Causes Flashcards
Middle Ages problems
1300, 4.75m population 25% had land for themselves
Ate bread, porridge, stew from oats
1315-17, torrential rain ruined planting, cannibalism, 10-15% died in this
Middle Ages battle of townton
1461, 22,000 - 28,000 killed
Many died of wounds and disease
Armies would take food, grain and burn houses
Middle Ages bad hygiene
Houses crowded- quick spread of illness
Water- little regulation on waste disposal. Cesspits dug near walls so were contaminated. Drank beer as it was safer
Homes- rarely changed straw, rats, fleas, mice. No glass windows/chimneys, smoky, dark, unhealthy
Animals creating dung in street
Medieval opinions on causes
Sent by god as a punish
Magic and evil spirits from demons
Imbalance in the four humours
Bad smells (miasma)- towns smelled bad, more died in towns
Everyday life- many just died, warfare, famine, childbirth dangerous
Black Death (Middle Ages)
1348- bubonic plague, docked on a boat in Dorset
Spread by fleas on rats, killed 1/3 of the population
They thought:
Miasma
Four humours
God was angry
Invisible fumes
Earthquake in China in 1347, where it started
Jews poisoned wells and springs
Early modern causes
Sewers built in most towns but people didn’t want to pay
Homes only improved after the great fire of London
Same as medieval otherwise
Great plague (early modern)
1665- separate outbreak of the Black Death
1604 30% of the population died
1665, 100k in London died, 25%, many wealthy fled to the country
They thought:
Bad smells (miasma)
God
Catch it from others
19th century causes
Bethnal Green, 1842, labourers lived to 16 on average, rich until 45
Manchester 1842- 57% died before 5
Whole families in one room
Typhoid, typhus, smallpox, whooping cough, scarlet fever, measles, tuberculosis
Causes examples 19th century
Rickets caused by calcium deficiency, lack of fresh air and sunlight
Pneumoconiosis for miners from dust
No regulations in factories, no guards in textile factories, people lost limbs
Phossy jaw/scrotal cancer (19th century)
Women making matches would Form fumes that caused their jaw to rot away and caused brain damage.
Young boys sweeping chimneys got scrotal cancer from soot and gases
Cholera (19th century)
1831-32 (50k died) 1848 (60k) 1854 (20k)
Bacterial disease from contaminated food and water, no-one knew what caused it
Typhoid (19th century)
1897-98 in Maidstone an outbreak occurred. 1800/34000 caught it, 132 died
Prince Albert died from it
Bacterial infection passed by contaminated food/water/faeces
Spanish lady (20th century)
1918 flu pandemic, killed 20-40 million, infected 20% of the world, most deadly to 20-40 year olds
Caused by bacteria, spread quicker by moving armies and poor health
UK 280,000 died, about 20% of those infected
AIDS (20th century)
Discovered in the USA in 1981, discovered it was viral and attacked the immune system in 1983
2014- 40 million had died from an AIDE related illness
Spread by unprotected sex with one infected, sharing hypodermic needles, blood transfusions, mother to child in pregnancy
Reaction to AIDS (20th century)
Many still believe it was a punishment from god and from touching those with AIDS
World health organisation have spent millions on awareness campaigns
