NCERT Class 10 History Chapter 5 Questions and Answers

The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 Questions and Answers Provided helps you to answer complex Questions too easily. You can use them while preparing for board exams and all of them are given by subject experts. Reading NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 5 The Age of Industrialisation familiarizes you with the kind of questions appearing in the board exams. Students are advised to read these solutions on a regular basis to score well.

History Class 10 Chapter 5 Question Answer Solutions

Make your learning experience enjoyable by preparing from the quick links available on this page. Use the Class 10 SST History Chapter 5 NCERT Solutions and get to know different concepts involved. All the Solutions are covered as per the latest syllabus guidelines. Knowing the NCERT Class 10 History Chapter 5 Questions and Answers helps students to attempt the exam with confidence.

The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 Questions Answers

Question 1.
Look at Figs. 3 (T.B. Page 105), 7 (T.B. Page 108) and 11 (T.B. Page 111), then re-read source B (T.B. Page 111). Explain why many workers were opposed to the use of the Spinning Jenny.
Answer:
The Spinning Jenny speeded up the spinning process. By turning one single wheel a worker could set in motion a number of spindles and spin several threads at the same time. As a result, labour demand reduced as the Spinning Jenny could do the job of multiple workers faster and at low cost. This threw workers under the shadow of fear of unemployment. They became hostile to the new technology. The women-folk was more aggressive because they survived on hand spinning. Hence, they began attacking the new machines.

History Class 10 Chapter 5 NCERT Textbook Questions and Answers

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.
Answer:
(a) Spinning Jenny was devised by James Hargreaves in 1764. This machine accelerated the process of spinning and reduced the demand for human labour. By using this machine, a single worker could set in motion a number of spindles and spin several threads at the same time. This machine panicked the workers, especially the women workers who survived on hand spinning. The fear of unemployment became so intense that they attacked the new machine, i.e. Spinning Jenny.

(b) In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, world trade expanded at fast pace. The acquisition of colonies in different parts of the world also increased the demand for goods. But merchants failed to expand production within towns to meet the growing needs of cloth. This was because urban crafts and trade guilds were very powerful. Rulers granted different guilds the monopoly right to produce and trade in specific products. It posed problems for new merchants to set up business in towns. Therefore, they moved to the countryside where they employed peasants and artisans within the villages to produce required quantity of clothes.

(c) (i) The European companies gradually gained power by securing a variety of concessions from local courts and the monopoly right to trade.

(ii) It was very difficult for the Indian merchants and traders to face the competition as most of the European companies had abundant resources.

(iii) This resulted in a decline of the old ports of Surat and Hoogly through the Indian merchants and traders had operated. Exports from these ports fell dramatically, the credit that had financed the earlier trade began drying up, and the local bankers went bankrupt.

(d) Once the East India Company established political power, it could assert a monopoly right to trade. It proceeded to develop a system of management and control that would eliminate competition, control costs and ensure regular supplies of cotton and silk goods. For this, the company tried to eliminate the existing traders and brokers connected with the cloth trade, and establish a more direct control over the weavers. It appointed a paid servant called the gomastha to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of clothes.

Question 2.
Write True or False against each statement:
(a) At the end of the nineteenth century, 80 percent of the total workforce in Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.
(b) The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century.
(c) The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
(d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) True
(c) False
(d) True

Question 3.
Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
Answer:
We often associate industrialisation with the growth of factories. But it is a fact that even before factories began to appear in England and Europe, there was large-scale industrial production for an international market. This was not based on factories. This phase of industrialisation is now referred to as proto-industrialisation, i.e. early form of industrialisation. During this period, hand made goods were manufactured by trained crafts persons.

Discuss

Question 1.
Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?
Answer:
Some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe preferred hand labour over machines because of the following reasons:
(i) There was no dearth of human labour during this period. Poor peasants and migrants moved to cities in large numbers in search of jobs. They were ready to work at low wages. So industrialists did not want to introduce machines.

(ii) In many industries such as gas works and breweries, the demand for labour was seasonal. Since, in these industries production fluctuated with the season, so industrialists usually preferred hand labour, employing workers for the season.

(iii) A range of products could be produced only with hand labour. Machines were oriented to producing uniforms, standardised goods for a mass market. But the demand in the market was often for goods with intricate designs and specific shapes. In the mid-nineteenth-century Britain, several varieties of hammers and axes were produced. These required human skill, not machines.

(iv) In nineteenth-century-Britain, the aristocrats and the bourgeoisie preferred things produced by hand. Handmade products were better finished, individually produced and carefully designed. Machine-made goods were for export to the colonies.

(v) New technologies and machines were expensive, so the producers and the industrialists were cautious about using them. Machines often broke down and their repair was expensive.

Question 2.
How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
Answer:
In order to procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers, the East India Company took several measures:

(i) The Company established political power and asserted a monopoly right to trade.

(ii) The Company tried to eliminate the existing traders and brokers connected with the cloth trade, and established a more direct control over the weavers. It appointed a paid servant called the gomastha to supervise weavers, collect supplies, and examine the quality of clothes.

(iii) The Company started the system of advances in order to have a direct control over the weavers. In this system, once the order was placed, the weavers were given loans to purchase the raw material for their production. Those who took loans had to hand over the cloth they produced to the gomastha. They could not sell it to any other trader.

(iv) At times the company gomasthas acted arrogantly, marched into villages with sepoys and peons, and punished those weavers who were not prompt in delivering clothes.

Question 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:
Hints

  • The history of cotton revolves around the two most important devices, namely the Spinning Jenny and the Fly Shuttle.
  • The Spinning Jenny was invented by James Hargreaves in 1764. This machine speeded up the spinning process and reduced the demand for labour.
  • The Fly Shuttle was invented by John Key in 1769. This mechanical device speeded up the weaving process. This increased productivity per worker, accelerated the pace of production and reduced human labour.

Question 4.
Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Answer:
Industrial production in India increased during the First world War because of the following reasons-
(i) During the war, British mills were busy with war production to meet the needs of the army. As a result, Manchester imports into India declined.

(ii) Indian mills now had a vast home market to supply. As the war prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply war needs.

(iii) The demand of jute bags, cloth for army uniforms, tents and leather boots, horse and mule saddles and a host of other items increased.

(iv) New factories were set up and old ones ran multiple shifts. Many new workers were employed and everyone was made to work longer hours. Thus, industrial production in India boomed over the war years.

Project
Select any one industry in your region and find out its history. How has the technology changed? Where do the workers come from? How are the products advertised and marketed? Try and talk to the employers and some workers to get their views about the industry’s history.
Answer:
For self-attempt

Class 10 History Chapter 5 NCERT Intext Activity Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Give two examples where modern development that is associated with progress has led to problems. You may like to think of areas related to environmental issues, nuclear weapons or disease.
Answer:
Example 1- Union Carbide; an American company set up a factory in the city of Bhopal in which it produced pesticides. It provided the employment opportunities for many, but deliberately ignored the essential safety measures in order to cut costs. Since it was located in the residential area, the emissions from the factory polluted the surrounding environment. No one, not even the government, pay heed to it. At midnight on 2 December 1984, methyl-130 cyanite, a highly poisonous gas, started leaking from the UC plant. The disaster not only took thousands of lives, but also it polluted the environment.

Example 2- The soil is getting increasingly degraded due to the excessive use of modern chemical fertilisers to increase the yield of the land in agriculture. This leads to removing most of the soil nutrients and large scale consumption of water. As a result, the soil turns to sterile. The water label also gets lowered.

Question 2.
Look at Figs. 4 (T.B. Page 106) and 5 (T.B. Page 107). Can you see any difference in the waythe two images show industrialisation? Explain your view briefly.
Answer:
Figure 4 shows a huge cotton mill beautifully lighted up in the twilight. It is still impressive despite the smoke billowing up from the chimneys on the left side of the picture. This highlights the positive side of industrialisation. Figure 5, on the other hand, highlights the negative role of industrialisation by showing only chimneys emitting smoke and the trees getting blackened by it. Here, industrialisation has been seen as a polluter of environment.

Question 3.
Imagine that you are a merchant writing back to a salesman who has been trying to persuade you to buy a new machine. Explain in your letter what you have heard and why you do not
wish to invest in the new technology.
Answer:
Hint- As there was no dearth of human labour in the Victorian Britain, buying a new machine was not wise. Also, people in those days preferred things produced by hand. Handmade goods were better finished, individually produced, and carefully designed. Machine-made goods were for export to the colonies.

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