Table of Contents
The Age of Industrialisation
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HOTS
Q.1. What is meant by proto-industrialization ? How did it affect the rural peasants and artisans ? [CBSE 2012]
Or
How did the poor peasants and artisans benefit during the proto-industrialization phase? [CBSE 2011]
Ans. Before the Industrial Revolution, where there was large- scale industrial production for an international market which was not factory based during the phase of industrialization.
Impact were:
(i) Complete utilization of family labour resources : Artisans could continue to remain in the countryside and cultivate their small plots by working for the merchants the poor peasants.
(iii) Income: Their shrinking income from cultivation was supplemented income from proto-industrial production which also allowed them a fuller use of their family labour resources.
Q.2. How were machines and technology . glorified in England in the early 20th century through pictures on the cover pages of some books ? [CBSE 2013]
Ans. (i) The cover page of a music book published by E.T. Paul in 1900 displays the sign of progress as the picture of railway, camera, machines, printing press and factory. Above all, ‘DAWN OF THE CENTURY’ is printed,
(ii) The glorification of machines and technology is even more marked on the cover page of a trade magazine which displays two magicians. Aladdin is shown as representing the East and the past. Whereas the one is the motor mechanic with modern tools and builds bridges, ships, towers and high rise buildings. He represents the west and modernity.
Q.3. When Manchester industrialists began selling cloth in India, they put labels with pictures on the cloth bundles. Why did they do so ? Explain.
Ans. (i) They put labels with pictures to advertise their products and to expand their markets.
(ii) Images of Indian gods and goddesses regularly appeared on these labels as if the association with gods gave divine approval to the goods being sold. The image of Krishna or Sarasvati was also intended to make the manufacturer from a foreign land appear somewhat familiar to Indian people.
(iii) Images of important personages, emperors and nawabs, adorned advertisements and calendars. The messages very often seemed to convey that, if you respect the royal figure, then respect this product; when the product was being used by kings, or produced under royal command, its quality could not be questioned.
Q.4. How did the abundance of labour in the market affect the lives of the workers in Britain during the nineteenth century? Explain with examples. [CBSE Comp. (O) 2008]
Ans. (i) Many job-seekers had to wait for weeks and weeks, spending nights under bridges or in night shelters. Some stayed in night refuges that were set up by private individuals, while others went to the Casual Wards maintained by the Poor Law authorities.
(ii) Seasonality of work in many industries resulted in prolonged periods of unemployment. After the busy season was over, the poor were on the streets again. Some returned to the countryside after the winter, when the demand for labour in the rural areas opened up in places. But most looked for odd jobs, which were difficult to find till the mid-nineteenth century.
(iii) In the early nineteenth century, somewhat wages increased but they tell us little about the welfare of the workers. The average figures hide the variations between trades and the fluctuations from year to year. For instance, when prices rose sharply during the prolonged Napoleonic War, the real value of what the workers earned fell significantly, since the same wages could now buy fewer things.
