1. How were the poor affected by the enclosure movement?
Effect of enclosure movement:
(i) Enclosed land became private property and poor could not collect firewood or graze cattle.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(ii) Everything belonged to landlords.
(iii) Poor got displaced off their land. Common land out of reach
2. ‘Seen from the east coast, America seemed to be a land of promise’. Explain.
America seemed to be a land of promise. Its wilderness could be turned into cultivated field. Forest timber could be cut for export. Animals hunted for skin, mountains mined for gold and minerals. This meant that the American Indians had to be cleared from the land.
Image Source: web.saumag.edu
ADVERTISEMENTS:
3. What changes accused due to the coming of modern agriculture in England?
(i) The open fields disappeared and the customary rights of peasants were undermined.
(ii) The rich farmer expanded grain production, sold the grain in the world market, made profits and became powerful.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(iii) The poor left their villages in large number. Some went from the Midlands to the Southern countries where jobs were available on the agriculture land.
(iv) The income of labourers become unstable, their jobs insecure, their livelihood precarious, (any three)
4. Explain briefly what the open field system meant to rural people in 18th century England. Look at the system from the point of view of: a rich farmer, a laborer and a peasant woman.
He would not benefit from the open field system rather he would be in favour of enclosures. In the 16th century, they began to enclose common land and grew hedges around their holdings to separate their property from others. This was done to expand wood production and earn profits.
n the 18th century, farmer encloses lands for grain production. A labourers: He used the open fields system to graze his cows and sheep hunt rabbits and for fishing in the rivers and ponds.
For the poor, the common land was essential for his survival. It supplemented his meagre income, sustained his cattle and helped him tide over bad times when crops failed.
A peasant woman Cow keeping, collection of firewood, gleaning and gathering of fruits and berries from the common lands was done by the peasant women.
5. What lesson can we draw from the conversion of the countryside in the USA from a bread basket to dust bowl?
(i) The early 1930’s were years of persistent drought. Rains failed year after year and temperatures soared. The wind blew with ferocious speed.
(ii) But ordinary dust storms become black blizzards because the entire land had been ploughed over and stripped of all its grass.
(iii) In the early 19th century, zealous farmers recklessly uprooted all vegetation and used tractors to break the sod into dust. Thus they turned the whole region into a dust bowl.
(iv) The settlers had thought they could conquer the entire landscape and turn the entire land into cultivated land that would give those profits. The lesson to be learnt here is that the ecological conditions of each region has to be respected
6. Why were the threshing machines opposed by the poor in England? Give three reasons.
The poor opposed to the threshing machines because
(i) They were sign of bad times.
(ii) The machines reduced the dependence of landowners on labourers.
(iii) Many lost their job.
(iv) Reduced the status of the poor to wage earners
7. Who was Captain Swing? What did the name symbolise or represent?
Captain Swing was no person but a mythic name used by poor labourers who were deprived of their common land, of their livelihood and even of their jobs. They could not openly face the influential landlords so they adopted this new method of threatening them. At night, they would attack the farm houses of the landowners, burn their barn and haystacks and sometimes their entire farm houses. Sometimes they would destroy the threshing machines which had completely ruined their lives and deprived them of their livelihood.
Because the landlords had taken their common land which was essential for their survival so the poor labourers threatened them of dire consequences under the symbolic name of Captain Swing. This was their novice scheme to save themselves from the operation of the law. This name became so common in about 1830 that the riots started by the poor labourers began to be called Swing Riots.
8. Explain any three advantages of new techniques in agriculture.
(i) The new techniques which included the use of the tractors and disk ploughs helped to clear vast stretches for wheat cultivation.
(ii) The work could be done quickly and with less manual labour.
(iii)There was rapid increase in wheat production.
(iv) The world market in wheat boomed leading to increased exports and foreign exchange earnings.
9. Explain two methods adopted by the British farmers to meet the demand of the rapidly growing population of the 19th century?
(i) The British farmer brought more and more land under cultivation. They sliced up pasture lands, carved up open fields, cut up forest commons, took over marshes.
(ii) They also took to planting turnips and cloves. These plants improved the soil and made it more fertile. They had the capacity to increase the nitrogen content the soil which is required for crop growth. Thus the land which was earlier depleted as a result of constant cultivation was now made fertile and yield improved.
10. Explain how two technological innovations transformed USA into the bread basket of the world?
(i) Disc plough:
The Prairies of USA were covered with a thick mat of grass with tough roots. Simple ploughs were ineffective. The disc plough was capable of breaking the sod and turning the soil over and clearing vast stretches for wheat cultivation.
(ii) Combined Harvester:
Once the crop ripened it had to be harvested. Earlier the grain was harvested with a cradle or sickle. Hundreds of men women would be required to harvest the crop. The mechanical reaper invented by McCormick cut as much as 5 men could with cradles and 16 with sickles. Later on with combine harvester 500 acres of wheat could be harvested in 2 weeks.
11. Why did the British smuggle opium into China? Explain briefly.
The British bought tea and silk from China which were in great demand in England. The profits of the East India Company depended on tea trade. The British tea imports rose to 30 million ‘pounds by 1830.
England however produced nothing else that could be easily sold in China. Moreover, the Manchu rulers of China were suspicious of the foreign traders. To balance their trade, to finance the tea trade, to reduce the outflow of silver or bullion from England they started smuggling opium a banned item to China.
12. Explain one main difference between the Enclosure Movement of the late 18th century and the earlier one? What factors led the British Parliament to pass the Enclosure Acts?
(i) The earlier enclosure movement began with the rise in price of wool and was for sheep farming.
(ii) It began and proceeded very slowly.
(iii) The later movement began with the demand in food grain production and was for grain production.
(iv) It was quick and extensive
The British Parliament passed the Enclosure Act:
(i) Since England and France were at war trade and the import of food grains from Europe was disrupted.
(ii) Prices of food grains in England skyrocketed.
(iii) Landowners enclosed lands to enlarge area under grain.
(iv) Profits flowed in.
(iv) The Parliament was pressurized by landowners to pass the Acts. (Any two).