History Essay - The Black Death and the Transformation

QUESTION:

“Europe ... emerged from its long bout with pestilence healthier, more energetic, and more creative than before.”(David Herlihy, The Black Death and the Transformation of the West, 81.)

Do you agree with Herlihy that the consequences of the Black Death were positive for Europe in the longer term?

Wordcount: 2,750 words (Including footnotes but NOT bibliography)

Research Expectation: At least 10 secondary sources (academic books or peer reviewed journal articles, not newspapers or non-academic websites) and 3 primary sources

Referencing System: Chicago footnotes (NOT in-text referencing)

Remember that it is a research essay. This means that you must do more than merely summarize the available literature.  Evaluate the sources you use and present your own opinion.  Assessment will be based upon your research skills, your interpretation, and the way you argue and present your case. 

Primary (please use this source AND 2 more primary sources)

Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E., ed. The Renaissance and Reformation: A History in Documents. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, ch. 1.**

Secondary (Please use these sources AND 6 more academid books and peer-reviewed sources)

Aberth, John. The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350: A Brief History with Documents. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

The Black Death: A Turning Point in History? Edited by W. B. Bowsky. Huntington, N. Y.: R. E. Krieger Publishing Co., 1971.

Cantor, Norman F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World it Made. New York: Free Press, 2001. **

Gregg, Pauline. Black Death to Industrial Revolution: A Social and Economic History of England. London: Harrap, 1976.

Hatcher, John. “England in the Aftermath of the Black Death.” Past & Present 144 (1994): 3-35.

Herlihy, David. The Black Death and the Transformation of the West. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997. **