Very short answer – Class 10 – Social Science – History -Chapter 4: The Age of Industrialisation

Class 10 – Social Science – History -Very short answer – Chapter 4: The Age of Industrialisation

Q1. Why were merchants from towns in Europe began to move countryside in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?

Ans : During the 17th and 18th centuries, the world trade and the colonies expanded which increased the demands of goods.

The merchants were not able to cope up within towns because of the powerful urban crafts and trade guilds and therefore they moved to the countryside to persuade the peasants and artisans to produce for the international market and also supplied money to them.

Q2. How did urbanisation help create opportunities ?

Ans : Urban activities like building up of roads, laying down railway lines, construction of new railways stations as railways were expanded too, drainage and sewers laid and river embankments created opportunities where people got employment.

Q3. Why the aristocrats in Victorian England demanded handmade products?

 Ans : Handmade products portrayed class, royalty, high tastes and refinement. They were unique in their own designs and carefully designed and finished, so they attracted the upper elites of the society more.

Q4. Why was hand labour preferred in seasonal factories ?

Ans : In industries such as breweries and book binders, production was affected by the seasonal demands and changes. Hence, seasonal labours could be easily employed when the need arose. Moreover, as the supply of labour was high, it was easy to get such labourers and keep cost of production low.

Q5. Why were wages low in England during eighteenth centuries ?

Ans : In England during the Victorian Age, there was no shortage of human labour. Unemployed people, farmers and vagrants often moved through the cities in search of work. So, the industrialists had an ample supply of labour and no problem of high wage cost.

Q6. Why the merchants and traders did turn their attention towards the countryside for production in Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ?

Ans : Production could not be expanded in the town because the urban trade and craft guilds regulated these issues in the towns strictly. Moreover, they did not allow free entry and lenient rules for outsiders.

Q7. Who were Gomasthas ?

Ans : Gomasthas described as an Indian agent of the English East India Company who was paid to supervise weavers and craftsmen, collect supplies and deliver finished goods to the company at fixed rates. He always examined the quality of the cloth.

Q8. How was the relationship between the Gomasthas and the weavers ?

 Ans : The Gomasthas were paid agents of the English company who were outsiders and not from the villages. He was arrogant and often marched into the villages with sepoys to beat up the weavers and craftsmen if they were late in supplying products.

Q9. What happened as a result of cotton being exported from India ?

Ans : As cotton was being exported to England, the availability of cotton in Indian markets was affected. Weavers had to pay high rates to purchase raw cotton which most of the weavers could not afford.

Q10. Why were merchants from towns in Europe began to move countryside in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?

Ans : During the 17th and 18th centuries, the world trade and the colonies expanded which increased the demands of goods. The merchants were not able to cope up within towns because of the powerful urban crafts and trade guilds and therefore they moved to the countryside to persuade the peasants and artisans to produce for the international market and also supplied money to them.

Q11. Why did upper classes in Victorian period preferred things produced by hands?

 Ans : The aristocrats and the bourgeoisie were the upper class people in the Victorian Britain who preferred hand-made  things because these products symbolize refinement and class as they were better finished and carefully designed. They had the thinking that the machine-made goods were for export to the colonies.