Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 69

Journal - Essay Example I forgot how to properly communicate with my friends, and in the sense, forgot to properly live in the community. Facebook and other forms of social media has influenced me to become less participative in the community. I have forgotten that laughing with friends is very different than just typing "LOL" or putting a smiley on the board. I did not realize this, until I read Kingsolvers speech. And as much as I hate to admit it, she was right. At this point, my reflection is beyond just the meaning of the speech. I believe I have to adjust my way of life and prevent myself from becoming one of those people who have forgotten to associate in the community. Now, Facebook or Skype I think, were designed to help us communicate with people who are thousand miles away from us, not those near us physically. I intend to keep that thinking in me. Maybe I should start trying to minimize chatting with my friends through SMS or over the phone, and be with them physically, to laugh with them and talk with them than working my fingers out typing in my laptops keyboard. Kingsolver spoke of hope, of building dreams with it, of putting it in ones life. I could not agree with her more, and I will try to live in that community that she portrayed. One that does not hesitate when asked at gunpoint, and I intent to be one who will always choose

Case Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case Summary - Essay Example This is because the ruling will affect the way she runs her business in a very big away, being the owner and operator of The Grove. The case also captures the Australian Olive industry which has been on the rise. According to the case, agriculture forms a meager but important part of Australia’s economy, and accounts for about 3 percent of the country’s GDP. However, in a bid to ensure that the country’s agricultural industry remains profitable, sustainable and competitive, the Department of Agriculture started a strategic review of the olive industry. The industry began in the year 1880 with George Suttor being the first person to plant the first olive tree in Australia. The industry would then become popular after World War II when migrants from the Middle East and Europe settled in the country. While Australia was a net importer of olives in the year 2005, analysts believed that growth in the industry would be able to meet the domestic demand in about 5 to 10 years. Every year, about 13 to 18 million tons of olives are produced in the world, and Australia is forecast to produce about 4000 0 to 50000 tons every year by the year 2011. In terms of the table olive sector, Australians consume about 0.9kgs of table olives per individual. The top olive consumers worldwide are the E.U, the U.S, Turkey and Syria, with the European Union accounting for 33 percent of the world consumption. From the case, one can deduce that this consumption has increased by 30 percent between the years 1998 and 2003, with olive production reaching record levels in 2003. While production had increased by 50 percent since 1990, it sharply increased by a staggering 18 percent in the year 2002. Syria, Turkey and the EU produce about 65 percent of table olives in the world, with Australia being forecast to produce about 18 to 45 thousand tons of table olives annually by the year 2013. Many of Australia’s enterprises that deal with table olives are

Television Cultural Change

Television Cultural Change Television became the important part of peoples life. We cannot imagine our evening without an interesting film or news program. Many people like cinema even if they have TV at their homes. It became an ever-present part of the furniture. One person did not invent the television technologies; also, the technologies were not made at one blow. The discovery of â€Å"the photoelectric selenium effect e† became the underlie of the television. W. Smith made this discovery at the year of 1873. Eleven years after P. Nipckov innovated the scanning disk. The important event allowed developing the mechanic television. This type of television was popular until 1930-s. It was the very first attempts to provide television into peoples life. Many different scientists from all over the world took part in the developing of the television we know and use nowadays. The first moving image was transferred at the distance on July 26, 1928 by Russian scientists B. Grabovsky and E. Beliansky. Scientists all over the world consider this experiment the beginning of the modern television. At the same time scientist J. Baird from Scotland made the same experiment. He found â€Å"Baird Television Development Company†. On December 18, the year of 1953 the first colored TV broadcasting at the NTSC system. Television has been spreading very fast since second part of the XX century. United Nation Organization found the commemorative day the World Day of Television. How has the television changed since it was invented? It changed in many various ways and first technologically. We should find the answer on the one very important question whether the television affect peoples perceive? In addition, could the different TV programs, films and news that they see on television manipulate the society? The aim of my project is to compare the role of television nowadays and 60 years ago. I will discuss the different changes and their influence on the society life. First, let us pay attention to the technological progress of television over the years. It was a long way since the year of 1936 when television broadcasting was introduced in London; but I mentioned about it before. What was the number of available channels? The number of them was up to four main channels in larger cities. Television signals were not able to pass through the high mountains and distance villages. Those times television certainly had no much influence. It was just a privilege of urban residents. The people from the country did not feel an influence of the innovation. Nevertheless, scientists and those people who are now known as â€Å"showmen† were sure that television has a great future. They made many efforts to develop and improve television technologies. The problem was how to make television available for those people who lives at villages and small towns. In the year of 1948, the new technology was introduced. Now the technology is known as a cable television. What was the purpose of the cable television? According to Fisher and Marshall (1996) â€Å"The purpose of it was to be able to bring broadcast signals to rural areas with community antennas placed at high elevations†. Usually it was mountains and tops of the high poles. The innovation had a great success and it has grown fast. There were up to seven hundred cable systems by the year of 1960. By the year of 1971 it was 2.750 cable systems and 6 million families used them. At the end of XX century the numbers of the cable systems are up to 65 million and even more. But the cable TV was not the last and best invention of the scientists. Certainly many people still use the cable systems all over the world but television continues to advance with innovation of satellites. The new step in technologies gives an opportunity to use over 80 different channels most of which are 24-hours. They are movies, music, scientists, news and a lot of others. Now people cannot imagine their everyday life and spare time without TV. They agree to pay a lot of money to have television at their flats. Now we see that those people who decided to invest the development of television were perfectly right. The owners of premium channels have a lot of money now and a great influence also. Many years ago television offered us many different popular movies and programs without commercial interruption. Nevertheless, with time interactive television was brought out. Interactive TV created a communicative service between providers and users. It is obvious that television technologies will eternally develop. We have seen how the TV technologies were changed. But the main change in television is not a technological aspect. Television is the command centre of peoples culture now. TV is much different from other media. It is different from film, music or, for example, theatre and cinema. That is why we need to examine it attentively and deeply. We visit cinema and theatre to enjoy the play; we buy music to enjoy listening †¦ Nevertheless, we use television for everything. TV is an all-in-one phial. It has everything literature, music, news, politics, and commerce. We become â€Å"a television people†. Everything in our life should come through TV. Not only American society, but equally world society become depends on TV. If you want to be a Canadian, an American, or a deserving attention member of any society, you have to watch TV and make a contact with everything is happening in the culture. I think that if the human society had no television we would not know what is going on around the world and we would not be able to follow events like we use do it today. The TV images have a great power. Psychologists perfectly agree with it. The images are more important that the words. Nevertheless, both of them are changing the world and they are changing our minds, feelings, ways of thinking, points of view and even they way we relate other people and the world. Many people are using these features of television for their own benefits. Politics are the first group of influential people who wants to make their influent total. I do not want to discuss here how dangerous it is but independent experts are wonder how much human society has changed since television became a part and parcel of peoples life. With time, we began to see more murdering and blood on the TV screens the quality of TV programs has changed. Shiers (1997) mentioned that sixty years ago, they were just an entertainment equal with theatre and may be books. With time the power of the innovations influence become obvious. Time came for it to be wide used. Politics try to suggest thei r ideas to great number of people. Sometimes those ideas are dangerous like for example the political ideas of Stalin and Hitler. People are also interested in the private life and spare time of their political candidates and different â€Å"stars† that it became dangerous for the opposite side of the TV screen. Paparazzi storm into singers, politicians and other famous peoples lives very often. It is always very unpleasant and even dangerous sometimes. Should we blame TV or humans curiosity also? The media manipulates us. It controls the way we view our political leaders, our lifes values and the way we view the world at all. It forms our opinions by what the famous people or scientists or any other men of influence say. Television becomes a centre of gossips. We never know if the information we watch is trustful or not. Television has changed totally during last 60 years. First of all, it became full of lies. I do not want to tell that television it is an evil. Many good things have been done by television. For example, high-developed countries have an opportunity to help regions that are suffered from war and natural disasters. We can find our lost relatives and even get a lot of new knowledge. But we cannot be sure if some important information we know from the television is true information. Sometimes it is just advertising and we may feel sorry for buying the goods that are not as good as advertising proclaimed. Moreover, sometimes it could be very important information that is able to save many lives. Rose (1986) said that it could be information about natural disasters or epidemic. If politicians hide a part of information and underestimate the danger to avoid panics the results could be dismal showing. The bright example is the blow of the nuclear power plant at the territory of the formal USSR. People were not let know beforehand of the great danger and millions of them died. Moreover, the soviet television reported that there was no danger at all. It is a grievous example of the negative influence of the television. Now I want to talk about the positive contribution of the television. First of all, I want to mention about the cultural exchange. It would be very difficult to get knowledge about people and their customs without television. For example, thanks to â€Å"Discovery† channel we can know many different interesting facts about other countries and even about the most distance parts of the world. We may get the information about the newest researches in medicine. Sometimes this information could be very useful if you make sure that it is trustful information. Television was very useful in solving the problem of Native Americans. Since Columbus discovered the New World, this group of people was under pressure. White conquistadors enslaved and oppressed American Indians. They were considered savages. Now when many TV programs about the American Indians culture were produced we know that they are ordinary people with high life values. We learned how to respect them and we do not afraid of them anymore. From another side Native Americans know a lot about the â€Å"white† culture. They are ready to cooperate with us. We tout them many useful things. It is an example of the positive role of television in the cultural exchange. If people learn how to use the power of TV in the right way we could avoid some wars and international conflicts. Nowadays due to the television the world is â€Å"a giant village†. We know all events that happen in other countries. We do not feel borders and it would be gorgeous if the humankind could feel itself like friendly neighborhood or even a family. I am sure that globalization could be a very useful social phenomenon if people would use it in a right way. I strongly believe that television is possibility for people to know about events all over the world and prevent some situations in own native country. Popular proverb said that a person who possess information possess the whole world. And we can make a conclusion from this proverb in relate to our situation that television allow people possess information and be informed in day to day. Our life is full of different changes and new innovations are the way of peoples efforts and progressive thoughts implementation. Television has changed in many ways since the first colored TV broadcasting at the NTSC system were performed on December 18, the year of 1953. We live now in highly developed technological era. And describing television technology we see that the technology became more developed and more people have an opportunity to use it. Television became a part of the private and social life. It connected the world population. It gives us a way to know each other better. At the same time, television has become the command centre of peoples culture. People did not know about the life of criminals and gangsters 60 years ago. Nowadays thanks to television, we know a lot about it and this type of â€Å"culture† is become popular among youth. In addition, we know a lot about so called â€Å"subcultures† like Goths, Emokids, hippie, punks and so on. From the one side, it gives us an opportunity to be more understandable to the way of somebodys life. From another side, it could be a negative example for young people. At the end of my project, I want to mention the great role of television in the field of religion. Those people who are looking for the sense of life and for the acceptable way of worship could get a lot of information about it. Television can help them to know about world religions and about the people who worships in this or another way. Television plays a great role in the live of everybody even if we do not think much about the fact. First, it is a very useful innovation, but we need to learn how to use it for the humans wellness. References Abramson, A. (1987). The History of Television, 1880 to 1941. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Co. Abramson, A. (2003). The History of Television, 1942 to 2000. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Co. Everson, G. (1949), The Story of Television, The Life of Philo T. Farnsworth New York, NY: W. W. Norton Co. Fisher, D. and Marshall, J.(1996). Tube: the Invention of Television. Washington: Counterpoint. Foote, J. and Minow, N. (1990). Television Access and Political Power: The Networks, the Presidency, and the â€Å"Loyal Opposition.† Praeger Publishers. Meyrowitz, J. (1985). No Sense of Place, Oxford University Press, New York. Rose, B. (1986). Television and the Performing Arts: A Handbook and Reference Guide to American Cultural Programming. Greenwood Press. Shiers, G. (1997). Early Television: A Bibliographic Guide to 1940. Garland Reference Library of Social Science. Toto, D. (2000). Job Growth in Television: Cable versus Broadcast, 1958-99. Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 123. Tulloch, J. (1990). Television Drama: Agency, Audience, and Myth. Routledge.

The Story of an Hour Essay -- English Literature

The Story of an Hour In 1894, Kate Chopin wrote, "The Story of an Hour." In this fictional tale the author describes the experience of Louise Mallard, a woman with heart trouble, immediately after receiving news of her husbands death. Unlike the expected reaction, Louise actually has a moment of relief realizing the freedoms she now has, which were taken from her by an unhappy marriage. All the events of the story take place within an hour in Louise's home. In the final minutes of the hour, Mrs. Mallard is shocked to see that her husband walks through the front door alive and well, which causes her to have a heart attack and die. While her family believes she had a heart attack because she was overjoyed, the author leads us to conclude the heart attack was actually caused by her realization that the freedoms she looked forward too were no longer a reality. Kate Chopin's description of what the main character feels and sees shows us how this is possible. The story is very well written as it flows from one paragraph to another each presenting a new idea or information for the reader. The story begins by informing us that Louise's husband, Brently Mallard, was killed in a railroad disaster. Being that Louise has a heart condition, her family was concerned with how she would react to the bad news. Her sister, Josephine, broke the news to her. She immediately cried as expected but the interesting part of the story is when she goes into her room and locks the door. While Mrs. Mallard is slouched in a chair her experience doesn't feel that tragic at all. The mood is rather peaceful and relaxing. The reader is reminded more of a sunny day than a gloomy sky. At this point it is almost confusing but Kate Chopin... ...the prisoner is put in handcuffs and taken back to his cell where he is reminded he will be for life. Imagine the mental strain that would cause the prisoner. I believe Mrs. Mallard's situation to be very similar. This is why after careful review of the text I am convinced that Louise's reaction to seeing her husband was still alive, was complete disappointment rather than joy. It was all her newfound hopes and dreams of a future of happiness destroyed due to the fact she would still be a wife. Just as Josephine was wrong about what Louise was going through in the bedroom, the doctors were wrong by saying she died of "a joy that kills."(315) WORKS CITED Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction. Eds. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. 313-316.

History of Special Education Essay

The history of Special Education just as any history; is a long battle that has been fought by many who cared in order to bring us to where we are today. Its Journey has and will be never ending; since society is forever evolving. We will be fighting for equal rights in education and in life for many years to come since the definition of Special Education is not a precise one. In this paper you will learn the basics of what injustices we have risen above, to the current state we are in, and even what possibilities the future may hold for the Special Education Teacher and the system you will come to either love or despise. Written documentation of the treatment and education of people with Special needs dates back to the beginning of time; although most were killed before the 17th century and looked at as an abomination. It was not until the 17th Century that these children and adults were alive in institutions where people like Phillipe Pinel, â€Å"one of the founding fathers of modern psychiatry and distinguished teacher of internal medicine, began treatment of persons with mental illness using kindness, respect, and the expectation of appropriate behavior† (Curtis, 1993 as cited in GCU, (n.d. ), para. 10). Pinel set the stage for more courageous individuals to rise above the norm of society and treat people with Special needs as human beings; deserving of kindness and respects as others have been treated for years. Many more doctors, psychologists, and later teachers stood up to take the role as advocate for a person or group of people who were considered Special needs. It was not until the 1800’s when we as a society took notice to this lifetime of injustice that these people with Special needs had endured. In the 1820’s a teacher and later doctor; Samuel Gridley Howe taught a woman named Laura Bridgman, who was both deaf and blind, the alphabet in a Massachusetts school (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012). It was not until these remarkable acts that people started to believe that those with special needs were not worthless and were capable of being taught the life skills society requires of us. Society took notice but by no means were individuals with Special needs considered equal and deserving of the same education as those of the Caucasian race in the United States at this time. Those with Special needs were still segregated in institutions and schools for people with the same needs; just as people were segregated by the color of their skin. It was not until 1954, and the help of the Supreme Court case Brown v. the Board of Education, Topeka, KS. That it became the responsibility of the United States Government and their Public Education System to teach every child even those with Special needs. This case made it so that NO CHILD could be discriminated against in the education system because of differences. In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was enacted to mandate the educational system and provide guidelines for the type of education students should receive; but loop holes were found and people were left out. It was in 1972, that ALL children in the United States were mandated to have a free, appropriate education; and yes it was because of more court cases! This new law’s services were still legally provided in separate classrooms, but at least those classrooms were now mandated to follow the same educational goals as the General Education classrooms were providing their students; just at the level deemed appropriate by the teacher (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012). After that in 1973, the government passed the Rehabilitation Act, which was the first Civil Rights Educational reform which declared Segregation as an injustice in any case of race, creed, or difference besides age; and therefore illegal. Section 504 of this act requires the documentation and a description of any and all services needed for each student to receive an appropriate education (GCU, 2008). In 1975, Congress enacted the first piece of Legislation that fully described and labeled what was the United States Special Education System and what it consisted of. It was called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (GCU, 2008). The Final piece of Legislation was the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This act is the second piece of Civil Rights legislation in the history of the United States; it mandates that any physically or mentally handicapped person receive equal opportunity in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012). The Education for All Handicapped Children Act legislation, although it has undergone many amendments’ is still used today. The newest amendment of the act is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); the name was changed in 1990 and has under gone two re-authorizations since. This Law is there to balance other educational laws such as NCLB 2001 (the amendment to the ESEA for all students in the United States) and the two Civil Right Acts in order to ensure that any student with a disability receives a free and appropriate education. Since NCLB and IDEA provide federal funding to the state and public schools they are extremely detailed and regulated to insure that they are followed. These details’ include, but are not limited to; all disabled students must receive a free and appropriate education as any non disabled student in the in the least restive environment (LRE), nondiscriminatory identification (disability labeling), individualized education program (IEP), zero reject, due process safeguards, and parent and student rights rules and regulations (GCU, (n. d. ), para. 14). There are MANY things I would like to purpose as changes for the upcoming re-authorization of IDEA, but these are the most important ones! The first Thing I would do is have a specific set of criteria that would determine and define Special Education because there is not one definition of what our government considers Special Education. It needs to not be a blanket that can be interpreted in so many ways; this is why we have so many legal cases. Second if the government would like â€Å"Highly Qualified Teachers† then why is it that General Education teachers only have to take 2 classes about the Special Education System yet every classroom in the U. S. is guaranteed to have at least one student with an IEP! Heward cited that â€Å"more than 6 million children and youth with disabilities, ages 3-21, received Special Education Services during the 2005-2006 school year† and that number has only continued to increase in grades 1st -7th due to early detection (U. S. Department of Education, as cited in Heward, 2009, p. 10-11). Last, we consider Children with Behavior problems to be Special Education students, but they have to go through a huge system before we can get them help. Referral, FBA, BIP, BSP, IEP, and then they may be considered a Special Education Student. The law has it mandated that only a Behavior Specialist can do the evaluations; but by law they only require 1 Behavioral Specialist PER DISTRICT (Wheeler, J. , Richey, D. , 2010). It is up to the district to afford or higher more at their discursion. The problem is that running these evaluations and filling out this paper work are not the only responsibilities in their job descriptions. So half (if not more in some districts) of the cases referred are not being diagnosed each year because there are not enough people on the job and hours in a school day (Wheeler, J. , Richey, D. , 2010). The only way any teacher can truly help all of the students they teach; is by knowing the histories and laws of the Education System and the Special Education Services that are available to help them. These services and instructional methods are useful to any student who does not understand a topic at hand; not just the ones labeled Special Education. We need to not wait for a diagnosis to help our students; but start interventions immediately at the first sign of struggle. If the intervention does not help then refer the student for a Special Education Evaluation; but never wait for a child to completely fail in order to seek help. In this paper you learned the basics of what injustices we have raised above throughout history, the current state which we are in, and what possibilities the future may hold for the Special Education Teacher and the system you have come to either love or despise. The future is in your hands; so go out and change the world one student at a time. References Curtis, R. H. (1993). Great lives: medicine. New York: Maxwell Macmillan International. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2012). Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved on April 2, 2012, from www. britannica. com Grand Canyon University. (2008). Resource 2: Special Education Supplment. Retrieved on March 30, 2012, from Angel’s Canyon Connect, Additional Readings at www. my. gcu. edu Grand Canyon University. (n. d. ). SPE 526 Module 1 Readings. Retrieved on March 30, 2012, from Angel’s Canyon Connect, Module 1 Readings at www. my. gcu. edu Heward, William L. (2009). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education (9th ed. ). Columbus, OH: Published by Merrill. Wheeler, J. , Richey, D. (2010). Behavior Management: Principles and Practices of Positive Behavior Supports (2nd ed. ). Columbus, OH: Merrill.

The European Middle Ages – Change over Time

The economy of the Middle Ages The economy has long been a major force in the development of societies for centuries. It often changes and fluctuates, consequentially resulting in the success or failure of civilizations. The economy of medieval Europe originated as that of a feudal systemdue to the dangerous and chaotic conditions of the continent at the time. By the end of the Middle Ages, the feudal system no longer being used due to its newfound inefficiency with the new situations emerging.Towns and trade began to get more popular, but society was still agriculturally based and comparatively less developed than the societies of Asia. The early Middle Ages are characterized by the Church and the feudal and manorial systems; systems in which every European’s life were centered around. In this arrangement there were kings, lords, vassals, knights, peasants and serfs. The hierarchy was that of a property owning basis. It was a land exchange for protection. During early medieva l times, Europe was in a state of chaos.Muslim, Magyar, and Viking invaders devastated the continent and surrounded it from all sides. With no true government in place, people were susceptible to invasions, and then came the feudal system. When kings gave men plots of land, those men would have to provide protection for the king and the land given through knights. The system was actually extremely complex because a lord was a vassal and he could also be a knight. In addition to that, a vassal could be a vassal to multiple people and they often fought over land.After the knights were peasants, people who worked the land of their lord. Some peasants were serfs, who were legally bound to the land they were born on, but they were not slaves. The wealth of every lord came from the work of his peasants. The manorial system branched out of the feudal system and was the more economic side of feudalism. The manor was the estate of the lord and there was an agreement between the lord and the peasants who worked the land. In exchange for housing, some farmland, and protection from bandits, the peasants would maintain the estate.A manor was like a small community in the way that is was self-sufficient and had all the necessities for someone living in that time. The manor normally consisted of the lord’s house, a church, workshops, fields, pastures, and a small village for the peasants. The serfs and peasants were also able to produce most of the goods needed for everyday life. The downside of living on the manor, for peasants at least was the taxes. There were taxes on the grain from the lord’s mill, a marriage tax, and a tithe, a church tax, to the village priest.Both of these systems were rigid and social mobility was essentially nonexistent. There was much change in medieval society; some of the causes for these changes even started some domino effects. For example, there was a huge population increase around the 1000s because more efficient farming. Peas ants began to rely on horses more than oxen, resulting in a faster plow. The three-field system was also being used, allowing more land to be farmed and more diversity in the medieval diet. Not only was the population increasing, but people were also living longer.Additionally, the worry of being robbed by bandits or invaded by foreigners was gone, so people could now be more independent and could travel without as much fear. Through these factors, there is a growth of towns and the decline of the feudal and manorial systems begins. The expanding towns mainly consisted of peasants and runaway serfs and weren’t as reliant on farming as they were before. This led to other professions reemerging. Local manufacturing was part of town life and the managing of the training of apprentices, the quality of products, and the prices for the goods were all controlled by a guild.Guilds had a monopoly for their trade in their town. Although guilds and towns did help, what truly had a subst antial effect on society were wars and diseases. The Crusades, the Bubonic Plague, and the Hundred Years’ War caused a variety of events and eventually led to the end of the Middle Ages. Although it was technically a failed expedition, the Crusades, a series of wars for the reconquering of the holy land fed by religious zeal, had quite a good effect on Europe’s future. After the Crusades, Christians’ relationship with Muslims was severed, but trade routes to Asia opened up everywhere.The trade between the two regions led to new technologies being introduced to Europeans. Furthermore, the power of nobles decreased and the feudal system began to slowly decline over the next 200 years. An example of a flourishing city is Venice that expanded and grew rich. Despite the slightly less unpromising time after the Crusades, the Black Death devastated Europe and made it digress some. The bubonic Plague originated in Asia and had already rampaged through Asia and Africa. E ntering Europe in 1347 through a fleet of Genoese merchant ships that arrived in Sicily, the plague spread all throughout Europe quickly.Over one-third of Europe’s population died because of the plague and medieval society was shattered. The population drop led to a scarce amount of workers and increased prices. Farms were abandoned and peasants living in manors demanded higher wages. The nobles refusing to the peasant demands resulted in many revolts. The plague would come in waves, so recovering and surviving more than once was difficult. While the plague struck Europe, England and France were in a war that would come to be known as the Hundred Years’ War. During the war, England used cheaper foot soldiers that used longbows to decimate the French.Knights were being defeated by lowly foot soldiers that were most likely peasants at home, making many people question the functionality of the feudal system. Ultimately the basis of the economy was moving towards trade and the success of towns and cities, ending the system that used to hold medieval society together. Like most past and modern societies, Europe remained dependent on agriculture, the class system was still similar to that of its predecessor, and when compared to other places of the time, Europe isn’t as active in trade and gaining land.A change in economic factors didn’t deviate from the need to feed the growing population. An agricultural based economy was necessary for the survival of Europeans, so that towns could grow and trade could expand. Moreover, the class system still had the king and religious leader on top because of the new sense of nationality and the fact that Europe was primarily Catholic. The class one was born into continued to define the lives of many and social mobility was still nonexistent.Whereas Europe’s trade was beginning to flourish, the trade in Asia and Africa were far beyond that. Just like in the 800s, Europe remained fairly isolated when paralleled to other civilizations. This is partly due to the strong religious intolerance. Namely, the Spanish Reconquista and Inquisition are examples of prejudice against non-Christians, implying a sense of superiority among Christians. The continent was also recently hit with a catastrophic plague, killing one-third of the population, making trade less of a priority.In the 650 years that were the Middle Ages, the economy of the time changed drastically. Europe went from having a strict hierarchy of property owning aristocrats to the growth of merchant-led towns. Nobles lost immense power and the population wavered at the mercy of new agricultural techniques and deadly plagues. Trade became an important component of the European economy, but it still remained very agricultural and not as adept in trade as its peers. The economical change would lead the continent to become on of the principal contributors to history today.