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The Appearance of Plagues

Collin M. Hamilton

Dr. Hinks

There have been many cultural and societal reasons for the emergence of plagues throughout history. Many diseases were around long before the agricultural revolution. When people began to plant crops, they also began to settle down in villages. More children were produced during this time and people began to make larger settlements, making it easier for germs to spread from person to person. As humans began to domesticate animals, some of the diseases that the animals suffered from could mutate to affect humans. Some of these animals would have been cattle, where mumps originated. As these diseases began to affect people, some decided to attempt to flee the area to new lands. New developments of roads made it easier and faster for the people to travel, but also made it easier for the plagues to travel as well. Ships made it easier for these diseases to spread as well. They enabled the capability to spread across oceans to new lands and people that had not been exposed to the diseases before and therefore had no natural or built up immunity.

Today, it is easier to spread disease across the globe more than ever. Modern transportation systems have enabled quick transmission of disease such as modern trains, planes, and ships. Using these methods of transportation, diseases can be transported all around the word within a very short time period before they can even be recognized and contained. Modern trade uses these systems all over the world. Pollutants in the air from modern factories can also be attributed to the spread by making it easier for airborne diseases easier to spread by way of a more conducive environment. Population has also increased with massive population centers in cities and their surrounding suburban areas. Making person to person contact and transmission all the easier.