Black Death the Plague, or Essay

One of the most significant economic consequences affected the feudal system in that "whole villages vanished in the wake of the plague" (Craig 430). As death struck every area of life that meant that there would less people to take care of every day business and an increased need for physicians. The labor supply decreased while wages for labor increased. Many serfs replaced their "labor services with money payments or abandoned the farm altogether for jobs in the cities" (430). The aristocrats were willing to take wealth at every opportunity with the decline of the feudal system. More and more the feudal system became a lose-lose situation, paving the way for reconstruction. With many positions in the community left open by the dead, opportunities arose for those less likely to otherwise move up in the community.In other words, those that were left behind could pick and choose what jobs they preferred.

These opportunities opened many doors that had previously been closed and those that had enjoyed the new privileges did not want to return to life the way it was before the plague struck. While it may seem strange to say this, something good did result from the Black Death in that people were more able to live lives that were free rather than lives of servitude. The knowledge of this would be the force that would give individuals the power to fight for what they believed was right in a society that was recovering from death and despair.

Works Cited

Chodorow, Stanley, et al. A History of the World. New York: Harcourt Brace Javanovich, Publishers. 1986.

Craig, Albert,.....