Write in brief
Question 1: Explain the following:
a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
Answer:
The Spinning Jenny was invented by James Hargreaves in 1764. This machine speeded up the spinning process and reduced the labour demands. By the use of this machine, a single worker could make a number of spindles and spin several threads at a time. It simply meant that as a result of this machine, many weavers would be left without any job and become unemployed. It was this fear of unemployment that made women workers, who survived on hand spinning, began attacking the new machines.
b) In the seventeenth-century merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
Answer:
i) In the 17th and 18th centuries merchants from towns in Europe began moving to the countryside supplying money to peasants and artisans persuading them to produce for an international market.
ii) With the expansion of world trade and the acquisition of colonies in different parts of the world, the demand for goods increased.
iii) Since production in towns and cities was controlled by powerful guilds, the merchants began employing peasants and artisans from villages. These artisans were not controlled by guilds.
c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
Answer:
i) European companies possessed vast resources, making it challenging for Indian merchants and traders to compete with them.
ii) European companies strengthened their position by obtaining various concessions from local courts, including exclusive trading rights.
iii) This led to a decline in the importance of traditional ports like Surat and Hoogly. Exports dwindled, credit for trade dried up, and local bankers faced bankruptcy.
iv) Trade passing through Surat decreased significantly over time. In the late 17th century, trade value was Rs 16 million, plummeting to 3 million rupees by the 1740s. Meanwhile, Bombay and Calcutta experienced growth while Surat and Hooghly decayed.
d) The East India Company appointed gomasthasto to supervise weavers in India.
Answer:
The Company tried to eliminate the existing traders and brokers connected with the cloth trade, and establish more direct control over the weavers. It appointed a paid servant called the gomastha to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of cloth.
Question 2. Write True or False against each statement:
a) At the end of the nineteenth century, 80 percent of the total workforce in Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.
Answer: False
b) The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century.
Answer: True
c) The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
Answer: False
d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
Answer: True
Question 3. Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Answer:
Proto-industrialisation is referred to as the phase of industrialization that existed even before factories began in England and Europe. There was a huge large-scale industrial production for an international market but not based on factories and completely handcrafted.
- Discuss
Question 1: Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?
Answer:
Some industrialists in 19th century Europe prefer hand labor over machines due to the following reasons:
a. Machines were costly, ineffective, difficult to repair, and needed huge capital investments.
b. Labour was available at low wages at that period of time.
c. In seasonal industries only seasonal labour was required.
d. Market demands of a variety of designs and colour and specific type could not be fulfilled by machine-made clothes. Intricate designs and colours could be done by human skills only.
e. In the Victorian age, the aristocrats and other upper-class people preferred articles made by hand only.
Question 2. How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
Answer.
The East India Company adopted various steps to ensure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles.
(i) Established political power to assert monopoly right to trade.
(ii) Developed a system of management and control that would eliminate competition, control cost and ensure a regular supply of cotton and silk goods.
(iii) Eliminated the existing traders and brokers connected with cloth and established direct control with the weaver.
(iv) Appointed paid servants called gomasthas to supervise weavers, examine the quality of the cloth and collect supplies.
(v) Weavers were not allowed to contact other buyers. Weavers were given advances and were offered a loan to buy raw material. Those who took advance or loans could not contact any other trader.
(vi) The weavers had to sell at a price dictated by the Company. By giving loans the Company bed, the weavers with them.
Question 3. Imagine that you have been asked to write an article for an encyclopedia on Britain and the history of cotton. Write your piece using information from the entire chapter.
Answer:
India was the largest exporter and producer of cotton textiles when it became a British colony and the East India Company with its establishment in India took advantage of this fact.
i) The Company after attaining political control and power and exploited the Indian textile industry making India an importer of the cotton goods manufactured in Manchester.
ii) Before the invention of the cotton mill and new machines for manufacturing cotton, Britain dealt with rural people in textile production, and factories were not needed for cotton production. This phase of industrialization was called proto-industrialization.
iii) However, with the use of machines, cotton production increased manifold, and the use of machinery also led to unemployment against which there were several protests in Britain.
iv) Till the year 1870, cotton was the leading sector in industrialization in Britain.
Question 4. Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Answer:
Industrial production in India increased during the First World War due to the following reasons:
(i) While British mills were busy with war production to meet the needs of the army Manchester imports into India declined.
(ii) With the decline of imports suddenly, Indian mills had a vast home market to supply.
(iii) As the war prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply war needs also, such as Jute bags, cloth for uniforms of soldiers, tents, leather boots, etc, and lots of other items.
(iv) New factories were set up and old ones organized multiple shifts; during the war years, Indian industries boomed.
(v) Overall, the First World War gave a boost to Indian industries.
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