The Age of Industrialisation
Write in brief
1. Explain the following:
a) Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
Answer:
b) In the seventeenth century merchants from towns in Europe began employing
peasants and artisans within the villages.
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c) The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
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d) The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
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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.
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b) The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the
eighteenth century.
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c) The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
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d) The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their
productivity.
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3. Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
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Discuss
Project work
1. Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?
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2. How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from
Indian weavers?
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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:
4. Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?
Answer:
