The Age of Industrialisation - Q&A
Write in brief1. Explain the following:
a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
The Spinning Jenny was attacked by women workers because they feared unemployment. In Victorian Britain, many women relied on hand-spinning wool to survive. The Spinning Jenny was a machine that speeded up the spinning process and reduced labour demand; by turning one single wheel a worker could set in motion a number of spindles and spin several threads at the same time. Because this new technology threatened their livelihood and jobs, women in the woollen industry became hostile to it and attacked the machines.
b) In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
Merchants began employing peasants and artisans in the countryside because they could not expand production within towns. In the towns, urban crafts and trade guilds were powerful; they restricted the entry of new people into the trade, regulated competition and prices, and maintained control over production. Rulers had granted these guilds monopoly rights. Therefore, merchants turned to the countryside where poor peasants and cottagers, who had lost their common lands due to enclosures, were looking for alternative sources of income. They eagerly agreed to work for merchants to supplement their shrinking income from cultivation.
c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
The port of Surat declined because European companies gradually gained power and control over the trade. They secured variety of concessions from local courts and eventually monopoly rights to trade. This resulted in a shift of trade from old ports like Surat to new ports like Bombay, which were controlled by European companies and used European ships. As a result, exports from Surat fell dramatically (from Rs 16 million in the late 17th century to Rs 3 million by the 1740s), and the local bankers and merchants went bankrupt.
d) The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
The East India Company appointed gomasthas to establish a more direct control over the weavers and eliminate the existing traders and brokers connected with the cloth trade. The gomasthas were paid servants whose job was to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of cloth. This system helped the Company prevent weavers from dealing with other buyers and ensured a regular supply of cotton and silk goods for export.
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 (The text states that even at the end of the nineteenth century, less than 20 per cent of the total workforce was employed in technologically advanced industrial sectors.)
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 (The text states that when the American Civil War broke out, Britain turned to India, and raw cotton exports from India increased.)
d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
True
3. Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Proto-industrialisation refers to the phase of industrialisation that existed even before factories began to appear. During this period, there was large-scale industrial production for an international market, but it was not based on factories. Instead, it was a decentralised system where production was carried out within village households (farms) by peasants and artisans working for merchants. It was part of a network of commercial exchanges controlled by merchants.
Discuss
1. Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?
Some industrialists preferred hand labour for the following reasons:
1. Abundance of Labour: There was no shortage of human labour (peasants and vagrants moving to cities), so wages were low. Industrialists did not want to invest large capital in machines when human labour was cheap.
2. Seasonal Demand: Industries like gas works, breweries, and bookbinders had seasonal fluctuations in demand. Industrialists preferred employing hand labour for specific busy seasons rather than investing in machines that would sit idle for the rest of the year.
3. Nature of Products: Machines produced standardised goods for a mass market. However, the market demand was often for goods with intricate designs and specific shapes (e.g., 500 varieties of hammers, 45 kinds of axes) which required human skill, not mechanical technology.
4. Class Preference: The upper classes (aristocrats and bourgeoisie) preferred handmade products because they symbolised refinement and class. They were individually produced and better finished compared to machine-made goods.
2. How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
The East India Company used a series of steps to eliminate competition and control costs:
1. Eliminating Competition: They tried to eliminate existing traders and brokers and established direct control over weavers.
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: To prevent weavers from dealing with other buyers, the Company introduced a system of advances. Weavers were given loans to purchase raw materials.
4. Tying the Weaver: Those who took the loans had to hand over the cloth they produced to the gomastha. They were prohibited from selling it to any other trader. This resulted in weavers losing their bargaining power and becoming dependent on the Company.
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.
Cotton: The Symbol of British Industrialisation
Cotton was the first symbol of the new industrial era in Britain. Its history is intrinsically linked to the rapid changes of the Industrial Revolution. In the late 18th century, the production of cotton boomed. In 1760, Britain imported 2.5 million pounds of raw cotton; by 1787, this import soared to 22 million pounds.
This growth was driven by a series of inventions—such as the carding, twisting, spinning, and rolling machines—which enhanced output per worker. Richard Arkwright played a pivotal role by creating the cotton mill, which brought all processes under one roof, allowing for better supervision and quality control compared to the earlier dispersed countryside production.
Throughout the early 19th century, cotton remained the leading sector of industrialisation. However, this growth had global impacts. British industrialists, fearing competition, pressured the government to impose import duties on foreign textiles. Consequently, they flooded international markets, specifically India, with cheap machine-made Manchester goods. This led to the decline of traditional weaving industries in colonies like India, where weavers could not compete with the mass-produced, low-cost British cotton. Thus, the history of cotton in Britain is a story of technological marvels, factory growth, and the reshaping of global trade dynamics.
4. Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Industrial production in India increased during the First World War due to the following reasons:
1. Decline of Imports: British mills became busy with war production to meet the needs of the army. As a result, Manchester imports into India declined dramatically.
2. Home Market: With foreign goods absent, Indian mills suddenly had a vast home market to supply.
3. War Supplies: As the war prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply war needs, such as jute bags, cloth for army uniforms, tents, leather boots, and horse saddles.
4. Expansion: New factories were set up, and old ones ran multiple shifts. Many new workers were employed, and everyone worked longer hours, leading to a boom in industrial production.
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Quick Review Flashcards - Click to flip and test your knowledge!
Question
What is the title of the popular music book cover produced by E.T. Paull in 1900?
Answer
Dawn of the Century
Question
In the illustration 'Dawn of the Century', what does the winged wheel upon which the goddess-like figure stands symbolise?
Answer
Time
Question
In the context of early 20th-century imagery, which figure is described as the 'angel of progress'?
Answer
The goddess-like figure bearing the flag of the new century.
Question
According to the 'Dawn of the Century' illustration, name three symbols floating behind the angel that represent progress.
Answer
Railway, camera, and machines.
Question
In the 1901 trade magazine image 'Two Magicians', what does the magician Aladdin represent?
Answer
The East and the past.
Question
In the 'Two Magicians' illustration, who represents the West and modernity?
Answer
The modern mechanic.
Question
Term: Orient
Answer
Definition: Countries to the east of the Mediterranean, often viewed by the West as pre-modern, traditional, and mysterious.
Question
How did 19th-century popular imagination typically associate industrialisation?
Answer
With rapid technological change, innovations, and the growth of factories.
Question
What term do historians use to describe the phase of large-scale industrial production for international markets that preceded the factory system?
Answer
Proto-industrialisation
Question
Why were European merchants in the 17th century unable to expand production within towns?
Answer
Urban crafts and trade guilds were powerful and restricted the entry of new people.
Question
In the proto-industrial system, why did poor peasants and artisans in the countryside agree to work for merchants?
Answer
Their small plots of land could not support their households following the enclosure of common lands.
Question
How did proto-industrial production benefit peasant households in the 18th century?
Answer
It supplemented their shrinking income from cultivation and utilised family labour more fully.
Question
Which city served as the 'finishing centre' for the proto-industrial textile trade in England?
Answer
London
Question
Term: Stapler
Answer
Definition: A person who sorts wool according to the quality of its fibre.
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Term: Fuller
Answer
Definition: A person who gathers cloth by pleating it.
Question
Term: Carding
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Definition: The process of preparing fibres, such as cotton or wool, prior to spinning.
Question
What was the primary difference between the proto-industrial system and the factory system regarding the location of production?
Answer
Proto-industrial production occurred in family farms, while factory production was centralised under one roof.
Question
When did the earliest factories appear in England?
Answer
The 1730s
Question
Which industry was the first symbol of the new industrial era in late 18th-century Britain?
Answer
Cotton
Question
How did the import of raw cotton in Britain change between 1760 and 1787?
Answer
It soared from 2.5 million pounds to 22 million pounds.
Question
Who created the cotton mill, moving production from households to centralised facilities?
Answer
Richard Arkwright
Question
What was a major advantage of the cotton mill for industrialists compared to domestic production?
Answer
It allowed for careful supervision of the production process and quality regulation.
Question
Which sector led the first phase of British industrialisation until the 1840s?
Answer
The cotton industry
Question
Which industry became the leader of British industrialisation after the expansion of railways in the 1840s?
Answer
Iron and steel
Question
By 1873, how did the value of Britain's iron and steel exports compare to its cotton exports?
Answer
It was double the value of cotton exports.
Question
At the end of the 19th century, what percentage of the total British workforce was employed in technologically advanced industrial sectors?
Answer
Less than 20 per cent
Question
Why were merchants and industrialists in the 19th century cautious about adopting new technology?
Answer
The technology was expensive, machines often broke down, and repairs were costly.
Question
Who improved Newcomen's steam engine and patented the new version in 1781?
Answer
James Watt
Question
Who was the industrialist friend of James Watt who manufactured the improved steam engine?
Answer
Mathew Boulton
Question
How many steam engines were used in cotton industries at the beginning of the 19th century in England?
Answer
80
Question
Why was there little incentive for Victorian industrialists to introduce machines that replaced human labour?
Answer
There was an abundance of cheap human labour from poor peasants and vagrants.
Question
Give two examples of Victorian industries that relied on seasonal labour.
Answer
Gas works and breweries.
Question
In mid-19th-century Britain, why did the production of items like hammers and axes still require manual labour?
Answer
The market demanded a vast variety of shapes and designs that required human skill rather than mechanical standardisation.
Question
What did handmade products symbolise for the upper classes in Victorian Britain?
Answer
Refinement and class.
Question
In which 19th-century country was mechanical power preferred due to a shortage of human labour?
Answer
America
Question
What was the primary factor that determined if a migrant worker could get a factory job quickly in the city?
Answer
Existing networks of friendship and kin relations.
Question
Term: Night Refuges
Answer
Definition: Shelters set up by private individuals for the homeless and job-seekers.
Question
What was the critical factor, beyond the wage rate, that determined a worker's average daily income in the 19th century?
Answer
The period of employment, or the number of days of work.
Question
Term: Spinning Jenny
Answer
Definition: A machine devised by James Hargreaves in 1764 that allowed a worker to spin several threads simultaneously using one wheel.
Question
Why did women in the British woollen industry attack the Spinning Jenny?
Answer
They feared the machine would reduce the demand for manual labour and cause unemployment.
Question
Which industry provided significant new employment opportunities for workers in the 1840s due to urban infrastructure projects?
Answer
The transport industry
Question
Before the age of machine industries, which country's silk and cotton goods dominated the international textile market?
Answer
India
Question
Name the major pre-colonial port on the Gujarat coast that connected India to the Gulf and Red Sea ports.
Answer
Surat
Question
Which pre-colonial port in Bengal had trade links with Southeast Asian ports?
Answer
Hoogly
Question
Why did the old ports of Surat and Hoogly decline by the mid-18th century?
Answer
European companies gained power and secured monopoly rights to trade.
Question
The growth of which two ports indicated the shift in colonial power away from traditional Indian merchant networks?
Answer
Bombay and Calcutta
Question
Term: Gomastha
Answer
Definition: A paid servant appointed by the East India Company to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine cloth quality.
Question
How did the East India Company prevent Indian weavers from selling their cloth to other buyers?
Answer
By providing loans and advances that tied the weavers to the Company.
Question
Why did weavers in many villages clash with Gomasthas?
Answer
Gomasthas were outsiders with no social links to the village who acted arrogantly and punished weavers for delays.
Question
What happened to the percentage of Indian textile piece-goods in exports between 1811 and 1850?
Answer
It fell from 33 per cent to 3 per cent.
Question
Why did British cotton industrialists pressure their government to impose import duties on Indian textiles?
Answer
To ensure Manchester goods could sell in Britain without competition from outside.
Question
What were the two simultaneous problems faced by Indian cotton weavers in the mid-19th century?
Answer
The collapse of the export market and the shrinking of the local market due to cheap Manchester imports.
Question
How did the American Civil War indirectly affect Indian weavers?
Answer
Cotton supplies to Britain were cut off, causing raw cotton prices in India to soar as exports to Britain increased.
Question
Where was the first cotton mill in India established in 1854?
Answer
Bombay
Question
In which city was the first spinning and weaving mill of South India started in 1874?
Answer
Madras
Question
Which Indian entrepreneur made his fortune in the China trade before setting up joint-stock companies in the 1830s?
Answer
Dwarkanath Tagore
Question
Name two Parsi industrialists who built industrial empires in India using wealth from the China trade.
Answer
Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata.
Question
Which Marwari businessman set up the first Indian jute mill in Calcutta in 1917?
Answer
Seth Hukumchand
Question
What restricted the trading activities of Indian merchants as colonial control tightened?
Answer
They were barred from trading with Europe in manufactured goods and were edged out of the shipping business.
Question
Term: European Managing Agencies
Answer
Definition: Entities like Andrew Yule that mobilised capital and managed industrial joint-stock companies in colonial India.