Class 10 History Ch 4 – The Age of Industrialisation

NCERT CLASS 10 HISTORY • DETAILED SOLUTIONS • CHAPTER 4 • THE AGE OF INDUSTRIALISATION

The Age of Industrialisation

Detailed Explanations & Long Answers

Write in Brief

Question 1

Explain the following:
(a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
(b) In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
(c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
(d) The East India Company appointed Gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.

(a) Women attacking the Spinning Jenny:
The Spinning Jenny was invented by James Hargreaves in 1764. It 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.

Fear of Unemployment: Women in the woolen industry, who survived on hand spinning, began attacking the new machines because they feared the machine would take their jobs and leave them unemployed.

[Image of Spinning Jenny machine]

(b) Merchants moving to the Countryside (Proto-industrialization):
In the 17th and 18th centuries, merchants could not expand production within towns due to powerful Urban Guilds.

Guild Restrictions: These guilds were associations of producers that trained craftspeople, maintained control over production, and restricted the entry of new people into the trade.
Solution: Merchants turned to the countryside. Peasants were happy to work for them because their open fields were disappearing (enclosure movement), and working for merchants allowed them to remain in the countryside and cultivate their small plots of land while earning extra income.

(c) Decline of Surat:
By the 1750s, the network controlled by Indian merchants was breaking down.

European Power: The European companies gradually gained power—first securing a variety of concessions from local courts, then the monopoly rights to trade.
Shift in Ports: This resulted in a decline of the old ports of Surat and Hooghly through which local merchants had operated. Exports from these ports fell dramatically. Trade shifted to the new ports of Bombay and Calcutta, which were controlled by European companies and used European ships.

(d) Appointment of Gomasthas:
The East India Company wanted to establish a more direct control over the weavers and eliminate existing traders and brokers.

Role: They appointed a paid servant called the Gomastha to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of cloth.
System of Advances: They prevented Company weavers from dealing with other buyers by giving them loans (advances) to buy raw material. Once a loan was taken, the weaver had to hand over the cloth to the Gomastha.

Question 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. (False)
Reason: Even at the end of the 19th century, less than 20% of the workforce was in the industrial sector.

(b) The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century. (True)

(c) The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India. (False)
Reason: It actually increased exports as Britain turned to India when US supplies were cut off.

(d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity. (True)

Question 3

Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.

Definition: Proto-industrialisation refers to the phase of industrialisation that existed before the coming of factories.

Key Features:

Large Scale Production: There was large-scale industrial production for an international market, but it was not based in factories.
Decentralized: Production was carried out in the countryside (villages) within households.
Merchant Control: Merchants based in towns controlled the production, supplying raw materials to rural artisans and collecting the finished goods.

Discuss

Discuss Q1

Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?

In Victorian Britain, there was no shortage of human labour. Industrialists preferred hand labour for several reasons:

1. Cheap Labour: Poor peasants and vagrants moved to cities in large numbers. Since labour was abundant, wages were low. Machines required huge capital investment, but human labour was cheap.
2. Seasonal Demand: In industries like gas works, breweries, and bookbinding, demand was seasonal. Industrialists preferred to employ workers for the season rather than investing in machines that would sit idle for months.
3. Intricate Designs: Machines were good at producing uniform, standardized goods. However, the market often demanded goods with intricate designs and specific shapes (e.g., 500 varieties of hammers). These could only be produced by human skill, not machines.
4. Class Preference: The aristocrats and bourgeoisie preferred things produced by hand. Handmade goods symbolized refinement and class; they were better finished and individually produced.

Discuss Q2

How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?

The East India Company used a system of management and control to eliminate competition and ensure supplies:

1. Eliminating Competition: They tried to eliminate existing traders and brokers connected with the cloth trade and establish direct control over the weaver.
2. The Gomastha System: They appointed paid servants called Gomasthas to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of cloth.
3. System of Advances (Debt Trap): To prevent weavers from dealing with other European or local buyers, the Company introduced a system of advances. Weavers were given loans to buy raw cotton. Those who took loans had to hand over the finished cloth to the Gomastha. They could not sell it to anyone else.
4. Impact: This system tied the weaver to the Company. The prices they received were miserably low, but the loans they had accepted tied them to the Company.

Discuss Q3

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.

Title: Britain and the History of Cotton

1. The Early Phase (Proto-industrialization): Before the factory age, Britain was involved in a vast network of proto-industrial production. Merchants supplied wool and staples to peasants in the countryside to spin and weave.

2. The Symbol of New Era (Cotton): Cotton became the symbol of the new industrial era. Its production boomed in the late 19th century. In 1760, Britain imported 2.5 million pounds of raw cotton; by 1787, this import soared to 22 million pounds.

3. The Factory System: Richard Arkwright created the cotton mill. This brought all the processes of production (carding, twisting, spinning, and rolling) under one roof. This allowed for more careful supervision over the production process, a watch over quality, and the regulation of labor.

4. Colonial Connection: Britain’s industrialization was tightly linked to its colonies. India was a major supplier of raw cotton (especially during the American Civil War) and a vast market for finished Manchester goods.

Discuss Q4

Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?

The First World War created a dramatically new situation that boosted Indian industries:

1. Decline of Imports: British mills became busy with war production to meet the needs of the army. Manchester imports into India declined sharply.
2. Home Market: Suddenly, Indian factories had a vast home market to supply.
3. War Demands: As the war prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply war needs: jute bags, cloth for army uniforms, tents, leather boots, horse and mule saddles.
4. Expansion: New factories were set up, and old ones ran multiple shifts. Industrial production boomed, and the local industrialists consolidated their position.