INDIAN SCHOOL ALWADI ALKABIR
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
CLASS IX
WORKSHEET ON PEASANTS AND FARMERS
SESSION 2017-2018
Q1. / Describe the period of open field and common land system in England?Open field System:
· In large parts of England the countryside was open.
· Each year a public meeting was held and each villager was allocated a no of strips of land to cultivate.
· The strips were of different quality and each villager was given both good and bad strips.
Common Land:
· Beyond these strips of cultivation lay the common land. All villagers had the access to the commons.
· They used to graze their cattle, collected fuel woods, and fruits, hunted rabbits from the forest and fished from the ponds.
Thus the common land was essential for their survival in case of failure of crops.
Q2. / Who was Captain Swing? What did the name represent or symbolize?
· Captain Swing was a mythic name used in threatening letters urging the farmers to stop using machines that deprived peasants from their livelihood.
· The name represented the discontentment among the labourers and the poor for whom the threshing machines had become a sign of bad times.
Q3. / Describe the factors that led to the enclosures in England.
Or
Why did the demand of food grains increase in England from the mid 18thcentury.(CBSE2015)
Rise in the price of wool
In 16th Century the price of wool increased. The rich farmers wanted to improve their sheep breeds. This lead to the dividing and enclosing common land and building hedges around the holdings.
Demand for more food grains
The English population increased from 7 million in 1750 to 30 million in 1900.This meant an increased demand for food grains to feed the population.
Industrialization
Due to industrialization as urban population grew the markets for food grains expanded.
War between France and England
By the end of 18th Century France was at war with England that disrupted the trade and impact of food grains from Europe.
Increase in the price of the food grains
Price of the food grains in England sky rocketed encouraging the landlords to enclose their land and enlarge the area under grain cultivation.
Q4. / What methods were used by the farmers in the early 18th century to improve agriculture on a regular basis?
The farmers used simple innovations to improve production in the early 18th century on a regular basis.
· They began growing turnip and clover. These crops had the capacity to increase the nitrogen content to the soil that made the more fertile.
· Enclosures were considered 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.
Q5. / Describe the differences between the enclosures of the 16th century and enclosures of the late 18th century. (CBSE 2011 /2013/ 2015)
16th century enclosures
· The 16th century enclosures sheep farming because the price of wool went up .
· These enclosures were usually created by individual landlords.
· They did not get any support from the state or the Church.
· The early enclosures movement proceeded very slowly till the middle of the 18th century
18th century enclosures
· The 18th century enclosures were increase food production due to increase of population,. Industrialization and the war with France.
· The enclosures movement got support from the Parliament that passed 4000 Acts legalizing these enclosures.
The enclosure movement from the middle of the 18th century proceeded very fast.
Q6. / What were the effects of the enclosures on the poor in England?(CBSE 2010/2015)
· With the expansion of enclosures, the poor could no longer have access to the commons.
· They could not collect firewood or graze their cattle, or collect apples or hunt small animals for meat. The poor were displaced from the land.
· Most of the poor from the Midlands were forced to move to southern counties in search of livelihood.
· During earlier period, the labourers usually lived the landowners. They used to eat at the master’s table and helped him through the year. But this practice was disappearing by 1800.
· Labourers were now being paid wages and employed only during harvest season.
The landowners also cut the wages in order to increase profitability. Thus the poor suffered from job insecurity and unstable income.
Q7. / What were the factors responsible for the introduction of thing machines during the Napoleonic Wars? What were the effects? (2012/2014)
· Expansion of production by the farmers due to high prices food grains.
· Fear of shortage of labour.
· Complaints of insolence of labourers, their drinking habits, and irregular work habits.
· To reduce their dependence on labourers.
Effects:
· At the end of the Napoleonic Wars thousands of soldiers returned to their villages. They were in need of jobs. But work became uncertain.
· An Agricultural Depression set in.
· The grains from Europe began flowing into England and prices had declined.
Landowners had been reducing the area under cultivation.
Q8. / Why were the poor in England opposed to the threshing machines?
· The poor were opposed to the threshing machines because for them they were a sign of bad times.
· The machines reduced the dependence of landowners on labourers and led to their displacement.
· Many a poor lost their jobs during the threshing season and had to tramp long distances to seek alternate employment in other villages or cities.
· Machines gave landowners bargaining powers and reduced the status of the poor to wage earners.
The jobs of the poor became insecure, income unstable and livelihood precarious.
Q9. / Describe the features of the landscape of the U.S.A at the end of the 18th century.
· Forests covered over 800 acres and grassland covered 600 acres.
· Till 1780’s White Americans settlements were confined to a small narrow strip of coastal land in the east.
· Out of the Native American groups, several of them nomadic and some cultivated land.
· America seemed to be a land of promise. Its wilderness could be turned cultivated fields.
· Forest timber could be cut for export, animals hunted for skin mountains mines for gold and minerals.
Q10. / Write the factors that encouraged the farmers for the dramatic expansion of wheat production in late 19th century?
OR
How did the USA become the bread basket of the world?
Or
“Plant more wheat, wheat will win the war.” Who said this and why?
· The urban population in the USA was growing and the export market was becoming ever bigger.
· As the demand increased wheat prices rose.
· The spread of the railways made it easy to transport the grain from the wheat growing regions to the eastern coast for export.
· By the 20th cent. The demand became even higher and the world market boomed.
· Russian supplies of wheat were cut off and the USA had to feed Europe.
Q11. / What were the advantages and of the use of mechanical harvesting machines in the U.S.A?(CBSE2013)
· The mid-western prairie was covered with a thick mat of grass with tough roots. New ploughs broke the sod and turned the soil over.
· Mechanical harvesting machines helped in cutting grain quickly. Early hundreds of men and women could be seen in the fields. By the early 20th century most farmers were combined harvesters to cut grain.
· New machines allowed the farmers to rapidly clear the tracts, break up soil, remove the grass and prepare the ground for cultivation
Q12. / “Machines brought misery for the poor farmers.” Explain.
Or
Mention the disadvantages of using harvesting machines in the USA?(2012/2014)
· For the poor farmers machines 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 the banks had offered loans. Later they found it difficult to repay the loan. Many of them deserted their farms and looked for jobs.
· But mechanization had reduced the need for labour.
· Rapid expansion of production led to a large surplus .Storehouses overflowed with grains.
· Wheat prices fell and export market collapsed.