The Black Death
Driving Question: How did the Black Death spread so far and so quickly across Afro-Eurasia?
One of the most devastating pandemics in human history struck Afro-Eurasian communities in the fourteenth century. Spreading along trade routes, the Black Death decimated communities and reshaped economic systems and societal structures.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the causes and consequences of the Black Death.
- Use quick-sourcing skills to analyze primary and secondary sources to understand reactions to the Black Death.
- Use the historical thinking practice of causation to evaluate the causes and consequences of the Black Death.
Vocab Terms:
- causation
- consequence
- culture
- society
- trade
- trade network
What do magic beans have to do with the Black Death? Practice creating a causal map for Jack and the Giant Beanstalk to identify cause-and-effect relationships and prepare you to understand the causes and consequences of the Black Death.
This game is a fun way to surprise students. As they trade cards, they will unwittingly simulate the spread of the Black Death. It’s a great way to emphasize how quickly disease can spread along trade routes.
Before you run this activity, be sure to check out the instructions in the Lesson Guide. You’ll need 3–4 decks of playing cards as well as a 5x7 note card for each student in your class.
You’re a peasant looking for food, a merchant looking for money, or a nobleperson looking for status. And you’re all looking for happiness! How can you trade your way to get what you want? And what will be the consequences?
One of the sources in this collection is by Black Death expert Monica Green. If you or your students want to dig deeper into the recent advances in genetic science and how it supports historians’ research, check out this blog post Dr. Green wrote for the OER Project.
How was one of the biggest pandemics in history started by one enormous empire and one tiny animal? Let’s find out!
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- How did the success of the Mongol state help the Black Death spread?
- How many people are estimated to have died from the plague?
- What do gerbils have to do with plague?
- Where was plague the worst? Why?
- How did the plague affect economies?
After you read
Respond to this question: We tend to think that exchange and trade between societies is always a good thing. Does this article change your opinion? How?
Use the information from your Black Death Causation Tool to create a causal map that makes the connections between events over time and uncovers what really caused one of history’s worst pandemics.
In this lesson, you learned about one of history’s deadliest pandemics, a dramatic way to cap off a full unit learning about the Global Tapestry from 1200 to 1450 CE.
In this writing activity, you’ll use evidence from sources to support an argument that responds to the question: Was the expansion of the Silk Roads trade good or bad for people living in Afro-Eurasia during this period?
