Which description matches the economic effects of the Black Death?

• A. Decreased trade
• B. Increased wages for landowners
• C. Labor shortages, upward mobility for peasants, weakened aristocracy
• D. Population growth

Answer: (C)

The main idea is that the Black Death created a dramatic labor shortage, which shifted economic and social power toward workers. With far fewer peasants and craftsmen, those who survived could demand higher wages and better terms of work. This gave peasants more mobility and leverage, sometimes allowing them to leave manors or renegotiate rents and obligations. As a result, the aristocracy’s grip on labor weakened, reducing feudal authority and helping to reshape the social order. The other options miss the central impact: landowners did not gain higher wages, population declined rather than grew, and the lasting effect isn’t simply decreased trade.