History
Ch-5 The Age of Industrialisation
Q1. (NCERT Q3) What is meant by the proto industrialisation? Discuss any four features of this period?
A1. Even before factories began to dot the landscape in England and Europe; there was a large-scale industrial production for an international market. This was not based on factories. This phase is referred to as the proto industrialisation. The proto industrial system was apart of a network of commercial exchanges. It was controlled by merchants and goods were produced by a vast number of producers within their family farms, not in factories.
1. Large-scale production for the international market began due to the acquisition of colonies in parts of world and expansion of world trade
2. Merchants could not expand production within towns. This was because here urban crafts and trade guilds were powerful. So, they turned to the countryside, where they employed poor peasants and artisans household and supplied them money to produce goods.
3. It also allowed them a fuller use of their family labor resources in the houses and not in the factories. Rural people could now supplement their shrinking incomes from cultivation from small land holdings.
4. A close relationship developed between the town and the countryside. Merchants were based in towns but work was done mostly in the countryside.
Q2. Define the following:
1. Proto – Indicating the first or early form of something
2. Stapler – A person who ‘staples’ or sorts wool according to its fiber.
3. Fuller – A person who ‘fills’, that is, gathers-cloth by pleading
4. Carding – The process in which fibers, such as cotton or wool, are prepared prior to spinning.
Q3. Why was there a boom in the production of cotton in the 19th century?
A3. 1. The first symbol of the new era was cotton. Its production boomed in the late nineteenth century. In 1760, Britain was importing 2.5 Million pounds of raw cotton to feed its cotton industry. By 1787, this import soared to 22 Million Pounds. This increase was linked to a number of changes within the process of production.
2. A series of inventions in the eighteenth century increased the efficacy of each step of the production process (carding, twisting, spinning and rolling)
3. They enhanced the output per worker, enabling each worker to produce more, and they made possible the production of stronger threads and yarn (better quality). Then Richard Arkwright created the cotton mill.
4. Now, the costly new machines could be purchased, set up and maintained in the mill. Within the mill all the processes were brought together under one roof and management. This allowed a more careful supervision over the production process, a watch over quality and the regulation of labor, all of which had been difficult in the countryside.
5. Invention of new technology like steam, power, machines, etc, also helped to bring boom in the production.
Q4. (NCERT Q4) Why did some industrialists in the 19th century in Europe prefer hand labor to machines?
A4. Some industrialists in 19th century in Europe prefer hand labor to machines because:
1. Since there was plenty of human labour in England, thus wages were low. So, industrialists had no problem of labor shortage or high wage costs.
2. They did not want to introduce machines and required large capital investments and repair expenses.
3. In many industries like bookbinding, printing etc, the demand of labor was seasonal. Gas works and breweries were especially busy through the cold months. In all such industries where production fluctuated with the season industrialists usually preferred hand labor employing workers for the season.
4. A range of products could be produced only with hand labor. Machines were oriented to producing uniforms, standardized goods for the mass market. But in the demand in the market was often for goods with intricate designs and specific shapes.
5. In Victorian Britain the upper class – the aristocrats and the bourgeoisie – preferred things produced by hand. Hand made products came to symbolize refinement and class. They were better finished individually procured and carefully designed.
Q5. What were Trade Guilds? In what ways they were powerful in the towns of England?
A5. 1. These were associations of producers that trained crafts people. Merchants could not expand production within towns because here urban crafts and trade guilds were powerful.
2. They maintained control over production.
3. They regulated competition and prices.
4. They restricted the entry of new people into the trade.
5. Rulers granted different guilds the monopoly right to produce and trade in specific products.
6. It was therefore difficult for new merchants to set up business in town.
Q6. How did Industrialisation affect people’s lives?
A6.
1. When open fields were disappearing and commons were being enclosed, cottagers and poor peasants who had earlier depended on common lands for their survival, gathering their firewood, berries, vegetable, hay and straw, had to now look for alternate sources of income.
2. Many had tiny plots of land, which could not provide work to all members of the household. So when merchants came around and offered advances to produce goods for them, peasant households eagerly agreed.
3. By working for the merchants, they could remain in the countryside and continue to cultivate their small ploys. Income from proto industrial production supplemented their shrinking income from cultivation.
4. With the possibility of new jobs, hundreds tramped to the cities. The actual possibility of getting a job depended on existing networks of friendship and Kin relations that are they were not sure of getting jobs.
5. Many jobs seekers had to wait weeks, spending nights under bridges or in night shelters. Some stayed in the night refuges that were set up by private individuals; others went to Casual wards maintained by the Poor law authorities.
6. Also, there was a fear of unemployment due to seasonality.
Q7. How rapid was the process of Industrialisation?
A7.
1. The most dynamic industries in Britain were clearly cotton and metals. Growing at a rapid pace, cotton was the leading sector in the first phase of industrialisation up to 1840’s.
2. After that the iron and steel industry led the way. With the expansion of railways (England-from 1840’s, colonies- 1860’s), the demand for iron and steel increased rapidly. By 1873, Britain was exporting iron and steel worth about ₤ 77 million, double the value of its cotton export.
3. The new industries could not easily displace traditional industries. Textiles were a dynamic sector, but a large position of the output was produced not with the factories, but outside, within domestic units. (By end of 19th century less than 20% of the total workfare was employed in technologically advanced industrial sectors)
4. The pace of change in the ‘ traditional’ industries was not set by steam- powered cotton or metal industries, but they did not remain entirely stagnant either. Seemingly ordinary and small innovations were the basis of growth in many mechanised sectors such as food processing, pottery, glasswork etc.
5. Technological changes occurred slowly. They did not spread dramatically across the industrial landscape. New technology was expensive and people were cautious about using it. Machines of ten broke down and repair was costly. They were not as effective as their inventors and manufactures claimed.
Q8. (NCERT Q1 (a)) Name one inventions devised in 1764 which speed up the spinning process. Who invented it? How did it affect the lives of the workers in general?
A8.
1. Spinning Jenny- Devised by James Hargreaves in 1764, these machines speeded up the spinning process and reduced labor demand. By turning one single wheel a worker could set in motion a number of spindles and spin several threads at the same time.
2. When the Spinning Jenny was introduced in the woolen industry, women who survived on hand spinning began attacking the new machines because many women became unemployed and lost their way of earning.
3. This conflict over the introduction of the Jenny continued for a long time.
Q0. Why is the period up to 1750 A.D before the Machine Age called ‘ Age of Indian textiles’?
A9.
1. India dominated the international market in textiles- both silk and cotton.
2. Finer varieties of cotton often came from India while many countries produced coarser cotton.
3. The control of land trade routes enabled American and Persian merchants took the goods from Punjab to Afghanistan, eastern Persia and Central Asia (from passes and deserts)
4. A vibrant sea trade operated through the main pre-colonial ports likes Surat on Gujarat coast, Masulipatnam on Coromandel Coast, Hoogly in Bengal, which had a flourishing trade link with south East Asian and Gulf countries.
5. Organized networks of Indian textile export trade activities by a variety of Indian export and supply merchants, big shippers and brokers, suppliers of raw materials and finished goods, farmers, weavers, bankers and financiers of production. The weaving villages in the inland regions were well connected by these people with the ports in this cabin.
Q10. (NCERT Q5) How did the English East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
OR
How did the English East India Company successfully establish monopoly over Indian textile trade?
A9.
1. By establishing political power, the English East India Company could assert the monopoly right to trade. It developed a system of management and control that would eliminate competition with the existing traders. It would also control costs and ensure a regular supply of cotton and silk goods.
2. By fighting competition, they established direct contact with weavers through gomastha’s who collected supplies, examined quality, supervised weavers, often physically punishing weavers.
3. It prevented the weaver’s from dealing with other brokers and buyers through a system of advances. The loans tied the weavers to Gomastha’s as they could only supply to him.
4. As loans flowed that in and demand for fine textiles expanded weavers eagerly took the advances. Now they leased out their lands and the whole family devoted all their time to weaving.
5. The weavers lost space to bargain for prices and were forced to accept the miserably low prices offered by the Company. In some places, they revolted and went back to agricultural labor.
Q-11 “The beginning of 19th century witnessed the steady decline in textile exports from India “ – Analyse the reasons.
A-11
1) Imposing of import duties : As cotton industries developed in England, industrial groups began worrying about imports from other countries . They pressurised the government to impose import duties on cotton textiles so that Manchester goods could sell in Britain without facing any competition from outside.
2) Control of Indian markets : At the same time industrialists persuaded the East India Company to sell British manufactures in Indian markets as well. There was dramatic increase in export of British cotton goods in the early 19th century.
3) Indian export market collapsed and the local market shrank due to influence of Manchester imports which were cheaper, durable and of fine quality.
4) By 1860’s , a new problem faced by weavers was that they could not get sufficient supply of raw cotton of good quality.
5) When the American Civil war broke out and cotton supplies from US were cut off, Britain turned to India . Price of raw cotton shot up and weavers could not pay for it.
6) By the end of the 19th century , weavers found it difficult to face competition from factories which began production in India.
Q-12 How did early Indian business groups generate capital from the first Industries ? Pg 118 & 11
A-12
1) Many Indians became junior players in the trade with China and provided finance, procured supplies and shipping consignments. They had visions of developing industrial enterprises in India.
2) Capital was also partly accumulated from cotton shipments to England , etc. By Bombay , Parsis.
3) Capital was also accumulated through other trade networks with Burma, Middle East and East Africa.
4) Some commercial groups traded within India, by banking money, transferring funds between cities and financing traders.
5) When opportunities of investment in industries opened up, many of them set up factories.
6) Seth Hukumchand set up the 1st jute mill in India and also traded with China.
(Book Q-4 ) Q-13 Why did industrial production in India increase during first world war ?
A-13
1) There was a decline in imports of Manchester goods into India as British mills were busy with war production for the needs of the army.
2) Indian mills had a vast home market to supply and so industrial production boomed.
3) Indian industries were also required to supply war needs as the first world war progressed e.g. Jute bags, Uniform cloth, Tents, Leather boots, Horse saddles etc. This boosted the setting up of new industries in India.
4) More employment opportunities were generated in the factories.
5) As British economy crumbled due to stiff competition and the war, the Indian industries were able to consolidate their position and capture Indian markets.
Q-14 Discuss the circumstances that led to a shift from the production of cotton yarn to cotton production(or goods) . Pg 121 3rd para
A-14
1) During the 1905 Swadeshi Movement , Indian nationalists had mobilised Indians to boycott foreign goods.
2) Indian industrial groups had began to organise themselves to protect their collective interests and demand concessions from the government.
3) Indian yarn experts to China declined as produce from Chinese and Japanese mills flooded from Chinese markets.
Q-16 Why did Indian handloom production expand in the 20th century ? Pg 122
A-16
1) Due to technological charges , like use of looms with flying shuttles productivity increased.
2) Several other small innovations helped weavers to complete with the mill sector.
3) Increased demand for finer variety of cloth by rich , well-to-do-families.
4) Hard contribution of family work force.
5) Mills could not imtate specialised weaves. Saris with woven borders, lungis and handkerchiefs of Madras could not be easily displaced by mill production.
Q-17 Identify the main peculiarities of Industrial growth in India. (Pg 121 & 122)
A-17
1) Industrial production in India was dominated by European managing Agencies.
2) There was a shift from production of yarn to cloth piece production in the early years of the 20thcentury.
3) Industrial growth was slow in India till 1st world war. First world war boosted industrial production in India. New industries were set up but large industries formed only a small segment of the economy.
4) Indian industries captured the home market after the war as British Economy crumbled.
5) Expansion of handicraft production in the 20th century due to technological changes and other innovations.
Q-18 How did Indian industries create new consumers for their products ? (Pg 124 and 125 )
A-18
1) Through advertisements, products were made to appear desirable and necessary. A new consumer culture was created and shaped by newspapers and magazines which carried advertisements.
2) Company labels expected buyers to feel confident about buying the product e.g Labels like “ Made in Manchester”.
3) Depicting images of gods, goddesses and historical figures like Maharaja Ranjit Singh and other beautiful illustrations on the products helped to create respect for the product and make it popular. Even foreign manufactures used these images to appear familiar with Indian people.
4) Calendars were printed to popularise products as people could see the advertised product day after day. A calendar was hung in public places like tea shops, homes, and could be seen by even illiterate people.
5) Advertisements also became a vehicle to promote the Nationalist message of Swadeshi. People were encouraged to buy Indian goods as a duty towards the nation.
Q-19 Write a note on Britain and the history of cotton.
A-19
1) Earlier cotton production was spread all over the English countryside in village households.
2) Cotton was the 1st symbol of the new era of factory production which was mechanised.
3) England imported upto 22 million pounds of cotton in the 18th century to feed the cotton industry.
4) A series of 18th century inventions increased and improved cotton mill production at every step, i.e carding, twisting, spinning and rolling.
5) Arkwright created the cotton mill which had carefully supervised production under one roof. Consequently cotton industries became one of the most dynamic industries in the 1st phrase of industrialisation in Britain.
6) Exports of British cotton goods increased dramatically in the early 19th century.
Q-20 Explain why the east India Company appointed Gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
A-20
1) The Gomasthas were paid servants appointed by the East India Company to supervise weavers, collect supplies, examine quality of cloth and eliminate competition from other local merchants.
2) Gomasthas were outsiders in the villages with no long term social link with them. They often displayed arrogance and punished weavers, sometimes physically, for delay in supplies.
3) The weavers thus lost the space to bargain for prices and sell to different buyers: the price they received from company were very low and the loans they accepted tied them to the company and they were administered by Gomasthas.
No comments:
Post a Comment