The Black Death: Evidence, Responses & Uneven Effects — Practice · Grade 9 Social Studies

Chapter: Trade Networks, Empires & Disruption

What this practice covers

By the end of The Black Death: Evidence, Responses & Uneven Effects you should be able to:

6 questions, written answer, each with a worked explanation.

Vocabulary used: context, evidence, interpretation, pandemic, denominator.

Problem 1

Why does DNA from one burial site not establish every pandemic route?
Answer and explanation

A pathogen finding at one site strengthens a specific claim, not every route or transmission mechanism. Combine dated genetic, historical, and ecological evidence. Avoid asserting that all Chinese or African regions experienced identical effects when regional evidence differs.

Problem 2

Why should a local mortality percentage not be applied to every region?
Answer and explanation

State the region, period, source, and uncertainty when using a mortality estimate. A percentage calculated for one sample is not automatically continental mortality. Use comparable denominators and distinguish recorded deaths from inferred population loss.

Problem 3

How can we explain a historical response without mocking people or endorsing false blame?
Answer and explanation

Lack of modern microbiology does not mean no one observed patterns or tried practical responses. Explain an action through knowledge, resources, and institutions of its setting. Identify false blame and persecution as harm rather than treating prejudice as medical evidence.

Problem 4

Why is plague followed by a change not proof that plague alone caused it?
Answer and explanation

Labor scarcity does not automatically end serfdom or cause the Renaissance. Explain the intervening institutions and compare regions where outcomes differed. A pandemic can contribute to change without being the single cause of every development afterward.

Problem 5

Illustrative town register: 120 deaths appear among 600 registered residents; 150 additional residents’ records are missing. Migration is not recorded. Calculate the share for the registered sample and explain why it is not a secure whole-town mortality estimate.
Answer and explanation

The registered sample yields 20 percent, but incomplete coverage and unknown migration prevent a secure whole-town estimate. More burial, household, and population evidence could improve the reconstruction. The invented figures are an exercise, not historical mortality data.

Compute 120 ÷ 600 = 20 percent.

Identify the missing residents and unrecorded migration.

Keep the denominator and limitations explicit.

Response criteria

  • Describe the historical context and institutions accurately.
  • Connect relevant evidence to an explained conclusion.
  • Represent particular perspectives without stereotypes or invented testimony.
  • Identify an evidentiary limitation or a distinction that qualifies the claim.

Problem 6

A report says every European worker became free after plague. What should be tested?
Answer and explanation

Compare regions, dates, labor rules, enforcement, and bargaining evidence. Scarcity could change opportunities while authorities reinforced obligations; one universal result is not established by population loss alone.

Response criteria

  • Describe the historical context and institutions accurately.
  • Connect relevant evidence to an explained conclusion.
  • Represent particular perspectives without stereotypes or invented testimony.
  • Identify an evidentiary limitation or a distinction that qualifies the claim.

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