The Age of Industrialisation
Write in brief
1. Explain the following:
a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
Answer: The Spinning Jenny, invented by James Hargreaves in 1764, could spin several threads at once. This reduced the demand for manual labour in spinning. Women who survived on hand spinning feared loss of livelihood, so they attacked and opposed the new machine.
b) In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
Answer: During this period, trade expanded and demand for goods increased. Merchants could not expand production inside towns because guilds restricted entry and controlled trade. Therefore, they moved to the countryside, where poor peasants and artisans accepted advances to produce goods. This system came to be known as proto-industrialisation.
c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
Answer: Surat was once a major port for textile exports. But with the rise of European trading companies, monopoly rights were secured by them. As a result, exports through Surat fell sharply—from Rs. 16 million in the seventeenth century to Rs. 3 million by the 1740s. Trade shifted to new ports like Bombay and Calcutta, leading to the decline of Surat.
d) The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
Answer: After establishing political power, the Company wanted direct control over weavers. It appointed gomasthas (paid servants) to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and check quality. They also ensured weavers did not deal with other buyers.
2. Write True or False against each statement:
a) At the end of the nineteenth century, 80 per cent of the total workforce in Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.
Answer: False – Less than 20% were in advanced industries.
b) The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century.
Answer: True – Indian silk and cotton textiles dominated world markets before machine industries.
c) The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
Answer: False – Cotton exports from India actually increased during the Civil War because supplies from America stopped.
d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
Answer: True – The fly shuttle increased productivity, speeded production, and allowed wider pieces of cloth to be woven.
3. Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Answer: Proto-industrialisation refers to the phase of large-scale industrial production for an international market before the setting up of factories. In this system, merchants provided money and raw material to peasants and artisans in villages to produce goods. This allowed peasants to supplement their small farm incomes and linked countryside production to global trade, even before the factory age began.
Discuss
1. Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?
Answer: In nineteenth-century Europe, hand labour was preferred in many cases because:
- There was no shortage of human labour; workers were cheap and abundant.
- Machines required large capital investment, while employing hand labour was inexpensive.
- Many industries had seasonal demands (like gas works, breweries, book-binding, ship repair), so it was easier to hire workers temporarily than to buy costly machines.
- Some goods required special designs and intricate details that only human skill could produce.
- Upper classes preferred handmade products as symbols of refinement and class.
2. How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
Answer: The East India Company took several steps:
- It eliminated existing traders and brokers and appointed paid servants called gomasthas to supervise weavers and collect supplies.
- The Company advanced loans to weavers so that they could buy raw material. Those who took loans had to hand over the finished cloth to the Company only.
- Weavers were prevented from selling cloth to other buyers, and the Company fixed prices at very low levels.
- Gomasthas, often outsiders, enforced orders harshly with sepoys and peons, punishing delays and controlling weavers.
3. Imagine that you have been asked to write an article for an encyclopaedia on Britain and the history of cotton. Write your piece using information from the entire chapter.
Answer: Britain and the History of Cotton
Cotton was the first symbol of Britain’s industrial revolution. In 1760, Britain imported 2.5 million pounds of raw cotton; by 1787, this rose to 22 million pounds. A series of inventions like the Spinning Jenny, the water frame, and later the cotton mill by Richard Arkwright revolutionised production. The factory system brought all processes under one roof, ensuring supervision and quality control.
Cotton remained the leading sector of British industry until the 1840s, after which iron and steel became dominant. By the 19th century, Britain flooded its colonies, including India, with cheap machine-made cotton goods. This led to the decline of Indian handloom exports and widespread distress among weavers. Cotton thus not only marked technological progress in Britain but also reshaped colonial economies, linking industrial growth in Europe to decline in traditional industries elsewhere.
4. Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Answer:
- When the First World War began, British mills were busy with war production for the army, so imports from Manchester into India declined.
- This created a vast home market for Indian mills.
- Indian factories were also asked to supply war needs such as jute bags, uniforms, tents, leather boots, saddles, and other goods.
- Many new factories were set up, old ones ran multiple shifts, and more workers were employed.
- As a result, industrial production in India boomed during the war years.
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