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NCERT Class 9 Social Science Chapter 6 Peasants And Farmers
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Peasants And Farmers
Chapter: 6
INDIA AND THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD – I (HISTORY)
NCERT TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
Q. 1. 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:
-A rich farmer,
-A labourer,
-A peasant woman.
Ans. Arich farmer: When the price of wool went up in the world market the rich farmers wanted to expand wool production to earn profits. So, they began dividing and enclosing common land and building hedges around their holdings to separate their property from that of others. And the villagers were drove out from the common lands and also prevented from entering.
A labourer: A labourer used to live with landowners and helped the masters doing a variety of jobs. But by 1800 this practice was disappearing. A labourer was being paid wages and employed only during harvest time. When landowners tried to increase their profits, they cut the amount they had to spend on their workmen. And thus his work became insecure, employment uncertain, income unstable. For a large part of the year he had no work.
A peasant woman: When the peasants cultivated on the strips of land around the village they lived in a peasant woman helped him in his work. Besides, this cow keeping, collection of firewood gleaning, gathering of fruits and berries frem the common lands were some other activities of peasant women.
Q. 2. Explain briefly the factors that led to the enclosures in England.
Ans. The factors which led to the enclosures in England are:
(i) Enclosures were necessary to make long-term investment on land and plan crop rotation to improve the soil.
(ii) Enclosures allowed the rich landowners to expand the land under their control and produce more for the market.
Q. 3. Why are threshing machines opposed by the poor in England?
Ans. The threshing machines were opposed by the poor in England because their income became unstable, their jobs insecure, their livelihood precarious.
Q. 4. Who was Captain Swing? What did the name symbolize or represent?
Ans. (i) Captain Swings was a mythic name and used in threatening letters, written by the workmen against the use of threshing machines by rich farmers.
(ii) The name symbolizes or represent anger of the unhappiness of the laborers against the use of threshing machines by rich farmers or big landowners.
Q. 5. What was the impact of the westward expansion of settlers in the USA?
Ans. (i) When the American settlers move on to the west, America seemed to be a land of promise.
(ii) Its wilderness could be turned into cultivated fields.
(iii) Forest timber could be out for export, animals hunted for skin, mountains mined for gold and minerals. This was the impact of the westward expansion.
Q. 6. What were the advantages and disadvantages of the use of mechanical harvesting machines in the USA?
Ans. (i) Advantages of the use of mechanical harvesting machines were as under:
(a) The new machines allowed big farmers of the USA to rapidly clear large tracta, break up the saile, remove the grass and prepare the ground for cultivation.
(b) The work could be done quickly and with a minimal number of hands. With power-driven machinery four men could plough, seed and harvest 2000 to 4000 sores of wheat in a season.
(c) They were very helpful to meet the growing demand of the world.
(d) As a result of increased agricultural production, trade and commerce also expanded.
(ii) Disadvantages of such machines were as under:
(a) For the poorer farmers of the USA, machines on new technology brought misery. Many of them bought these machines, imagining that wheat prices would remain high and profits would flow in. If they had no money they borrowed from the banks. Those who borrowed found it difficult to return their debts. Several of the poor farmers deserted their farms and looked for jobs elsewhere.
(b) Use of machines and new technology created unemployment in maximum cases. For unemployed persons it was very difficult to find new jobs. Mechanization had reduced the need for labourers
(c) And the boom of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries seemed to have come to an end by the mid 1920s. After that even most of the rich farmers faced trouble.
(d) The use of machinery brought the so-called Swing Riots. The labourers and the poor peasants burnt the farmhouses of the landlords and broke a number of threshing machines.
Q. 7. What lessons can we draw from the conversion of the countryside in the USA from a bread basket to a dust bowl?
Ans. (i) A very useful lesson from the conversion of the countryside in the USA from a bread basket to a dust bowl was that one should respect the ecological conditions of each region. One should not go blindly for expansion of agriculture in the maximum land by cutting forest and disturbing eco-balance.
(ii) The expansion of wheat agriculture in the Great Plains created other problems also. In the 1930s, terrifying duststorms began to blow over the southern plains.
This is the lesson that we can draw from the conversion of the countryside in the USA from a bread basket to a dust bowl.
Q. 8. Write a paragraph on why the British insisted on farmers growing opium in India.
Ans. The British used to buy tea from China only by paying in silver coins or bullion which meant outflow of treasure from England. So, they searched for a commodity they could sell in China. And opium served their purpose. Moreover, opium was produced by the farmers on a very low price which the Britishers sell at a high price. And thus they were able to earn enough of revenue from opium. So, the British Insisted on farmers growing opium in India.
Q. 9. Why were Indian farmers reluctant to grow opium?
Ans. Indian farmers were reluctant to grow opium because:
(i) It prevented them from cultivating crops in their lands and they had to grow it in some inferior land where harvests was poor and uncertain.
(ii) For cultivating opium, farmers had to pay rent and lease land from landlords. And the rent charged on good lands was very high.
(iii) The cultivation of opium plant was delicate for which cultivators had to spent long hours nurturing it. As a result they did not have enough time for other crops.
(iv) The price the government paid to the cultivators for the opium production was very low. It was not at all profitable for cultivators to grow opium at that price.
SOME OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. The continuous movement of the pastoral communities helps in:
(a) recovery of the pastures.
(b) prevention of their overuse.
(c) reduction in the demand of houses.
(d) both (a) and (b).
Ans. (d) both (a) and (b).
Q. 2. Which practice disappeared by 1800, drastically changing the lives of the labourers?
(a) Till 1800, the labourers lived with landowners, ate with their masters and helped them throughout the year doing various jobs.
(b) Now they were paid wages and employed only during harvest times.
(c) To increase their profits the landlords cut the amount they had to spend on their workers.
(d) All of these.
Ans. (d) All of these.
Q. 3. Why did the white settlers want to push away the Indian Americans from their lands?
(a) The land possessed by the Indians could be turned into cultivated fields.
(b) Forest timber could be exported, animals hunted for skins, mountains mined for gold and Minerals.
(c) Both (a) and (b).
(d) It was a committed policy of the US Government.
Ans. (c) Both (a) and (b).
Q. 4. Who was Captain Swing?
(a) a farmer.
(b) a labourer.
(c) a mythical name.
(d) a landlord.
Ans. (c) a mythical name.
Q. 5. Which of these reasons led to a radical transformation of the landscape by the early 20th century?
(a) White Americans had moved westward.
(b) Local tribes were displaced.
(c) Entire landscape was carved into different agricultural belts in the USA.
(d) All of these.
Ans. (d) All of these.
Q. 6. What were the reasons of the dust storms in USA?
(a) Early 1930s were years of persistent drought.
(b) The wind blew with ferocious speed .
(c) The entire landscape had been ploughed over, stripped of all the grass that held it together.
(d) All of these.
Ans. (d) All of these
Q. 7. In the 19th century, the two major commercial crops India came to produce for the world market were:
(a) indigo.
(b) opium.
(c) maize.
(d) both (a) and (b).
Ans. (d) both (a) and (b).
Q. 8. Why were the confucian rulers of China, the Manchus, suspicious of all foreign merchants?
(a) The British were buying tea at very low rates.
(b) They feared that the British would interfere in local politics and disrupt their authority.
(c) China was self-sufficient and did not want to trade with any country.
(d) All of these.
Ans. (b) They feared that the British would
interfere in local politics and disrupt their authority.
Q. 9. Name the US President who said “Plant more wheat, wheat will win the war.”
(a) President Roosevelt.
(b) President Clinton.
(c) President Bush.
(d) President Wilson.
Ans. (d) President Wilson
Q. 10. How much land did the wheat barons possess at this time in the USA?
(a) 1000-2000 acres of land.
(b) 2000-3000 acres of land.
(c) 3000-4000 acres of land.
(d) 4000-5000 acres of land.
Ans. (b) 2000-3000 acres of land.
Q. 11. In 1831, Cyrus McCormick invented the first mechanical reaper. What was its most important advantage?
(a) In could harvest 50 acres of wheat.
(b) 500 acres of wheat could be harvested in two weeks.
(c) It could cut grass on large areas.
(d) It could prepare the ground for cultivation.
Ans. (b) 500 acres of wheat could be harvested in two weeks.
Q. 12. Which one of these is not the correct option for the cause of the Great Agrarian Depression in the USA?
(a) Production had declined rapidly.
(b) Storehouses overflowed with grain.
(c) Vast amount of corn and wheat were turned into animal feed.
(d) Wheat prices fell and export markets collapsed.
Ans. (a) Production had declined rapidly.
Q. 13. What did the settlers of the Great Plains realize after the 1930s?
(a) Using older methods of cultivation were better than modern machines.
(b) Competition with other countries was not healthy.
(c) They had to respect the ecological conditions of each region.
(d) None of the above.
Ans. (c) They had to respect the ecological conditions of each region.
Q. 14. What was Chinese Emperor’s order about the use of opium in China?
(a) The British were allowed to sell opium in China.
(b) The Chinese Emperor told his people to cultivate more and more opium.
(c) The Emperor had forbidden ita production and sale except for medicinal purposes.
(d) None of the above.
Ans. (c) The Emperor had forbidden its production and sale except for medicinal purposes.
Q. 15. In 1839, who was sent by the Emperor to Canton as a Special Commissioner to stop the opium trade?
(a ) I-tsing.
(b) Lin Ze-xu.
(c) Lao-Tau.
(d) None of these.
Ans. (d) None of these.
Q. 16. What was the result of the ‘Opium War’ (1837-42)?
(a) China was forced to accept the humiliating terms of the subsequent treaties signed.
(b) It had to legalize the opium trade.
(c) It had to open up China to foreign merchants.
(d) All of these.
Ans. (d) All of these.
Q. 17. What did the enclosure imply?
(a) It meant green fields.
(b) Piece of land enclosed from all sides.
(c) It meant open fields.
(d) Vast area of marshy land.
Ans. (b) Piece of land enclosed from all sides.
Q. 18. The Great Agrarian Depression of the 1930s was caused by:
(a) overproduction of wheat.
(b) fall of wheat production.
(c) rise in the price of wheat.
(d) overproduction of rice.
Ans. (a) overproduction of wheat.
Q. 19. The Manchus were:
(a) Chinese rulers.
(b) Roman rulers.
(c) Indian rulers.
(d) Portuguese rulers.
Ans. (a) Chinese rulers
Q. 20. In the question given below, there are two statements marked as Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and chose the correct option.
Assertion (A): Before the eighteenth century in large parts of England the countryside was open.
Reason (R): Each villager was allocated a number of strips to cultivate.
Options:
(a) (A) is correct but (R) is wrong.
(b) (A) is wrong but (R) is correct.
(c) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(d) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
Ans. (c) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
Q. 21. In the question given below, there are two statements marked as Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and chose the correct option.
Assertion (A): During the nineteenth century, the farmers began dividing and enclosing common land and building hedges around their holdings to separate their property from that of others.
Reason (R): They were keen on controlling large areas of land in compact blocks to allow improved agriculture.
Options:
(a) Both (A) and (R) are wrong.
(b) (A) is correct but (R) is wrong.
(c) (A) is wrong but (R) is correct.
(d) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
Ans. (a) Both (A) and (R) are wrong.
Q. 22. In the question given below, there are two statements marked as Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and chose the correct option.
Assertion (A): During the early twentieth century, there was an increase in demand of foodgrains in England.
Reason (R): England was the sole exporter of foodgrains in the world.
Options:
(a) (A) is correct but (R) is wrong.
(b) (A) is wrong but (R) is correct.
(c) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(d) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
Ans. (a) (A) is correct but (R) is wrong.
Q. 23. In the question given below, there are two statements marked as Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statements and chose the correct option.
Assertion (A): It was in about the 1660s that farmers in many parts of England began growing turnip and clover.
Reason (R): It was soon discovered that planting these crops improved the soil and made it more fertile.
Options:
(a) (A) is correct but (R) is wrong.
(b) (A) is wrong but (R) is correct.
(c) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(d) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
Ans. (c) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. What was the British agricultural revolution?
Ans. The British agricultural revolution was a process of agricultural developments in Britain between 16th century and mid-18th century which saw a massive increase in agricultural production and net output.
Q. 2. How did the introduction of threshing machines improve agriculture?
Ans. The introduction of threshing machines improved agriculture by improving efficiency and reducing costs.
Q. 3. Why peasants protested against the threshing machines?
Ans. The peasants were against the threshing machines because these machines deprived the workmen of their livelihood.
Q. 4. Why was common land essential for the survival of the poor in England?
Ans. The common land supplemented the meager income of the poor, sustained their cattle and helped in times when their crops failed.
Q. 5. What did the enclosure imply?
Ans. The enclosure implied a piece of land enclosed from all sides.
Q. 6. What was the attitude of the British Parliament towards the enclosure movement?
Ans. The early enclosures were not supported by the state but by mid-18th century, a number of enclosure acts, were passed legalizing enclosures.
Q. 7. What encouraged the landowners of England to enclose large lands?
Ans. England was at war with France which restricted the import of food grains from Europe. This resulted in rapid increase in the prices of food grains which encouraged the large landowners in England to enclose large lands.
Q. 8. Why did the price of food grains rise in the 18th century in England?
Ans. As the urban population in England grew, the market for food grains expanded, and when demand increased rapidly, food grains prices rose sharply.
Q. 9. Which practice disappeared by 1800, drastically changing the lives of the laborers?
Ans. The practice that disappeared by 1800, drastically changing the lives of the laborers was that the laborers lived with landowners, ate with their masters and helped them throughout the year doing various jobs.
Q. 10. What were the occupations of Native Americans?
Ans. The Native Americans lived by hunting, gathering and fishing. Others cultivated corn, beans, tobacco and pumpkin.
Q. 11. Why did the White settlers want to push away the Indian Americans from their lands?
Ans. The White settlers wanted to push away the Indian Americans from their lands because of the following reasons:
(i) The land possessed by the Indians could be turned into cultivated fields.
(ii) Forest timber could be exported, animals hunted for skins, mountains mined for gold and minerals.
Q. 12. How were the Indian Americans pushed westward by the settlers?
Ans. The methods used by the settlers to oust the Indian Americans were:
(i) Numerous wars in which Indians were massacred and many villages burnt.
(ii) After defeat, the Indian Americans were forced to sign treaties to give up their lands’ and ve westwards.
Q. 13. Name the US President who said “Plant more wheat, wheat will win the war”.
Ans. It was President Wilson who said “Plant more wheat, wheat will win the war”.
Q. 14. In 1831, Cyrus McCormick invented the first mechanical reaper. What was its most important advantage?
Ans. The most important advantage of the first mechanical reaper, invented by Cyrus McCormick, was that it could harvest 500 acres of wheat in just two weeks.
Q. 15. Why were the new machines welcomed by the big farmers of the Great Plains?
Ans. The big farmers of the Great Plains welcomed the new machines because these machines allowed clearing large tracts of land, breaking soil, removing grass and prepare land for cultivation quickly with ease.
Q. 16. What did the settlers of the Great Plains realize after the 1930s?
Ans. The settlers of the Great Plains realized after the 1900s that they had to respect the ecological conditions of each region.
Q. 17. In the 19th century which were the two major commercial crops India produced for the world market?
Ans. In the 19th century indigo and opium were the two major commercial crops that India produced for world market.
Q. 18. What items were imported by the English East India Company from China?
Ans. The items of import by the English East India Company from China were silk and tea.
Q. 19. Why the war between Britain and China (1837-1842) was called the Opium War?
Ans. The war was called the Opium War because the primary cause of war was the British illegal trade in Opium.
Q. 20. Who introduced opium into China in the 16th century?
Ans. The Portuguese introduced opium into China in the 16th century.
Q. 21. In 1839, who was sent by the Emperor to Canton as a Special Commissioner to stop the opium trade?
Ans. In 1839, the Chinese Emperor sent Lin Ze-xu as a Special Commissioner to Canton to stop the opium trade to China.
Q. 22. Why did the British have a negative balance of payment with China?
Ans. The British traders had a negative balance of payment with China because while tea became-popular in Britain, England in the late 18th century produced nothing which they could export to China i.e., persuade the Chinese to buy.
Q. 23. How were the unwilling Indian cultivators convinced to produce opium?
Ans. The system of advances was adopted by the British to convince the unwilling Indian cultivators to produce opium.
Q. 24. Why were Indian farmers pressurised to grow commercial crops?
Ans. Indian farmers were pressurized to grow commercial crops to feed the growing urban population of Europe and to meet the growing raw material needs of the mills of Lancashire and Manchester in England.
Q. 25. Why were the peasants tempted to take advances to produce opium?
Ans. The peasants were tempted to take advances to produce opium because it supplemented their immediate needs and pay back the loans.
Q. 26. What conditions were imposed on the peasants who took advance?
Ans. Those who took advance were supposed to grow opium on a specified area and hand over the produce to the British agents at the decided cost which was often very low.
Q. 27. Why was the government offer low price of the opium to the peasants?
Ans. The government offered low price of the opium to the peasants to keep the cost of production low and sell it at a high price to earn more and more profit.
Q. 28. What were the traveling traders called?
Ans. The traveling traders were called pykars.
Q. 29. Why was the opium production increasing outside the British territories?
Ans. The opium production was increasing outside the British territories because the local traders were offering higher prices to the peasants.
Q. 30. How was the government monopoly of production and sale of opium maintained?
Ans. The government monopoly of production and sale of opium was maintained by confiscating and destroying the opium produced outside the British territories by the British agents.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. What did the American settlers do on reaching Mississippi valley?
Ans. (i) The American Settlers reached the Mississippi valley between 1820 and 1850.
(ii) They slashed and burnt forests, pulled out the stumps, cleared the land for cultivation, and built log cabins in the forest clearings.
(iii) Then they cleared larger areas and erected fences around the fields. They ploughed the land and sowed corn and wheat.
Q. 2. Why did the rich farmers in England start to use threshing machine? Why did the poor oppose the coming of threshing machines?
Ans. (i) Fearing a shortage of labour, the rich farmers began to buy new threshing machines. They complained of the rudeness of laborers, their drinking habit and the problem of making them work.
(ii) The introduction of machines, they thought, would help them reduce their dependence on laborers.
(iii) The poor opposed the threshing machines. Landowners tried to cut wages and the number of workmen they employed. They tramped from village to village and those with uncertain jobs lived in fear of a loss of their livelihood.
Q. 3. In what way was new technology responsible for the dramatic expansion of cultivable land in America?
Ans. The settlers in America modified their implements to meet their requirements. The prairie in the USA was covered with tough roots. They devised locally a variety of new ploughs.
Some of them were 12 feet long and they were hitched on to six yokes of oxen or horses. In addition, by the early twentieth century, the farmers in the Great plains broke the ground with the help of tractors and disk ploughs. Which finally led to the clearance of vast stretches for wheat cultivation.
Q. 4. Describe any five effects of enclosures on the poor farmers in England.
Ans. Effects of enclosure on the poor farmers in England were the following:
(i) 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. Everything belonged to the landlords, everything had a price which the poor could not afford to pay.
(iii) They were deprived of their customary rights and driven off the land.
(iv) They tramped in search of work.
(v) Work became insecure, employment uncertain, income unstable.
Q. 5. How did the Enclosure Movement benefit Britain?
Ans. The Enclosure Movement benefitted Britain in the following ways:
(i) Enclosures were seen as necessary to make long-term investments and plan crop rotation to improve the soil.
(ii) Enclosures also allowed the richer landowners to expand the land under their control and produce more for the market.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. Explain the role of democracy in bringing about changes in women’s dressing in England in the nineteenth century.
Ans. Democracy brought following changes in women’s dressing in England in the nineteenth century:
(i) The women who worked in a ammunition factories ware a working uniform of blouse and trousers.
(ii) Bright colours faded from sight and only sober colours were worn. So, clothes became plainer and simple.
(iii) Skirts became shorter. Later trousers became a vital part of woman’s to clothing. This gave them greater Freedom of movement.
Q. 2. Why were the Indian cultivators unwilling to turn their fields over to the cultivation of opium? Describe any five reasons.
Ans. The Indian cultivators were unwilling to turn their fields over to the cultivation of opium for the following reasons:
(i) If prevented them from cultivating crops in their lands and they had to grow it in some inferior land where harvests were poor and uncertain.
(ii) For cultivating opium the cultivators had to pay rent and lease land from the landlords. And the rent charged on good lands was very high.
(iii) The cultivation of opium plant was delicate for which cultivators had to spend long hours nurturing it. As a result, they did not have enough time for other crops.
(iv) The price the government paid to the cultivators for the opium production was very low. It was not at all profitable for cultivators to Tow opium at this price.
Q. 3. Explain any three causes which led to the Enclosure Movement in England.
Ans. (i) From the mid-18th century, the English population expanded rapidly. It rose from 7 million in 1750 to 21 million in 1850 and 30 million in 1990. This led to tremendous increase in the demand for foodgrains.
(ii) Britain, during this period, was fast industrializing. More and more people began to live and work in urban areas. To survive, they had to buy foodgrains in the market. This led to rapid increase in prices of foodgrains.
(iii) By the end of the 18th century, France was at war with England. This disrupted trade and the import of foodgrains from Europe. Prices of foodgrains in England skyrocketed, encouraging landowners to enclose lands and enlarge the area under grain cultivation.
Due to all these factors, demand and price of foodgrains increased manifold. The landowners were tempted by profits and hence they pressurized the parliament to pass the Enclosure Acts.
Q. 4. What was the importance of commons in life of the poor farmers? Write in detail.
Ans. (i) The English countryside changed a lot over the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Prior to this, in large parts of England the Countryside was open. Peasants cultivated on strips of land surrounding the village they lived in.
(ii) At the beginning of each year, each villager was given a number of strips to cultivate. The purpose of during this was to ensure that every villager had a mix of good or bad land.
(iii) The Common land lay beyond these strips of cultivation. Everyone had access to the Commons. Here all villagers pastured their cows and grazed their sheep. They also gathered fuelwood for fire and berries and fruit for food.
(iv) Villagers fished in the rivers and ponds, and hunted rabbits in common forests. The common land was essential for survival for the poor. It enhanced their paltry income, sustained their cattle, and assisted them, tide over bad times when crops failed.
(v) From the 16th century onwards, in some areas of England, this economy of open fields and common lands had begun changing. When the price of wool shot up in the world market in the 16th century, rich farmers desired to expand their sheep breeds. Consequently, they ousted villagers who had small cottages on the commons.
HOTS QUESTION
Q. 1. What were the advantages of the use of mechanical harvesting machines in the USA?
Ans. Advantages of the use of mechanical harvesting machines:
(i) The use of mechanical harvesting machines saved much of physical labour. The work which was formerly done by hands could now be done by machines.
(ii) The new machines helped the big farmers to rapidly clear large tracts, remove the grass, prepare the land for cultivation, reap the crop easily and thrash it quickly.
(iii) It became now quite easy to meet the high demand of the world.
(iv) Whereas the use of mechanical harvesting machines increased the agricultural production, it promoted trade and commerce.
(v) It brought about a period of plenty and of prosperity.
Q. 2. What were the disadvantages of the use of mechanical harvesting machines in the USA?
Ans. Disadvantages: The disadvantages of mechanical harvesting machines were as under.
(i) For poor farmers machines brought the misery. Machines reduced dependence on labour of leading to unemployment. For many a poor ti became difficult to find jobs.
(ii) Many farmers who bought machines on Loans, thinking the boom would last, faced hard times once the boom ended by 1920s. They faced difficulty in paying back loans. Some were driven to take the extreme step of abandoning farms.
(iii) Production had expanded so rapidly that during the post war years, when the export market collapsed and wheat prices fell farmers were left with large surpluses and overflowing store houses.
(iv) Extensive cultivation made feasible by machines resulted in the Great Agrarian Depression of the 1930s, which ruined wheat farmers everywhere.
(v) Indiscretionary use of machines ruined the entire landscape resulting in ecological disbalance. Periods of plenty were followed by droughts. Ordinary duststorms became black blizzards. The American dream of land of plenty turned into a nightmare.
PASSAGE BASED QUESTIONS
Q.1. Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
When the British conquered Bengal, they made a determined effort to produce opium in the lands under their control. As the market for epium expanded in China, larger volumes of opium flowed out of Bengal ports. Before 1767, no more than 500 chests (of two maunds each) were being exported from India. Within four years, the quantity trebled. A hundred years later, in 1870, the government was exporting about 50,000 chests annually.
(i) The returns from opium sale financed the:
(a) cotton trade in China.
(b) tea purchases in China.
(c) foodgrain trade to China.
(d) silk trade from China.
Ans. (b) tea purchases in China.
(ii) Maund referred to:
(a) a measure of cloth.
(b) a measure of height.
(c) a measure of weight.
(d) a measure of land.
Ans. (c) a measure of weight.
(iii) Within four years, the quantity of opium export to China trebled because:
(a) medicine production in China increased.
(b) the cost of opium decreased.
(c) opium began to be used for domestic use.
(d) China became a country of opium addicts.
Ans. (d) China became a country of opium addicts.
(iv) Opium supplies to China had to be increased to:
(a) it was an agreement between the Chinese Emperor and the British.
(b) it was required for the growth of tea.
(c) feed this booming export trade and earn profits.
(d) feed the booming trade of silk and cotton.
Ans. (c) feed this booming export trade and earn profits.
2. Read the given passage and answer questions that follow:
On 1 June 1630, a farmer in the north-west of England found his barn and baystack reduced to ashes by a fire that started at night. In the months that followed, cases of such fire were reported from numerous districts. At times only the rick was burnt, at other times the entire farmhouse. Then on the night of 28 August 1830, a threshing machine of a farmer was destroyed by labourers in East Kent in England. In the subsequent two years, riots spread over southern England and about 387 threshing machines were broken. Through this period, farmers received threatening letters urging them to stop using machines that deprived workmen of their livelihood. Most of these letters were signed in the name of Captain Swing.
(i) Who was Captain Swing?
(a) He was a British government official looking into the threats given to the farmers.
(b) He was a farmer who urged people to stop destroying the thrashing machines.
(c) He was a mythic name used in threatening letters to the farmer urging them to stop using machines.
(d) He was the President of USA.
Ans. (c) He was a mythic name used in threatening letters to the farmer urging them to stop using machines.
(ii) What forced farmers to buy thrashing machines?
(a) The machines were available at low prices.
(b) Fearing a shortage of labour due to Napoleonic Wars.
(c) It increased job opportunities for the labourers.
(d) Farmers preferred machine produced foodgrains.
Ans. (b) Fearing a shortage of labour due to Napoleonic Wars.
(iii) The farmers thought that the machines would help them:
(a) beat the agricultural depression.
(b) bring more land under cultivation.
(c) in irrigating the fields.
(d) reduce their dependence on labourers.
Ans. (d) reduce their dependence on labourers.
(iv) For the poor the threshing machines had become a:
(a) sign of self-respect.
(b) sign of bad times.
(c) sign of employment.
(d) sign of revolt.
Ans. (b) sign of bad times.
3. Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
At the time that common fields were being enclosed in England at the end of the eighteenth century, settled agriculture had not developed on any extensive scale in the USA. Forests covered over 800 million acres and grasslands 600 million acres. Most of the landscape was not under the control of white Americans. Till the 1780s, white American settlements were confined to a small narrow strip of coastal land in the east. If you travelled through the country at that time you would have met various Native American groups. Several of them were nomadic, some were settled.
(i) By the early twentieth century in America, what change was commonly seen?
(a) The industries occupied the entire agricultural land.
(b) The landscape had transformed radically.
(c) The residential areas occupied the entire agricultural land.
(d) New crop varieties were grown all over America.
Ans. (b) The landscape had transformed radically.
(ii) White Americans moved westward and established control up to the west coast.
(a) annexing the tribal territories and setting up industries.
(b) making agreement with the tribals and sharing the resources.
(c) setting up military base.
(d) displacing local tribes and carving out the entire landscape into different agricultural belts.
Ans. (d) displacing local tribes and carving out the entire landscape into different agricultural belts.
(iii) By the first decade of the eighteenth century, the White Americans settled on the:
(a) Great Plains.
(b) mid-western prairie.
(c) Appalachian plateau.
(d) Mississippi valley.
Ans. (c) Appalachian plateau.
(iv) Seen from the east coast, America seemed to be a:
(a) land of promise.
(b) land of industries.
(c) land of minerals.
(d) land of military bases.
Ans. (a) land of promise.
