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Difficulty: MediumThe Black Death and Social Change

The catastrophic population loss following the 13481348 outbreak of the Black Death created a crisis for landowners in Britain. How did this situation fundamentally impact the relationship between the laboring classes and the feudal system?

  1. The shortage of workers allowed surviving peasants to demand higher wages and more freedom, contributing to the decline of the feudal system.Answer
  2. B
    The land-owning nobility successfully used the crisis to increase the unpaid labor requirements for serfs, a system that lasted until 15481548.
  3. C
    The merchant class in the 11th11^{th} century took advantage of the labor shortage to replace all agricultural workers with new machinery.
  4. D
    Peasants were forced to stay on their birth lands under stricter feudal laws passed in 13481348 to prevent any increase in wages.

Answer

The shortage of workers allowed surviving peasants to demand higher wages and more freedom, contributing to the decline of the feudal system.
The correct answer identifies that the loss of roughly one-third of the population in 13481348 created a labor shortage. This gave the surviving peasants leverage to demand higher pay and more personal freedom, which fundamentally weakened the feudal system that relied on fixed, low-cost labor.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the demographic impact of the 1348 plague.
Approximately one-third of the British population died, leading to a massive shortage of labor.
The Black Death was a catastrophic event that drastically reduced the available workforce.
2
Analyze the economic consequence of labor scarcity.
Surviving workers were in high demand, giving them the power to negotiate for better pay.
Supply and demand principles meant that fewer workers could ask for higher wages from desperate landowners.
3
Connect economic changes to social structure.
The traditional feudal system, based on rigid land-based service, began to break down as peasants gained mobility.
Higher wages and the ability to move for better work directly challenged the fixed hierarchy of feudalism.

Key Concept

The Black Death and Social Change
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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The Black Death and Social Change

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