The text shows us the vision of a survivor of the great plague that ravaged London in 1665, with a lot of detail level. The British journalist, who lived the plague in his childhood, collected in his novel "El Diario de la Peste". Undoubtedly, a devastating event that diminished in considerable proportion to the growing population of the British capital.
In the fragment of the book that is offered to us, reference is made to the consequences of the unemployment of all economic activity. Since the plague spread rapidly and most citizens locked themselves in their homes, industrial and commercial activity stopped dry. Defoe emphasizes that this fundamentally affected the poorest citizens. In many cases, those people without resources to survive in the city escaped the countryside. Others endured until they had no choice, but finally they left, although they mostly died outside the city, and even propagated the disease throughout the country.
Finally, in the text, Defoe acknowledges that, although it was a tragedy, the death of so many poor was a "liberation". With this, it determines that, for the reconstruction of the city, the enormous amount of poor that had already been generated by the plague, it would have been a slab too heavy for that company.
Comment
London’s plague of 1665 was not, much less, the only one that ravaged England or Europe. Throughout the sixteenth century, data from pest epidemics are collected from 1523 in Milan to 1599 in Santander (Floristán, 2018). Subsequently, in the seventeenth century there would be a pest cases in many cities and towns throughout Europe. All this takes place in a demographic context in which population growth had prevailed in much of the 16th century. The main European regions ended this century with a notable growth of its population, reaching accumulated growth percentages between 2-4 ‰ annual in each country. Despite the epidemics of plague, war and famine, the 16th century ended with a population increase. However, the persistence of these three evils caused that throughout the 17th century Europe lived a population setback.
If we focus on the plague that London ravaged in 1665, we can emphasize that, during the previous century, England and, especially its capital, they experienced a demographic boom. This growth had a disadvantage. The cities were not prepared for this population level, which resulted in living conditions that referred to overcrowding and, therefore, a worsening of hygiene and health conditions that were not before optimal. On the other hand, since the second quarter of the seventeenth century the plague was looked at the Holland intermittently. In Defoe’s book, he begins by writing: “It was at the beginning of September 1664 when I learned, at the same time as my neighbors, that the plague was back in Holland. He had already been very violent there in 1663, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam ”(Defoe, 1722). It is believed that the plague arrives in London from the goods of a Dutch ship. From there, he spread rapidly in a very populated city (more than 120.000 inhabitants) and from there to the rest of the kingdom. During the year the plague epidemic lasted, according to various estimates, about 90.000 people (Milan and Bayés, 2011), that is, most of the London population. The situation during that year, as described in Defoe, was catastrophic. The economic activity stopped, the citizens stayed in their homes and those who had nowhere to live and lacked resources to feed, were a focus through which the disease spread. In addition, Defoe indicates that the mayor, given the rumor that the plague was transmitted through dogs and cats, ordered that these animals be sacrificed. The truth is that this left rats free, which were the main transmitting agent of the disease. On the other hand, the medical knowledge of the time allowed to be desired in the treatment of diseases, resulting in an entire ineffective (Sánchez-David, 2008).
As Defoe stands out, many died not because of the plague itself, but for the shortage of resources, accommodation, money, etc. When the sick, desperate, left the city, the end was the death and spread of this to other parts of the empire. After the end of the plague, approximately in September 1666, together with the great fire of London, a reconstruction of the city was carried out by Christopher Wren (Milan and Bayés, 2011), in which he took advantage of to build more streetswide and open spaces, also improving health conditions. This would be the last great plague of the city. About Daniel Defoe, it was a British journalist and writer who lived the pest of London in his childhood. In addition, he was one of the top exponents of the novel in his time, writing his best known workers, Robinson Crusoe. In 1722 he published his "Diario del Year de la Peste", which is a fictitious novel, although with the author’s intention to reflect credibility and credibility with history. To write its history with such level of details, it is believed that it was based on the newspapers of an uncle who also lived the plague. Defoe in his work offers a systematic count of the events that occurred that year in London, as well as the death counts in that year, which, however, are approximate. The book lacks chapters, but presents the facts in a scrupulous chronological order.
Conclusions
The plague was one of the main impediments that avoided, for decades, the population expansion to which the human race tended. It was one of the three fundamental causes of overmortality of the modern era and the image of any city after the passage of the plague had to be hopeless. To this contributed as highlighted in a lot of documentation of the time the conditions of health and hygiene, in addition to the economic possibilities (the latter to a lesser extent). The population nuclei of the time were undoubted. From the last London plague, the need for a change in city architecture is extracted, as well as the determination of survivors to get up again. However, something that I would like to highlight is the comment of the last paragraph of the Defoe text. If the number of poor people, who unfortunately died, had survived, would have meant a ballast for the recovery of the city. GIVE DOES THAT THINK.
Bibliography
Defoe, d. (1722). Diario del Year de la Pest
Pla, p.J. (2018). "Demographic growth and economic expansion". In a. Floristan (ed.),
Universal modern history (pp. 243-254). Barcelona, Spain: Ariel.
Millán, a. And Bayés, M. (2011). An approach to the history of London development. 2C: City construction.
Ramírez de Verger, to. (1985). "The plague as a literary motive". About Coripo, IOH.III, 338-379 ”, CFC, 19, 1985, 145-156.
Sánchez-David, Carlos. (2008). Black death: "The advance of the plague". Med, Vol Magazine.16, No. 1. pp. 133-135.
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The Year Of The Peset: Daniel Defoe
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THE YEAR OF THE PESET: DANIEL DEFOE
Text comment: Diario on the year of the
PLAGUE
Analysis
The text shows us the vision of a survivor of the great plague that ravaged London in 1665, with a lot of detail level. The British journalist, who lived the plague in his childhood, collected in his novel "El Diario de la Peste". Undoubtedly, a devastating event that diminished in considerable proportion to the growing population of the British capital.
In the fragment of the book that is offered to us, reference is made to the consequences of the unemployment of all economic activity. Since the plague spread rapidly and most citizens locked themselves in their homes, industrial and commercial activity stopped dry. Defoe emphasizes that this fundamentally affected the poorest citizens. In many cases, those people without resources to survive in the city escaped the countryside. Others endured until they had no choice, but finally they left, although they mostly died outside the city, and even propagated the disease throughout the country.
Finally, in the text, Defoe acknowledges that, although it was a tragedy, the death of so many poor was a "liberation". With this, it determines that, for the reconstruction of the city, the enormous amount of poor that had already been generated by the plague, it would have been a slab too heavy for that company.
Comment
London’s plague of 1665 was not, much less, the only one that ravaged England or Europe. Throughout the sixteenth century, data from pest epidemics are collected from 1523 in Milan to 1599 in Santander (Floristán, 2018). Subsequently, in the seventeenth century there would be a pest cases in many cities and towns throughout Europe. All this takes place in a demographic context in which population growth had prevailed in much of the 16th century. The main European regions ended this century with a notable growth of its population, reaching accumulated growth percentages between 2-4 ‰ annual in each country. Despite the epidemics of plague, war and famine, the 16th century ended with a population increase. However, the persistence of these three evils caused that throughout the 17th century Europe lived a population setback.
If we focus on the plague that London ravaged in 1665, we can emphasize that, during the previous century, England and, especially its capital, they experienced a demographic boom. This growth had a disadvantage. The cities were not prepared for this population level, which resulted in living conditions that referred to overcrowding and, therefore, a worsening of hygiene and health conditions that were not before optimal. On the other hand, since the second quarter of the seventeenth century the plague was looked at the Holland intermittently. In Defoe’s book, he begins by writing: “It was at the beginning of September 1664 when I learned, at the same time as my neighbors, that the plague was back in Holland. He had already been very violent there in 1663, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam ”(Defoe, 1722). It is believed that the plague arrives in London from the goods of a Dutch ship. From there, he spread rapidly in a very populated city (more than 120.000 inhabitants) and from there to the rest of the kingdom. During the year the plague epidemic lasted, according to various estimates, about 90.000 people (Milan and Bayés, 2011), that is, most of the London population. The situation during that year, as described in Defoe, was catastrophic. The economic activity stopped, the citizens stayed in their homes and those who had nowhere to live and lacked resources to feed, were a focus through which the disease spread. In addition, Defoe indicates that the mayor, given the rumor that the plague was transmitted through dogs and cats, ordered that these animals be sacrificed. The truth is that this left rats free, which were the main transmitting agent of the disease. On the other hand, the medical knowledge of the time allowed to be desired in the treatment of diseases, resulting in an entire ineffective (Sánchez-David, 2008).
As Defoe stands out, many died not because of the plague itself, but for the shortage of resources, accommodation, money, etc. When the sick, desperate, left the city, the end was the death and spread of this to other parts of the empire. After the end of the plague, approximately in September 1666, together with the great fire of London, a reconstruction of the city was carried out by Christopher Wren (Milan and Bayés, 2011), in which he took advantage of to build more streetswide and open spaces, also improving health conditions. This would be the last great plague of the city. About Daniel Defoe, it was a British journalist and writer who lived the pest of London in his childhood. In addition, he was one of the top exponents of the novel in his time, writing his best known workers, Robinson Crusoe. In 1722 he published his "Diario del Year de la Peste", which is a fictitious novel, although with the author’s intention to reflect credibility and credibility with history. To write its history with such level of details, it is believed that it was based on the newspapers of an uncle who also lived the plague. Defoe in his work offers a systematic count of the events that occurred that year in London, as well as the death counts in that year, which, however, are approximate. The book lacks chapters, but presents the facts in a scrupulous chronological order.
Conclusions
The plague was one of the main impediments that avoided, for decades, the population expansion to which the human race tended. It was one of the three fundamental causes of overmortality of the modern era and the image of any city after the passage of the plague had to be hopeless. To this contributed as highlighted in a lot of documentation of the time the conditions of health and hygiene, in addition to the economic possibilities (the latter to a lesser extent). The population nuclei of the time were undoubted. From the last London plague, the need for a change in city architecture is extracted, as well as the determination of survivors to get up again. However, something that I would like to highlight is the comment of the last paragraph of the Defoe text. If the number of poor people, who unfortunately died, had survived, would have meant a ballast for the recovery of the city. GIVE DOES THAT THINK.
Bibliography
Free The Year Of The Peset: Daniel Defoe Essay Sample
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