everywhere, not only in one country!! I think there would be anarchy everywhere and who says that the government still lives if 50% are dead!! It‘s very likely that in this chase half of the government is already dead.
The best way to prevent this scenario is, if you recognize a possible epidemic or even a pandemic, to produce injections to make the population resistant. There is just a very big problem with these injections.
A good example is the bird flu. In Germany when several people had the bird flu everybody began to panic! Experts talked all the time about a possible epidemic or even a pandemic scenarios. So the government bought injections against the bird flu for millions of euros. But after that nobody felt it necessary to get an injection and the bird flu turned out to don‘t be that dangerous. Now the government bought these millions of injections and tries to sell them back to the company, but they don‘t want them back. They are pretty much worthless now. So the government wasted a lot of money.
That shows that it is very hard to predict a epidemic.
Work cited:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/354143,reaches-florida-summary.html
Eileen ,
ReplyDeleteReally great essay Eileen . I really do like it ,your essay told me many important information and I also agreed with you that the government should be able to help people .like gave them suggestions or told them what should they do .I believe that if they did that they would help a lot and I could decease the number of death .Great job !! :)
@ nang:
ReplyDeleteGood job on your essay. I liked reading it learned a lot. It was ver informative and you used a lot of quotes.
Very good job.
@ abbie:
I liked reading your essay. It was very informative and I learned a lot. I agree that we would panic. Definetly!! There is no way how the government (if still alive!) could calm the population.
the black death.its name alone makes your skin crawl.this devasting disease came to europefrom the east during the crusades in the spring of 1348.it quickly spread thoughout europe over the span of 3 years and killed between 25% and 50%of the populace of the country.the black death has 3 variants,the most common form is the bubonic variant.this form derivesits name fromthe swellings or buboes that appeared on th victims neck,armpit,or groins.these tumors would range from the size of an egg to the size of an apple.those infected had about a week to live.the next form is called pnuemonic plague.this was spread by being breathed on by someone infected by the bubonic variant and it affects the respiratory system.finally the third form,the septicemic variant,attacked by the blood system.if an disease such as the black plague was to spread thoughout the world today the affects would be dramastic.even thoughwe have advanced medical technology than they did in 1348 it would catch us by surprise,and it would take time to analyaze and find a cure for it.it may not be as bad as then,butr it would affect our society.everyone who was even supicious of having the plague would most likely be quarantined to help slow the spread.
ReplyDeleteThe mystery of death has always frightened the minds of human beings, which is kind of ironic since humans are the reason there is death. Death began in the Garden of Eden when Eve ate of the fruit and gave some to Adam. Ever since that day people have died from many different causes. Some people died from diseases, old age, and recently automobile crashes. In the 1300’s the bubonic plague swept through Italy and caused mass chaos. Within three years this awful disease claimed one third of England’s entire population. This blows my mind hearing so many people died from the same disease. I think that if a disease like the bubonic plague hit America the government would have to work the people of the country because if it doesn’t the country would just implode and the entire country would be in ruin and the disease would thrive and claim more and more lives. I also think that government would be a lot smaller than it is now. (mostly because some of the one third of the people would be politicians too.) I think that the Americas wouldn’t be hit as bad because of our great health care and we are taught at such young age how to keep disease spreading down.
ReplyDeleteDeath is here, where ever you are, whether you want it to be or not.
ReplyDeleteThe Black Death was in 1348 all across Europe, but coming from Italy. Three years after, the epidemic played it self. But between 25% and 50% of the population falled victim to the Black death.
The Black Death could be presented in three forms: The bonic variant was the most common one. Swellings or buboes would appear on a victim's neck, armpits or groin. The manifestation of these lesions usually signaled the victim had a life expectancy of up to a week. These fleas were attached to rats and then to humans.
The second form of the Black Death was called pneumonic plague. This one attacked the respiratory system and was spread by merely breathing the exaled air of a victim. It was much more virulent than its bubonic cousin. The victim's life expectancy was measured in one or two days.
The third form was called the septicemic version. It a disease that attacked the blood system.
I couldn' t imagine the panic in the United States but also in the world if this would of happen here. We already had a few fears with H1N1 and I know that the French government was very very concerned. New restrictions were made, security was at its highest point.
In today’s society a disease is able to spread very quickly. First of all, people are linked by various modes of transportation systems and travel a lot as well, either for vacation or work. There are subways, buses, taxis, airplanes, trains, etc. In all of these various forms of transportation, people from everywhere in the world meet and therefore a disease like the bird flu can transfer very easily.
ReplyDeletePrevious diseases like the bird flu had a chance to spread because the affected people didn’t know anything about it. They were ignorant and nevertheless went to public places like malls, markets, and schools, which are usually crowded places. An intercontinental disease would have serious consequences and would surely affect today’s lifestyle.
We would live in fear and the situation would greatly challenge our government. Mass mortality would lead to a lack of many important workers to keep the economy moving. I think the best solution is to bring the dead bodies to an isolated place to cremate them, instead of burying all people and therefore fill the cemeteries. A big issue would also be the possible death of governmental leaders like the president. Hospitals would be overcrowded, although people would try to avoid each other. Schools and other public buildings would be closed. Scientists would have to move quickly to find medicine and fabricate it to provide immunizations for everyone.
Dear Charity(:,
ReplyDeleteYou did a realy good job. I agree with all that you wrote.
I sounds very interesting and you made a good point. If I were to die, then I would prefer
to be shot in my face or in my temple so I would die very fast and get it over with. 53
Dear Paco ,
I realy enjoy to read your essay. The Black Death is a very very verry intersting topic to write about.
I guess it was the worst epidemic diseas in the history. It killed arround 1/3 of the civilized world.
If I lived in this time I would hide a long time in a cave and I would prefer to have just
connection with my family. I think it was a very terrible time. I would be very scary.
Dear jess_megs15 ,
Good job, I realy liked and enjoy reading your essay. You had a very good introduction. I also Agree with everything what you say
Billy the Squid, I enjoyed your essay. I liked how you started it with a definition of the word epidemic. I didn’t know that that the definition of an epidemic was not determined by the amount of people infected but by how fast the disease was spreading. This means that an epidemic could be localized to a small geographic region. I think that most disease outbreaks nowadays will most likely be pandemics due to excessive world travel. To me this is a frightening thought because if it hits third world countries that cannot fight the disease it would escalate to a pandemic state rapidly. This puts the burden on more advanced countries to assist all nations, especially third world countries, in fighting the outbreak immediately.
ReplyDeletePrivate Elijah, I liked what you said in your essay. I agree with the fact that we have advanced technology that can help us to find cures against diseases like the swine flu. The only thing one must consider is that advanced countries must act quickly. After the outbreak of the swine flu last year, cure was not brought quickly enough to the people and many became ill because of the delay. Advanced technology is only good when utilized quickly.
Private Elijhah:
ReplyDeleteYour essay was written very well! (enough to change alex's mind) Ha.
The key points you made were excellent. I never realized how many 'epidemics' there have actually been in the past.
Abbie:
Great essay; it was very informing! I agree with that of: the medical industry would be totally transformed, and they would have to financially support the hospitals and provide them with the means necessary to stop the plague. I sure hope we won't have to worry about that!
Essay from Jerome
ReplyDeletethis week I'm writing the first a little bit about the Bubonic plague, it is also know as
Black Death. Black Death killed 1/3 of civilized world.
Black Death came out of the East went to
the coasts of Italy. 1348 death came across Europe unprecedented in recorded history and ended 1350.
25% and 50% of Europe's population was killed
by the pestilence. The plague presented itself in swelling or buboe that appeared on a victim's neck, armpits or groin.
The size of these cancers are like an egg or an apple.
The Bubonic plague was caused by fleas carried 100 by rats wich were very common in villages and cities.
They bit into their victims and literally injecting them with the disease.
Yes I think if that would happen in America, then the result would be different,
becauce we have better health care than when we did in the 14th century.
I dont think anybody could protect from this disease, because tourist traveling in the countries and bringing the diseases in.
But I think american governmant could try to quarantine the country to keep the disease out.
This weeks essay is very intresting. I never really think much about what would happen if half the world’s population got wiped out so this topic really makes me think. When I began to read the link Mr. Akers suggested for us to read I started to think about what my personal reaction would be to this tragedy. Obviously I would be very sad having to watch people I love pass away one by one and watching other people struggle. I think that for me, it would really make me apprecate life itself and make me want to spend every day to the fullest. I would be worried thinking “Oh no, what if I’m next” and probably paranoid any time I saw a lump or bruise on my skin. I think the world as a whole would be much more cautious and aware of everything. They would probably do all they could to prevent themselves from dying. I think that the world would either turn to God or further away from him (if that possible). Some would go to Him praying for help while others turn their back on him and blame Him. I pray that this never happens to us but if it did I would hope that we would be smart enough to turn towards God for help. It truly would be a scary thing to go through, I cant imagin how the crusaders felt actually going through something this tragic.
ReplyDeleteEmma.Delaine, Very good essay!!I think I'll be totally like you! watching everyone dying around you is certainly the worse. And I guess the only way I could possibly survive would be with God's help. I think if this happens today, the world will certain blame God for all the diseases and pain.
ReplyDeleteJerome, Very good essay! You're right, tourism have a very big impact on the epidemics and quarantine could be a good way from having the epidemic to touch all the population.
Stella, Your essay is really good and very interesting! I never thought about how the economy will be in difficulty with the lack of important workers. It's a very very good point. And the dead people will certainly be something hard to take care, because most of the families are very concern about having their family berried in a cemetery. So again thank's for sharing all of these good points.
Abbie, I liked reading your essay.I really liked the way you wrote and gave us information about the look and the different forms of the Black Death. You wrote some things in your essay which I did not even know. You also answered the given question very well and I hope too, that we never have to think about what to do if we have a plague here.
ReplyDeleteGood job, and keep up your good work.
Elena, you had very good information in your article. You wrote about the three different form of the Black Death and what the different forms did with your body. I liked the way you described those in detail, bacause so you could lern a lot, about this illness.
ReplyDeleteKeep up ypur good work.
Billy the Squid, thank you for clarifying what an epidemic is. I didn't realize that it's not by the numbers of people that are effected, but by how fast it spreads. I know in the first part of the last century there was a flu epidemic that killed a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure with the memory of some of the epidemics, the potential of the world becoming smaller and germs being able to be carried from one country to another faster than ever before. We must be wiser and more aware of what is happening around us.
Eileen, I liked your thought on the families that lived so close to one another which helped spread Black Death. In many cultures even today
2 or 3 generations live under the same roof. The cost of housing or housing shortages as well as close family cultures make this happen.
Also your thought on the filth that people would live in would make it easier for diseases to spread. I know that women would die in child birth because the doctors that attended them would not wash their hands when going from one patient to another. Ignorance is costly!
Billy the Squid, your essay was really good! I like how you defined an epidemic. It was very informative to know that an epidemic is determined by how fast a disease spreads rather than how many people are infected. I also like how you mentioned that the bubonic plague was caused by a bacterium in fleas or sewer rats. I had never heard of Yersinia before, but I’ll be sure to avoid it from now on. I agree that an epidemic would be stopped sooner because of the vaccines.
ReplyDeleteCharity, your essay was awesome. I really like how you ended it. It was almost…poetic. If history was written like poetry, I’d like it a lot more. I agree that a plague like the bubonic plague would change things. I also agree that we are always changing anyway. We all want to be well. Great job with your essay! :)
The Black Death after three years had killed between 25 and 50 percent of Europe’s population. Having no understanding of what was going on, there was no way of the disease being stopped. In the United States we assume nothing like this could ever happen to us. But, think about all the planes, trains, and even people visit country to country. We could easily receive a deathly disease such as The Black Death. Having doctor’s to cure diseases and sicknesses makes it less likely, but what if one person gets it and dies without knowing, then all those people have the disease along with all the people they had connected with and so on. If there is no cure, there is no way of curing it, along with it being so deathly you die before you realize you’re sick. Think about how many people you come in contact with per day. If you were to get a deathly disease, the majority of those people would get it as well. It would be difficult for doctor’s to find a cure, and be able to cure everyone before it got out of hand.
ReplyDeleteI think America assumes nothing like this could or would ever happen again, and we all just go along thinking we’re past that part of history, the unknowing, but we still have a lot to figure out. And, when kids are learning about 2010, in 3029 they’ll think what is happening to us, could never possibly happen to them. We just don’t think things through anymore.
Emma,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your essay, this essay got me thinking too, and i just couldn't imagine it ever happening, even knowing it could. I agree people would blame God, and turn away from him, but trusting him is what we need to do. I thank God everyday for giving me an opprotunity for being able to come to this school, and being able to turn my life around in a positive way.
Emily,
i loved reading your essay. I'm like you when i die, i want it to be fast and painless, what those people went through is horrible, and think how strong they we're to be able to deal with that. No one even thinks about things like this happening her.
The black death reached the shores of Italy in 1348. The Black Death was one of the worst diseases ever. By the time the Black Death was over it had already eradicated some where between twenty five and fifty percent of Europe's entire population. The plague had three different interrelated forms that it presented itself in. The three interrelated forms of the plague were the bubonic, the pneumonic , and the septicemic. The bubonic (the most common form) got its name because of the swellings that appeared on a victims neck. people that got these had a life expectancy of about a week. The pneumonic was much worse than the bubonic, and people were only expected to live a single day or maybe two once they got it. The septicemic attacks the blood system. I think that if this stuff happened today, we would all freak out and that our medical ways would be changed in a great way. Our facilities would be much quicker, cleaner, and more efficient. Everyone would be so worried they would get it, they would avoid every one around them and would not help any one for fear of getting the disease themselves. It would destroy mostly all aspects of humanity.
ReplyDeleteto emily, i really liked your essay, and i learned a whole lot from it too as well and i agree with you that we do not really think anything like that could happen to us, but i also think your right, that something like that could very easily happen to us, and that we arent prepared at all for it. I thinkit would be very very hard for us to recover from it if it ever happened, but i hope that nothing like that ever happens again. We have came very far as far as medical stuff goes, but i do not think we have come far enough to deal with a massive epidemic like that. But great job on your essay emily, i really liked reading it!
ReplyDeleteto emma delaine, i really liked your essay, it was very interesting to read. I dont think i would know what to do if something like this happened today, but great job!
ReplyDeleteBack in the middle ages the Bubonic Plague ravaged the european population. It killed around 1/3 of the population. There were three types of the Bubonic plague. The most common type causes tumors to raise up all over your body. Infected fleas and rats caused most of the spreading of this type. if you died which was most likely you would die within a week. The second most common type was the pneumonic plague. It was still part of the bubonic plague but it affected the repiratory system and people usually died within two to three days. You could get this type simply by breathing the same air of an infected person. The third type was the septicemic version of the plague. It attacked the blood system. Theses three version of the plague was devistating to the fuedal system the population the economical system and europe in general.
ReplyDeleteIf something like the bubonic plague was to infect the United States today and then the world it would most likely not have as devistating of an effect as it did in the middle ages. Why? Well, for one we definitely have more technology and medical advancements ways to test for sickness and vacinations and ways to make more vacinations. This really helps out. Second, we have a much cleaner society. We have doctors who know what their doing who wear masks and gloves and everything is disinfected. Also peoples way of living is cleaner. From housing to food to streets. Everything. Back then on the other hand everything was so dirty there werent many studied doctors and the people dumped everything incuding sewer into the streets. Food wasnt exactly what we would call clean or fresh. And rats were EVERYWHERE! We also have ways to comunicate with people so if something like that happened the world would know within hours whereas back then noone knew and there was no way to spread the word quickly enough to keep people isolated. They also had no idea what was infecting them and how to stop the spreading. Now we can stop much of the spreading quickly and quarentine it before it spreads out of control.
Stella, your essay was good. I liked how you mention how it could spread very quickly in todays society since people have soooo much contact with each other. They go to malls and subways and school and fly to other contries. So a disease could spread very quickly. But also because we have so much technology and vacinations and communication we could also identify the disease, quartentine it and treat it very quickly before it spread out of control and killed thousands. Aso I never really thought about it getting to the government. Thats an interesting point. If it did happen it could send the infected country and eventually the world into a panic and it could cause a shut down of society and interaction which could potentially be very very bad. But also the government often has top of the line medical doctors and they would likely be the first to be notified treated and hid away from the disease.
ReplyDeleteCharity your essay had an intersting spin... You described the black death quite horrifically. It WAS a terrible terrible thing. Also it's interesting how you said what if we couldn't stop it. Everybody today has so much confidence in our abilities to keep many major diseases from sweeping across the United States. It would be so much more devistating if we thought we could stop it and people had faith that we could and then we ended up failing. Its something to think about. Not very likely but then again you never know.
ReplyDelete