Generally, a person may be punished for sedition only when he or she makes statements that create a Clear and Present Danger to rights that the government may lawfully protect (schenck v. united states, 249 U.S. 47, 39 S. Ct. 247, 63 L. Ed. 470 [1919]).
The epidemic reached its zenith in the years 1348 to 1350, though the disease never vanished entirely. It is widely believed that the cause of the Black Death was bubonic plague, an infectious and fatal illness spread by rodents and the fleas infesting them.
No amount of medical knowledge could help England when the plague struck. It was also to have a major impact on Englandâs social structure which lead to the Peasants Revolt of 1381. Up until recently the Black Death was thought to have been caused by fleas carried by rats that were very common in towns and cities. When the fleas bit into their victims, it was thought they were literally injecting them with the disease.