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NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science History Chapter wise
Page No. 116
Questions
Q1. Explain briefly what the open field system meant to rural people in eighteenth-century England. Look at the system from the point of view of :
(i) A rich farmer
(ii) A labourer
(iii) A peasant woman
Answer: (i) As the prices of wool increased, rich farmers wanted to expand wool production to earn profits. They were eager to improve their sheep breeds and ensure good feed for them. They were keen on controlling large areas of land in compact blocks to allow improved breeding. So they began dividing and enclosing common land and building hedges around their holdings. They drove out villagers who had small cottages on the commons, and they prevented the poor from entering the enclosed fields.
(ii) The common lands were vital to the poor labourers’ existence. They used to live with landowners, performing a variety of odd chores in exchange for food, lodging, and a small wage. When the open field system was phased out, however, labourers were paid wages and only worked during harvest. This made them vulnerable to wealthy landowners and farmers.
(iii) For a peasant woman, the commons provided ample space for collecting firewood, fruits, and berries.
Q2. Explain briefly the factors which led to the enclosures in England.
Answer: The Enclosure system appeared in agricultural field in England in 16th century. The Enclosure movement was necessitated by the Industrial Revolution in Britain which obviated the need for the larger section of society to cultivate land as people shifted to towns.
(i) The price of wool soared up in International market in the 16th century. As a result, the farmers of England wanted to expand wool production to earn more and more profits. They virtually kept on controlling huge area of land in compact blocks to facilitate improved breeding and ensuring good feed for the sheep. Therefore, they began dividing and enclosing common land and building hedges around their fields.
(ii) The English population increased tremendously from 7 million in 1750 to 21 million in 1850 to 30 million in 1900. This implied that a great demands for foodgrains. The landlords were encouraged to produce more and more foodgrains. Consequently, common lands were taken and enclosed.
(iii) During this period, Britain was industrialising very fast. There was a great exodus of people from rural areas to towns in search of jobs. As the urban population grew, the market of foodgrains expanded and the prices of foodgrains rocketed. Therefore, the peasants were encouraged to produce more and more, hence the Enclosure movement.
(iv) France was at war with England during the end of 18th century. This slowed down the import of foodgrains in England. This led to soaring up of prices of foodgrains in England. Thus the landowners were encouraged to enclose lands and enlarge the area under foodgrain cultivation.
(v)Enclosures were now seen as necessary to make long-term investments on land and plan crop rotations to improve the soil. Enclosures also allowed the richer landowners to expand the land under their control and produce more for the market.
Q3. Why were threshing machines opposed by the poor in England?
Answer: Threshing machines were opposed by the poor in England because they thought that these machines would deprive workmen of their livelihood. They believed that with the help of machines the richer farmers and big landlords would encourage enclosure movement. The commons would be distributed among rich farmers, and poor farmers, labourers, peasants women would have to- struggle for their jobs and they would be jobless.
Q4. Who was Captain Swing? What did the name symbolise or represent?
Answer: Captain Swing was a mythic name which appeared in threatening letters made by labourers opposing the use of threshing machines by wealthy farmers.
The name represented labourers’ anger or dissatisfaction with the usage of threshing machines by wealthy farmers or large landowners.
Q5. What was the impact of the westward expansion of settlers in the USA?
Answer: By the early twentieth century, this landscape had transformed radically. White Americans had moved westward and established control up to the west coast, displacing local tribes and carving out the entire landscape into different agricultural belts. The USA had come to dominate the world market in agricultural produce. The story of agrarian expansion is closely connected to the westward movement of the white settlers who took over the land.
Q6. What were the advantages and disadvantages of the use of mechanical harvesting machines in the USA?
Answer: The advantages and disadvantages of the use of mechanical harvesting machines in the USA are mentioned below:
Advantages:
(i) It saved the use of physical labour and increased agricultural output. For example, the mechanical reaper could cut in a day as much as five men could cut with cradles and 16 men with sickles.
(ii) The new machines allowed big farmers to clear large forests, break up the soil, remove the grass and prepare the land for cultivation. With power-driven machinery, man could plough seed and harvest 2000 to 4000 acres of wheat in a season.
(iii) The USA became one of the largest producers and exporters of wheat in the world.
(iv) It also led to the encouragement of trade and commerce. It brought about a period of plenty and prosperity for America and their people.
Disadvantages:
(i) Poor labourers had to face the loss of jobs and starvation because single machine could do the work of scores of labourers.
(ii) For the poor farmers, machines brought misery. Many of them took bank loans to buy machines. They could not pay back their debt and deserted their farms.
(iii) The boom of late 19th and early 20th centuries came to an end in 1920. There was a large surplus of foodgrains Wheat prices failed and export markets collapsed. All these ultimately led to the Great Agrarian Depression of the 1930s.
(iv) The expansion of wheat agriculture also led to the Dust Bowl.
Q7. What lessons can we draw from the conversion of the countryside in the USA from a bread basket to a dust bowl?
Answer: The expansion of wheat agriculture in the Great Plains created the Dust Bowl. The American dream of a land of plenty had turned into a nightmare.
We need to learn a lesson from this. Use of land is good but overuse of land is bad. We need to realise that land is a precious natural resource which needs to be preserved and conserved. It serves as warning sign against the exploitative use of land for commercial purposes only leads to degradation and depletion. This gives rise to serious consequences. We must realise that we need to respect the ecological conditions of each region and work towards sustainable development and look after our earth.
Q8. Write a paragraph on why the British insisted on farmers growing opium in India.
Answer: The British forced farmers to produce opium in India in order to balance their commerce with China. Tea became highly popular in England, and by 1830, China had imported over 30 million pounds of tea. Only bullion could be used to purchase tea from China. As a result, England had nothing to give the Chinese in exchange for tea except money. Opium was once widely utilised in Chinese medicine, but it was banned due to its addictive properties. By 1839, there were an estimated 12 million opium smokers in China, thanks to the British’s illegal opium trade. All of the opium provided came from India, and it was a convenient and inexpensive way to pay for the tea brought from China.
Q9. Why were Indian farmers reluctant to grow opium?
Answer: The Indian farmers were reluctant to grow opium, as they 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. This difference between the buying and selling price was the government’s opium revenue. 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 Benaras, cultivators began giving up opium cultivation. They produced sugarcane and potatoes instead. Many cultivators sold off their crop to traveling traders (pykars) who offered higher prices.
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