Explain the following:
Women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.
In the seventeenth century, merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages.
The port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.
The East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.
Write True or False against each statement:
At the end of the nineteenth century, about 80 percent of the total workforce in Europe was employed in the technologically advanced industrial sector.
The international market for fine textiles was dominated by India till the eighteenth century.
The American Civil War resulted in the reduction of cotton exports from India.
The introduction of the fly shuttle enabled handloom workers to improve their productivity.
Explain what is meant by proto-industrialization.
Why did some industrialists in nineteenth-century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?
How did the East India Company procure regular supplies of cotton and silk textiles from Indian weavers?
Imagine that you have been asked to write an article for an encyclopedia on Britain and the history of cotton. Write your piece using information from the entire chapter.
Why did industrial production in India increase during the First World War?