6. Peasants and Farmers
Syllabus
a) Histories of the emergence of different forms
of farming and peasant societies.
b) Changes within rural economies in the modern
world.
Case studies: Focus on contrasting forms of rural change
and different forms of rural societies (expansion of large-scale wheat and
cotton farming in USA, rural economy and the Agricultural Revolution in England
and small production in colonial India.)
Facts that Matter:
1)
Agricultural
revolution first took place in England. Over the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries, the English country side changed dramatically. Before
this time in large parts of England the country side was open. It was not
partitioned into enclosed lands privately owned by landlords. Peasants
cultivated on strips of land around the village they lived in. beyond these
strips of cultivation lay the common land. All villagers had access to the
commons. Here, they pastured their cows and grazed their sheep, collected fuel
wood for fire and berries and fruits for food.
2)
This economy
of open fields and common lands changed drastically over time. In 16th
century, rich farmers divided and enclosed them in order to make available good
feed for their sheep. They also built hedges around their holdings to separate
their property from that of others. They drove out villagers who had small
cottages on the commons, and they prevented the poor from entering the enclosed
fields.
3)
The
enclosure Movement proceeded slowly till the middle of the 18th
century. After the mid-18th century, it swept through the country
side, changing the English landscape forever. More and more lands began to be
enclosed.
4)
The 16th
century enclosures promoted sheep farming whereas the enclosures occurred in
the late 18th century was for grain production. From the mid 18th
century, the English population expanded rapidly. This meant an increased
demand for food grains to feed the population.
5)
By the end
of the 18th century, France was at war with England. This disrupted
trade and the import of food grains from Europe. Prices of food grains in
England rose high, encouraging landowners to enclose lands for grain
production.
6)
Landlords
got benefitted by enclosures but the poor became helpless because they depended
on the commons for their survival. Now they could no longer collect their
firewood from the forests or graze their cattle on the commons. Everything
belonged to the landlords; everything had a price which the poor could not
afford to pay.
7)
In places
where enclosures happened on an extensive scale, the poor were displaced from
the land. They found their customary rights gradually disappearing. They went
to cities to find jobs.
8)
The
introduction of threshing machines also created problems for the poor. The
Captain Swing riots spread in the country side to discourage their use.
9)
Thus, the
coming of modern agriculture in England meant many different changes. On one
hand, the richer farmers made 6 profits by expanding grain productions. On the
other hand, the poor farmers faced hardships due to disappearance of open
fields.
10) So far the USA is concerned, modern
agriculture developed there by the early twentieth century.
11) The story of agrarian expansion is closely
connected to the Westward movement of the white settlers who displaced local
tribes by taking over their land. They slashed and burnt forests, pulled out the
stumps, cleared the land for cultivation and built log cabins in the forest
clearings. Then they cleared larger areas, ploughed them and sowed corn and
wheat.
12) In the early years, the fertile soil produced
good crops. When the soil exhausted in one place, the migrants would move
further to explore new land. It was, however, only after the 1860s that
settlers swept into the great plains across the river Mississippi. In
subsequent decades this region became a major wheat producing area of America.
13) From the late 19th century, there
was a dramatic expansion of wheat production in the USA. In 1910, about 45
million acres of land in the USA was under wheat. Nine years later, the area
had expanded to 74 million acres.
14) This dramatic expansion was made possible by
new technology such as mechanical reapers, tractors, disk ploughs, etc. the new
machines allowed big farmers to rapidly clear large tracts, break up soil,
remove the grass and prepare the ground for cultivation. The work could be done
quickly and with a minimal number of hands.
15) But poor farmers faced hardships.
Mechanisation had reduced the need for labour. As a result, many of them looked
for jobs elsewhere.
16) The expansion of wheat agriculture in the Great
Plains created big problems. In the 1930s, terrifying dust storms began to blow
over the southern plains. As the skies darkened and the dust swept in people
were blinded and chocked. Cattle were suffocated to death. Tractors and
machines that had ploughed the earth and harvested the wheat in the 1920s were
now clogged with dust, damaged beyond repair.
17) The whole region thus became a dust bowl. The
American dream of a land of plenty turned into a nightmare. This incident
taught the settlers a lesson that they should respect the ecological conditions
of each region. They should not uproot all vegetation to fulfil their greed.
18) The history of opium production in India was
linked up with the story of British trade with China. In the late 18th
century, the English East India Company was buying tea and silk from China for
sale in England. As tea became a popular English beverage, the tea trade became
more important.
19) This created a problem. England at this time
produced nothing that could be easily sold in China. In such a situation the
western merchants could not finance the tea trade. They could buy tea only by
paying in silver coins or bullion. This meant an outflow of treasure from
England. Finally they searched for a commodity they could sell in China. Opium
was such a commodity.
20) In the beginning the Chinese kept themselves
away from opium because they knew the dangers of opium addiction. But soon
people of all classes in China began to take the drug. Now supplies had to be
increased which was a little bit difficult job.
21) The Indian farmers were not willing to grow
opium. But when they were given the facility of advances for the peasants of
Bengal and Bihar. This was done to make them willing to produce opium for the
colonial state.
22) By 1773, the British government in Bengal had
established a monopoly to trade in opium. No one was legally permitted to trade
in the product.
Words that Matter:
·
Bushel: A measure of capacity.
·
Shillings: An English currency.
·
Sod: Pieces of earth with grass.
·
A walking plough: A device used for breaking the sod and
turning the soil over.
·
Scythe: A device used for moving grass before the
mid-19th century.
·
Mound: A measure of weight. 1 mound=40 seers. 1
seer is a little under a kg.
·
Mahato: Village headman.
·
Pykars: Travelling traders.
Dateline:
·
1773: The British government in Bengal had
established a monopoly to trade in opium.
·
28 August, 1830: A threshing machine of a farmer was
destroyed by labourers in East Kent.
·
1 June, 1830: A farmer in the north-west of England found
his barn reduced to ashes by a fire that started at night.
·
1800-1850: The white Americans moved into the
Mississippi valley.
·
1930s: Terrifying dust storm occurred in southern
plains.
NCERT In Text Questions Solved
1. What happened to the women and
children? Cow keeping, collection of fire wood, gleaning, gathering of fruits
and berries from the common lands was earlier mostly done by women and
children.
Can you suggest how enclosure
must affect the lives of women and children? Can you imagine how the
disappearance of common lands might have changed the relationship between men,
women and children within the family?
They became jobless. Their life became
difficult. The lives of women and children must have been badly affected due to
enclosures. They would have been displaced from the land. Their customary
rights would have been snatched. Deprived of their rights and driven off the
land, they would have been tramped in search of work.
2. Draw a timeline from 1650 to
1930 showing the significant agricultural changes which you have read about in
this chapter.
|
Timeline
|
Agricultural
Changes
|
|
1660
|
Farmers in many parts of England began
growing turnip and clover.
|
|
1750
|
More and more food grains were grown.
|
|
1831
|
Cyrus McCormick invented the first
mechanical reaper which could cut in one day as much as five men could cut
with cradles and 16 men with sickles.
|
|
1870
|
Great plains across the River Mississippi
became a major wheat-producing area of America.
|
|
1930s
|
Terrifying dust storms began to blow over
the southern plains.
|
1. Explain briefly the open field
system meant to rural people in 18th century England. Look at the system
from the point of view of:
i) A rich farmer:
The open field system provided an opportunity
to the rich farmers to enclose the best pastures for their own cattle. In the
16th century, the price of wool went up in the world market. Hence,
rich farmers planned to expand wool production by improving their sheep breeds
and ensuring good feed for them. Soon they started controlling large areas of
land in compact blocks to allow improved breeding. They enclosed common land
and built hedges around their holdings to separate their property from that of
others. They drove out villagers from the commons. They also prevented them
from entering the enclosed field.
ii) A labourer: For labourers, open fields were essential for
their survival. Here they pastured their cows and grazed their sheep, collected
fuel wood foe fire and berries and fruit for food. They fished in the rivers
and ponds and hunted rabbit in common forests. It supplemented their meagre
income, sustained their cattle and helped them tide over bad times when crops
fields.
iii) A peasant woman: Peasant women used the open fields for
grazing their cattle, gathering fruit and fuel wood.
3. Explain briefly the factors
which led to the enclosures in England.
The factors which led to the enclosures in
England are given below.
i) In the 16th century, the price
of wool went up in the world market. This encouraged the rich farmers to expand
wool production to earn profits. For this, they began to enclose common land
where they could easily improve their sheep breeds and ensure good feed for
them.
ii) From the mid 18th century, the
population of England expanded rapidly. This meant an increased demand for food
grains to feed the growing population. This encouraged landowners to enclose
lands and enlarge the area under grain cultivation.
iii) By the end of the 18th
century, France was at war with England. This disrupted trade and the import of
food grains from Europe. Prices of food grains in England soared high,
encouraging landowners to enclose lands for grains cultivation.
iv) The growing industrialisation and urbanisation
of England too became a factor for enclosing more and more open lands.
v) Enclosures were essential to make long
term investments on land and plan crop rotations to improve the soil.
4. Why were threshing machines
opposed by the poor in England?
Threshing machines were opposed by the poor
in England due to the followings reasons:
i) The introduction of threshing machines
encouraged land owners to reduce their dependence on labourers. Now land owners
tried to cut wages and the number of workmen they employed. This aggravated the
miseries of the poor.
ii) Unemployment spread among the poor. They
tramped from village to village and those with uncertain jobs lived in fear of
a loss of their livelihood.
iii) For the poor the threshing machines had
become a sign of bad times.
5. Who was Captain Swing? What
did the name symbolise or represent?
Captain Swing was a mythic name used in
threatening letters written to English landlords against the use of threshing
machines and their reluctance to employ labourers.
The name of Captain Swing spread panic among
the landowners. Many of them destroyed their threshing machines fearing attacks
by armed bands at nights.
6. What was the impact of the
westward expansion of settlers in the USA?
i) The white settlers got settled on the
Appalachian plateau by driving away the American Indians. Then they moved into
the Mississippi valley between 1820 and 1850. They slashed and burnt forests,
pulled out the stumps, cleared the land for cultivations and built log cabins
in the forest clearings. Then they cleared large areas and erected fences
around the fields. They ploughed the land and sowed corn and wheat and
harvested good crops.
ii) After 1860s, the white settlers swept
into the great plains across the river Mississippi. In subsequent decades this
region became a major wheat producing area of America.
iii) From the late 19th century,
there was a dramatic expansion of wheat production in the USA. The urban
population in the USA was growing and the export market was becoming even
bigger. As the demand increased, wheat prices rose, encouraging farmers to
produce more and more wheat. During the First World War the world market
boomed. Russian suppliers of wheat were cut off and the USA had to feed Europe.
US president Wilson called upon farmers to respond to the need of the hour.
iv) The westward expansion of the white
settlers paved the way for the development of new technologies which made the
process of cultivation very effective and time saving.
v) By the early 20th century,
farmers in the Great Plains were breaking the ground with the help of the new
technologies like traders and disc ploughs, clearing vast stretches for wheat
production.
vi) The USA began to dominate the world
market in agricultural produce and came to be known as the ‘bread basket of the
world’.
7. What were the advantages and
disadvantages of the use of mechanical harvesting machines in the USA?
Advantages: Various mechanical harvesting machines were
proved to be a boon for the USA. It was the time when the prices of wheat were
high and the demand seemed limitless. The new machines allowed big farmers to
rapidly clear large tracts, break up the soil, remove the grass and prepare the
ground for cultivation. With the help of these machines the work could be done
quickly plough, seed and harvest 2000 to 4000 across of wheat in a season.
Disadvantages: These machines were proved to be a bane for
the poor farmers because they brought misery in their life. Many of them
brought these machines, imagining that wheat pieces would remain high and
profits would flow in. if they had no money, the banks offered loans. Those who
borrowed found it difficult to pay back their debts. Many of them deserted
their farms and looked for jobs elsewhere.
But jobs were difficult to find.
Mechanisation had reduced the need for labour. And the boom of the late 19th
and early 20th centuries seemed to have come to an end by the mid
1920s. after that most farmers faced trouble. Production had expanded so
rapidly during the war and past war years that there was a large surplus which
were turned into animal feed. Wheat prices fell and export markets collapsed.
This became the cause of the Great Agrarian Depression of the 1930s.
8. What lessons can we draw from
the conversion of the countryside in the USA from a bread basket to a dust
bowl?
The expansion of wheat agriculture in the
Great Plains created grave problems. In the 1930s, terrifying dust storms began
to blow over the southern plains. Black blizzards rolled in, very often 7000 to
8000 feet high, rising like monstrous waves of muddy water. This happened
because the entire landscape had been ploughed over, stripped of all grass that
held it together. When wheat cultivation had expanded dramatically in the early
20th century, zealous farmers had recklessly uprooted all
vegetation, and tractors had turned the soil over and broken the soil into
dust. The whole region had become a dust bowl.
We can draw the following lessons from this
incident:
i) We must respect the ecological conditions
of each region.
ii) We should control our desire to win over
the nature. Such a desire can never be fulfilled. But it course of our frantic
effort to fulfil such a desire, we can play havoc with the nature by creating
ecological imbalance.
iii) Whatever development we want to bring
must be eco-friendly.
iv) We must not forget that by misbalancing
ecological conditions we endanger our own life.
9. Write a paragraph on why the
British insisted on farmers growing opium in India.
The British insisted on farmers growing opium
in India in order to balance their trade with China from where they bought tea
and silk for sale in England. The British could buy tea only by paying in
silver coins or bullion. This meant an outflow of treasure from England. This
created widespread anxiety among the British who believed that a loss of
treasure would impoverish the nation and deplete its wealth. Merchants
therefore looked for ways to stop this loss of silver. Opium was the only commodity
which the British could sell in China and persuade the Chinese to buy. Hence,
it became essential to grow more and more opium in India. They persuaded Indian
farmers to grow opium which they took from India to China and tea from China to
England.
10. Why were Indian reluctant to grow
opium?
There were several reasons behind it:
i) The crop had to be grown on the best land,
on fields that lay near villages and were well manure. On this land peasants
usually produced pulses. If they planted opium on this land, then pulses could
not be grown there, or they would have to be grown on inferior land where
harvests were poorer and uncertain.
ii) There were many cultivators who had no
land of their own. To cultivate, they had to pay rent and lease land from
landlords. And the rent charged on good lands near villages was very high.
iii) The cultivation of opium was a difficult
process. The plant was delicate, and cultivators had to spend long hours
nurturing it. This meant that they did not have enough time to care for other
crops.
iv) The price the government paid to the
cultivators for the opium they produced was very low.
More Questions Solved
I. Multiple Choice Questions:
Choose the correct option:
1. Which one of the following is
the appropriate reason that excited swing rioters to destroy threshing machines
during 1930s in England?
a) They broke these machines in the name of
Captain Swing.
b) These machines deprived
workmen of their livelihood.
c) Captain Swing was a person who broke all
these machines.
d) They were threatening landlords.
2. Why was common land essential
for survival of the poor in England?
a) Common land supplemented
income of the poor and helped them during bad times.
b) Poor could move freely in common land.
c) Poor could set up industry land.
d) All the above.
3. Who was the American leader
under whom maximum expansion of wheat cultivation took place?
a) President Wilson b)
President Lincoln
c) President Bush d) President Clinton
4. When did the white Americans
move into the Mississippi Valley?
a) Between 1750 and 1850 b) Between 1830 to 1832
c) Between 1820 and 1850 d)
Between 1771 to 1850
5. What item/items did the
British merchants import from China?
a) Silk b)
Tea c) Both (a) and (b) d)
None
6. Which country became the bread
basket of the world?
a) America b)
China c) Japan d) India
7. By 1773, the British
government in Bengal had established a monopoly to trade in……………
a) indigo b) opium c) tea d)
cotton
8. Why did East India Company
start triangular trade between India-China-Britain?
a) To take balance of trade in
favour of the Company.
b) To get maximum profits.
c) To attain favour from China.
d) To get profit from India.
9. Why were the Manchus not
willing to allow entry of foreign goods in China?
a) They did not need foreign goods.
b) They had no money to buy foreign goods.
c) They feared that the merchants
would middle in local polity and disrupt their authority.
d) None of the above.
10. Why were peasants in the 19th
century unwilling to cultivate opium in India?
a) The price paid by government was very low.
b) The plant was delicate.
c) The cultivators were poor.
d) All of the above.
11. Which one of the following
was the main reason for unfavourable balance of trade between China and East
India Company during the 19th century?
a) East India Company bought tea
in return of silver coins.
b) China did not allow any foreign product in
place of it.
c) East India Company forced to sell tea in
loss.
d) China favoured the Company.
12. When did Cyrus McCormick
invent the first mechanical reaper?
a) In 1811 b) In 1831 c) In 1801 d) In
1809
13. What was done in different
countries of England during the Captain Swing movement?
a) Threshing machines were broken
b) Rich farmers were compelled to help poor
farmers
c) Landowners were looted
d) Agriculture was expanded
14. What was the scythe used for
before the mid-19th century?
a) For sowing seeds b) For harvesting crop
c) For cutting grass d)
For cutting vegetables
15. Opium was known primarily for
its……..
a) medicinal properties b)
deadly effect on its users
c) refreshing effect on its users d) excellent taste
16. The English population began
to expand rapidly from………
a) the nineteenth century b) the mid-eighteenth century
c) the early eighteenth century d) the eighteenth century
II. Very Short Answer Type
Questions:
1. Give one reason that excited
swing rioters to destroy the threshing machines during 1930s in England?
These machines deprived workmen of their
livelihood.
2. Why was common land essential
for the survival of the poor in England?
Common land supplemented income of the poor
and helped them during bad times.
3. Who was the American leader
under whose period maximum expansion of wheat cultivation took place?
Maximum expansion of wheat cultivation took
place under President Wilson.
4. Which two items did the
British merchants import from China?
The British merchants imported would meddle
in local polity and disrupt their authority.
5. Why did the East India Company
start triangular trade between India-China-Britain?
The East Indian Company started triangular
trade between India-China-Britain to take balance of trade in favour of the
company.
6. Why were the Manchus not
Willing to allow entry of foreign goods in China?
They feared that the merchants would meddle
in local polity and disrupt their authority.
7. Why were the Indian peasants
in the nineteenth century unwilling to grow opium? Give two reasons.
i) The cultivation of opium was a difficult
process.
ii) The price the government paid to the
cultivators for the opium they produced was very low.
8. What was the main reason for
unfavourable balance of trade between China and East India company during the
nineteenth century?
The East India Company bought tea from China
only by paying in silver coins or billion. This meant an overflow of treasure
from England, a prospect that created widespread anxiety.
9. What was done in different
countries of England during the Captain Swing movement?
Threshing machines were broken on a large
scale.
10. What was the scythe used for before
the mid-nineteenth century?
Before the mid-nineteenth century the scythe
was used for cutting grass.
11. Who created the early
enclosures?
Individual landlords created the early
enclosures.
12. How were the sixteenth
century enclosures different from the late eighteenth century enclosures? Give
one point.
The sixteenth century enclosures promoted
sheep farming whereas the late eighteenth century enclosures promoted grain
production.
13. When did the English
population expand rapidly?
From the mid-eighteenth century, the English
population expanded rapidly. Between 1750 and 1900, it multiplied over four
times, mounting from 7 million in 1750 to 21million in 1850 and 30 million in
1900.
14. How was increase in food
grain production made possible in England in the late eighteenth century?
It was made possible by bringing new lands
under cultivation.
15. What promoted farmers in
England to grow turnips and clover?
When farmers came to know that planting of
turnip and clover improved the soil and made it more fertile. They began to
grow these crops. Turnip was also a good fodder crop relished by cattle.
16. How did
land enclosures affect the life of the landlords and the poor?
Land enclosures made the landlords
prosperous. But at the same time the poor became poorer. For a very large part
of the year they had no work.
17. How did the poor view the
threshing machines?
They viewed the threshing machines as a sign
of bad times. They became poorer because employment was not certain now.
18. From the late nineteenth
century, there was a dramatic expansion of wheat production in the USA. Give
two reasons.
i) The urban population in the USA was
growing as a result of which demand of wheat increased.
ii) The export market was becoming ever
bigger.
19. Who said, “Plant more wheat,
wheat will win the war”?
US President Wilson said it.
20. How did Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical
reaper prove to be a boon for the farmers in the USA?
This mechanical reaper could cut in one day
as much as five men could cut with cradles and 16 men with sickles.
21. What was opium known
primarily for?
Opium was known primarily for its medicinal
properties and used in minuscule quantities for certain types of medicines.
22. What was the triangular
trade?
The triangular trade took place between
India, China and Britain. The British traders took opium from India to China
and Tea from China to England. Between India and England trade flowed both
ways.
III. Short Answer Type Questions:
1. The enclosure movement
proceeded slowly till the middle of the 18th century. Why? What
happened after that?
i) The early enclosures were usually created
by individual landlords. They were not supported by the state or the church.
ii) After the mid-18th century,
the enclosure movement swept through the countryside, changing the English
landscape forever. Between 1750 and 1850, 6 million acres of land was enclosed.
iii) The British Parliament no longer watched
this process from a distance. It passed 4000 Acts legalising these enclosures.
2. Why was the land being
enclosure in the late eighteenth century England?
i) In the late-eighteenth century England the
land was being enclosed for grain production. These enclosures became a sign of
a changing time. From the mid 18th century, English population
expanded rapidly. Between 1750 and 1900, it multiplied over for times, mounting
from 7 million in 1750 to 21 million in 1850 and 30 million in 1900.
ii) This meant an increased demand for food
grains to feed the population. Moreover, Britain at this time was industrialising.
More and more people began to live and work in urban areas. Men from ruler
areas migrated to towns in search of jobs.
iii) To survive they had to buy food grains
in the market. As the urban population grew, the market for food grains
expanded and when demand increased rapidly, food grains prices rose. This encouraged
land owners to enclose lands and enlarge the area under grain cultivation.
3. How were the poor affected by
enclosures?
i) Enclosures made the life of the poor
miserable. When fences came up, the enclosed land became the exclusive property
of one land owner. The poor could no longer collect their firewood from the
forests, or graze their cattle on the commons.
ii) They could no longer collect apples and
berries, or hunt small animals for meat. Nor could they gather the stalks that
lay on the fields after the crops were cut.
iii) Everything belonged to the landlords,
everything had a price which the poor could not afford to pay. In places where
enclosures happened on an extensive scale, the poor were displaced from the
land.
iv) Deprived of their customary rights and
driven off the land, they tramped in search of work.
4. What were the factors that contributed
to the expansion of wheat production in the USA from the late 19th
century?
Several factors contributed to the expansion
of wheat production in the USA:
i) The urban population in the USA was
growing and the export market was becoming ever bigger.
ii) As the demand increased, wheat prices
rose, encouraging farmers to produce wheat. The spread of the railways made it
easy to transport the grain from the wheat growing regions to the eastern coast
for export.
iii) By the early 20th century the
demand became even higher and during the First World War the world market
boomed. Russian supplies of wheat were cut off and the USA had to feed Europe.
US President Wilson called upon farmers to respond to the need of the time.
Hence, farmers began to grow more and more wheat.
5. How did mechanisation of
agriculture affect the lives of the poor farmers in the USA?
Or
Machines brought untold miseries
for the poor. Explain.
i) Many of the farmers bought machines, imagining
that wheat prices would remain high and profits would flow in. if they had no
money, the banks offered loans. Those who borrowed found in difficult to pay
back their debts. Many of them deserted their farms and looked for jobs
elsewhere.
ii) But it was not easy to find jobs.
Mechanisation had reduced the need for labour and the boom of the late 1920s. After
that, most farmers faced trouble. Production had expanded so rapidly during the
war and post war years that there was a large surplus.
iii) Unsold stocks piled up, storehouses
overflowed with grain and vast amounts of corn and wheat were turned into
animal feed. Wheat prices fell and export markets collapsed. This created the
grounds for the Great Agrarian Depression of the 1930s that ruined wheat
farmers everywhere.
6. What happened when the entire
region of the Great Plains became a dust bowl?
Or
What were the consequences of
expansion of wheat cultivation in the Great Plains?
i) Terrifying dust storms began to blow over
the southern plains of America. Black blizzards rolled in, very often 7000 to
8000 feet high, raising the monstrous waves of muddy water.
ii) They came day after day, year after year,
through the 1930s. as the skies darkened and the dust swept in, people were
blinded and choked. Cattle were suffocated to death, their lungs choked with
dust and mud.
iii) Sand buried fences, covered fields and
coated the surfaces of rivers till the fish died. Dead bodies of birds and
animals were scattered all over the landscape.
iv) Tractors and machines that had ploughed
the earth and harvested the wheat in the 1920s were now clogged with dust,
damaged beyond repair.
7. What was opium primarily known
for? How were the Chinese made addicted to it?
Opium was primarily known for its medicinal
properties and used in miniscule quantities for certain types of medicines. The
Chinese were well aware of the dangers of its addiction and the Emperor had
therefore forbidden its production and sale except for medicinal purposes. But
western merchants in the mid-18th century began an illegal trade in
opium. It was unloaded in a number of sea ports of south eastern China and
carried by local agents to the interiors. By the early 1820s, about 1000 crates
were being annually smuggled into China. Fifteen years later, over 35000 crates
were being unloaded every year. This meant that the Chinese became addicted to
opium. People of all classes took to the drug-shopkeepers and peddlers,
officials and army men, aristocrats and paupers. In 1839, it was estimated that
4 million Chinese had become opium smokers. Thus, China became a country of
opium addicts.
8. How did the British government
persuade the unwilling cultivators to grow opium?
Or
How were the unwilling
cultivators made to produce opium?
i) Indian cultivators were not ready to grow
opium because it was an unprofitable business for them. Seeing their
unwillingness, the British government started a system of advances.
ii) In the normal areas of Bengal and Bihar,
there were large numbers of poor peasants. They never had enough to survive.
From the 1780s, such peasants found their village headmen giving them money
advances to grow opium.
iii) The innocent peasants did not understand
that it was the government opium agents who were advancing the money to the
headmen, who in turn gave to them.
iv) When offered a loan, the cultivators were
tempted to accept, hoping to meet their immediate needs and pay back the loan
at a later stage. Thus, it was the system of advances that made the unwilling
cultivators grows opium.
9. How did the system of advances
tie the peasants to the British government?
Or
‘After accepting money advances
the cultivators had no option but to grow opium.’ Explain.
i) When the British government started the
system of advances, many cultivators became ready to grow opium. They though
that they would fulfil their immediate needs with the loan and would pay back
it at a later stage.
ii) But the loan tied the peasants to the
government. By taking the loan, they were forced to grow opium on a specified
area of land and hand over the produce to the agents once crop had been
harvested.
iii) They had no option of planting the field
with a crop of his choice or of selling their produce to anyone but the
government agent. And they were bound to accept the low price offered for the
produce.
10. What is meant by ‘Triangular
Trade’? What led to its development?
The triangular trade refers to the trade
between England, India and China in the eighteenth century.
i) The English East India Company was buying
tea and silk from China for sale in England. As tea became a popular English
drink, the tea trade became more and more important.
ii) England at this time produced nothing
that could be easily sold in China. The western merchants did not have a way to
finance the tea trade.
They could buy tea only by paying in silver
coins or billion. This meant an outflow of treasure from England.
At last it was decided that opium would be
grown in India and transported to China in exchange of tea.
11. How did the westward
expansion of settlers in the USA lead to a total destruction of American
Indians?
i) In 1800, Thomas Jefferson became President
of the USA. The American War of Independence had been fought from 1775 to 1783
and the formation of the United States of America made it seem like a land of
promise from the East Coast.
ii) It was during this time that the 700,000
white settlers began to move westward on to the Appalachian plateau through the
passes. The westward expansion of settlers in the USA led to a complete total
destruction of American Indians who were pushed westwards, down the Mississippi
river, and then further west.
iii) They fought back, but were defeated.
Numerous wars were waged in which Indians were massacred. Their villages were
burnt and cattle destroyed.
12. What led to a dramatic
expansion of wheat production in the USA?
i) From the late nineteenth century, there
was a dramatic expansion of wheat production in the USA and the export market
became bigger.
ii) During the First World War, the world
market boomed. Russian supplies of wheat were cut off and the USA had to feed
Europe.
iii) US President Wilson encouraged American
farmers to plant more wheat. In 1910, about 45 million acres of land in the USA
was under wheat and nine years later it expanded to 74 million acres, an
increase of about 65 per cent.
13. When did the British
government in Bengal establish a monopoly to trade in opium? How did people
react to it and what steps were taken by the British government to control it?
i) By 1773, the British government in Bengal
established a monopoly to trade in opium. No one else was legally permitted to
trade in the product.
ii) The government wanted to produce opium at
a cheap rate and sell it at a high price to opium agents in Calcutta, who then
shipped it to China. But the prices given to the peasants were so low that by
the early eighteenth century angry peasants began agitating for higher prices
and refused to take advances. In regions around Banaras, cultivators began
giving up opium cultivation.
iii) To control the situation the British
instructed its agents posted in the princely states to take away all opium and
destroy the crops. This conflict between the British government, peasants and
local traders continued as long as opium production lasted.
14. Why did the whole region of
the Great Plains become a dust bowl?
i) When wheat cultivation had expanded
dramatically in the early 19th century, zealous farmers had
recklessly uprooted all vegetation and tractors had turned the soil over and
broken the soil into dust.
ii) The whole region had become a dust bowl.
In the 1930s, terrifying dust storms began to blow over the southern plains of
America.
iii) Black blizzard rolled in, very often
7000 to 8000 feet high, rising like monstrous waves of muddy water. The
American dream of a plenty had turned into a nightmare.
IV. Long Answer Type Questions:
1. The coming of new technology
proved to be a boon for the expansion of wheat cultivation in the USA. Explain.
Or
What role did the new technology
play in the expansion of wheat cultivation in USA?
i) The expansion of wheat cultivation in the
USA was made possible by new technology. Through the 19th century,
as the white settlers moved into new habitats and new lands, they modified
their implements to meet their requirements.
ii) When they entered the mid-western
prairie, the simple ploughs the farmers had used in the eastern coastal areas
of the USA proved ineffective. The prairie was covered with thick mat of grass
with tough roots. To break the sod and turn the soil over, a variety of new
plough were devised locally.
iii) By the early 20th century,
farmers in the Great Plains were breaking the ground with tractors and disk
ploughs, clearing vast stretches for wheat cultivation.
iv) Before the 1830s, the grain used to be
harvested with a cradle or sickle. At harvest time, hundreds of men and women
could be seen cutting the crop. In 1831, Cyrus McCormick invented the first
mechanical reaper which could cut in one day as much as five men could cut with
cradles and 16 men with sickles.
v) By the early 20th century, most
farmers were using combined harvesters to cut grain. With one of these
machines, 500 acres of wheat could be harvested in two weeks.
vi) Thus, the new machines enabled the
farmers to rapidly clear large tracts, break up the soil, remove the grass and
prepare the ground for cultivation. With power-driven machinery, four men could
plough, seed and harvest 2000 to 4000 acres of wheat in a season.
2. How did the USA become the
bread basket of the world? How did it turn into a dust bowl?
Or
The American dream of a land of
plenty had pushed into a nightmare. Explain.
i) The USA became the bread basket of the
world by developing modern agriculture. After the United States of America, the
white Americans began to move westward.
ii) By the time Thomas Jefferson became
President of the USA in 1800, over 700,000 white settlers had moved on to
Appalachian plateau through the passes. Seen from the east coast, America
seemed to be a land of promise.
iii) By the first decade of the 18th
century, they settled on the Appalachian plateau and then moved into the
Mississippi valley between 1820 and 1850. They made the land for cultivation
and sowed corn and wheat.
iv) In the early years, the fertile soil
produced good crops. When the soil became impoverished in one place, the
migrants would move further west to raise new crop.
v) It was however, only after the 1860s that
settlers swept into the Great Plains across the River Mississippi. In
subsequent decades the region became a major wheat producing area of America.
vi) From the late 19th century,
there was a dramatic expansion of wheat production in the USA. The urban
population in the USA was growing and the export market was becoming ever
bigger.
vii) As the demand increased, wheat prices
rose, encouraging farmers to grow more and more wheat.
viii) In 1910, about 45 million acre of land
in the USA was under wheat. Nine years later the area had expanded to 74
million acres. Now, the USA began to be called the ‘bread basket of the world’.
ix) But it could not maintain this image for
a long period. The expansion of wheat production in the Great Plains created
severe problems.
x) In the 1930s, terrifying dust storms began
to blow over the Southern Plains. Black blizzards rolled in very often 7000 to
8000 feet high, rising like monstrous waves of muddy water.
xi) They came day after day, year after year,
through the 1930s. As the skies darkened and the dust swept in, people were
blinded and chocked.
xii) Cattle were suffocated to death, their
lungs chocked with dust and wind. Dead bodies of birds and animals were
scattered all over the landscape.
xiii) Tractors and machines that had ploughed
the earth and harvested the wheat in the 1920s were now clogged with dust,
damaged beyond repair. The whole region had become a dust bowl. The American
dream of a plenty had turned into a nightmare.
3. Write an account on dramatic
expansion of wheat production in the USA and what were the results of expansion
of wheat agriculture in the Great Plains?
From the late nineteenth century, there was a
dramatic expansion of wheat production in the USA and the export market became
bigger. During the First World War the world market boomed. Russian supplies of
wheat were cut off and the USA had to feed Europe. US President Wilson
encouraged American farmers to plant more wheat. In 1910, about 45 million
acres of land in the USA was under wheat and nine years later it expanded to 74
million acres, an increase of about 65 per cent.
The expansion of wheat agriculture led to
terrifying dust storms in the 1930s. terrifying dust storms began to blow over
the southern plains of America. It came to be known as Black blizzards. The
dust storms rose 7000 to 8000 feet high. They appeared as monstrous waves of
muddy water. They came day after, year after year, through the 1930s.
As skies darkened and the dust swept in,
people were blinded and choked. Cattle were suffocated to death, their lungs
caked with dust and mud. Sand buried fences, covered field and coated the
surfaces of river till the fish died. Dead bodies of birds and animals were
scattered all over the landscape. Tractors and machines clogged with dust and
damaged beyond repair.
4. Discuss the system of advances
introduced by the colonial state. How did the system tie the poor farmers to
the government?
in the rural areas of Bengal and Bihar, there
were large numbers of poor peasants. It was difficult for them to pay rent to
the landlord or to buy food and clothing. From 1780s, such peasants found their
village headmen giving them money advances to produce opium. When offered a
loan, the cultivators were tempted to accept, hoping to meet their immediate
needs and pay back the loan at the stage.
i) When the British government started the
system of advances, many cultivators became ready to grow opium. They though
that they would fulfil their immediate needs with the loan and would pay back
it at a later stage.
ii) But the loan tied the peasants to the
government. By taking the loan, they were forced to grow opium on a specified
area of land and hand over the produce to the agents once crop had been
harvested.
iii) They had no option of planting the field
with a crop of his choice or of selling their produce to anyone but the
government agent. And they were bound to accept the low price offered for the
produce.
5. What did the enclosure imply?
Why was the land enclosed in the 18th century in England?
i) The land enclosure in England implied a
big piece of land which was enclosed from all sides and there were hedges built
around it to separate it from the lands of others.
ii) The land was enclosed to increase grain
production for the rising English population which multiplied over four times
between 1750 and 1900 mounting to 7 million in 1750 to 21 million in 1850 and
30 million in 1900. This increased the demand for food grains to feed the
population.
iii) Due to industrialisation in Britain
urban population grew. Men from rural areas migrated to towns in search of
jobs. To survive they had to buy food grains in the market which expanded and
eventually the food grain prices rose high.
iv) By the end of the 18th
century, France was at war with England. This disrupted trade and import of
food grains from Europe. Prices of food grains increased encouraging landowners
to enclose lands. Enclosures were also important for long term investments on
land and to plan crop rotations for maintaining soil fertility. Thus the
Parliament passed the Enclosure Acts.
