NCERT Solutions for Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 History
Book Solutions1a
Explain the following:
Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
Answer
Because it speeded up the process of spinning thereby reduced labour demand. Thus, women who survived on hand spinning began attacking the new machines as they feared of unemployment.
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1b
Explain the following:
In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
Answer
• In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the demand for goods had increased due to the acquisition of colonies.
• The merchants were not able to expand production within towns. Crafts and trade guilds in towns were very powerful. These were associations which trained people, regulated production and prices, as well as protected the interests of skilled labour.
• It was difficult for new merchants to set up their businesses in towns. Therefore, the merchants began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
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1c
Explain the following:
The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
Answer
• By the end of the eighteenth century, the European powers had gained power and established new centres of trade.
• The European companies secured a variety of concessions from local courts and monopoly rights over trade. With the growth of colonial power, ports of Bombay and Calcutta grew.
• Trade started through new ports controlled by European companies and was carried in European ships. This resulted in decline of the trade activities carried out by local merchants and the Indian ports like Surat began to decline.
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1d
Explain the following:
The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
Answer
• Gomastha were appointed by East India Company to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth.
• The weavers who had taken advances from the Company had to hand over the cloth they produced to the gomastha.
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2a
Write True or False against each statement:
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
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2b
The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century.
Answer
True
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2c
The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
Answer
False
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2d
The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
Answer
True
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3
Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Answer
Proto-industrialisation denotes the first or the early phase of industrialisation. This was period before building up of factories, goods were produced in England and Europe on a very large scale. During the proto-industrialisation, handmade products were produced for the industrial market.
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1
Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?
Answer
Some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines because:
• There was no shortage of human labour. Many poor peasants and labourers moved to the cities in search of work. Hence, there was plenty of labour on low wages.
• The machines needed capital investments. They were costly, difficult to repair and ineffective.
• Some industries required more labour in a particular season included book-binding, printing and repairing of ships. The owners of such industries preferred to employ a large number of labourers in particular seasons.
• The demands of the market for a specific length, variety of colours and designs could not be fulfilled by the machine-made clothes. Handmade clothes were preferred by the elite.
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2
How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
Answer
• The East India Company tried to break the monopoly of the existing traders and brokers who traded in cloth by establishing direct control on the weavers.
• The company appointed paid supervisors called Gomasthas who also collected supplies and examined cloth quality of the weavers.
• They also checked on the weavers from dealing with other buyers through a system of advances and loans.
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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
During the 17th and 18th century, cloth production in Britain was widespread in the countryside. A garment maker would buy wool from a wool stapler, then it would be taken to the spinners, and later to the yarn weavers and for the final product, it would be taken to fuller and dyers. The finishing centre for the goods was London. This phase in British manufacturing history is known as proto-industrialisation. In this phase, the factories were only a network of commercial exchange and not an essential part of the industry.
Cotton came up as the first symbol of the new era of factories. It was a result of a number of changes that occurred in the production process. During the late 19th century, its production increased rapidly. Imports of raw cotton sky-rocketed from 2.5 million pounds in 1760 to 22 million pounds in 1787. The newly-invented machines and equipment began to be used in each step of the production process-carding, twisting, spinning and rolling. They not only enhanced the output per worker, but also made the production of strong yarns and threads possible.
Most inventions in the textile production sector were met with disregard and hatred by the workers because machines implied less hand labour and lower employment needs. The Spinning Jenny was one such invention. Women in the woollen industry opposed and sought to destroy it because it was taking over their place in the labour market.
Before such technological advancements, Britain imported silk and cotton goods from India in vast numbers. Although the cotton industry in Britain had enlarged, the demand for the Indian textiles did not fall considerably. After the East India Company gained political power, they exploited the weavers and textile industry in India to its fuller potential. Manchester became the hub of cotton production. Consequently, India turned into a major buyer of British cotton goods.
During the First World War, the British were busy in providing for war needs. Hence, the demand for Indian textile rose again. There was a fluctuation in the demand and supply in textile production.
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4
Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Answer
The industrial production increased in India during the First World War in India due to:
• British industries were involved in the production and supply of the war needs. Therefore, they stopped exporting British goods or clothes to the colonised countries like India.
• India utilised that opportunity and started selling its goods, which led to the rise of industrial production in India.
• As the war prolonged, the Indian factories were induced to supply the war materials to the British colonial government like jute, cloth for army uniforms, leather boots, and tents, horse and mule saddles, etc. which led to the increase in production of the old industries and the increased demands of various products led to setting up of new industries.
• Due to the increase in production, new workers were employed and there was an increase in working hours.
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