Class 9 History Extra Question Answers - Peasants and Farmers (Deducted from CBSE 2021-22 examination)

61) What does 'common land' mean to the English countryside peasant?

Answer:(i) All villagers had access to the commons.
(ii) Here, they pastured their cows and grazed their sheep.
(iii) They collected fuel wood for fire and berries and fruits for food.
(iv) They fished in the rivers and ponds and hunted rabbits in common forests.
(v) For the poor, the common land was essential for survival.
(vi) It supplemented their meagre income, sustained their cattle and helped them during bad times when crops failed.  

62) Why did enclosures begin by the end of the 18th century?

Answer: (i) Enclosures began in the 18th century for grain production.
(ii) The English population was increasing rapidly.
(iii) This led to increased demand for food grains to feed the population.
(iv) Britain at that time was industrialising and more and more people were migrating to towns in search of jobs. As the urban population grew, the demand for food grains increased, thereby pressurising the peasants to fulfil the demand. 

63) What happened to the poor after the enclosure movement?

Answer: (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 animals for meat.
(iii) Nor could they gather the stalks that lay on the fields after the crops were cut.
(iv) The poor were displaced from their lands and they found their customary rights gradually disappearing.
(v) Some of them moved to the southern counties of England, where there was a great demand for agricultural labourers.
(vi) For them work became insecure, employment uncertain and income unstable.  

64) Why were threshing machines introduced by the landlords?

Answer:  (i) During the Napoleonic wars, prices of food grains were high and farmers expanded their production.
(ii) Fearing a shortage of labour, they began buying the new threshing machines that had come into the market.
(iii) They complained about the drinking habits of the labourers, thereby making it difficult for them to work.
(iv) They thought that machines would help them reduce their dependence , on labourers. 

65) What happened to the soldiers who returned to their villages from Napoleonic wars?

Answer: (i) When soldiers returned to their villagers, they needed alternative jobs to survive.
(ii) But during this time, grain from Europe began flowing into England, prices declined and agricultural depression set in.
(iii) Landowners began reducing the area they cultivated and demanded that the imports of crops be stopped.
(iv) They tried to cut wages and the number of workmen they employed. The unemployed poor moved from village to village in search of jobs.  

66) What policy did the US government follow in driving the Indians westward?

Answer: (i) After the American war of independence and the formation of the USA, the White Americans began to move westward.
(ii) They felt that this area could be cleared and turned into cultivated fields. Forest timber could be cut for export and mountains could be mined for gold and minerals.
(iii) Then the US government opted for a policy to drive the American Indians westward first beyond the Mississippi river and then further west.
(iv) Many wars were waged against Indians in which many India   were killed and their villages were burnt.
(v) The Indians resisted, triumphed in many wars but were ultimately forced to sign treaties, give up their land and move westward.  

67) How did the White Americans turn the grasslands into bread baskets of America?

Answer: (i) The urban population in the US was growing and the export market was becoming even bigger. (ii) As the demand increased, wheat prices rose encouraging farmers to produce wheat. (iii) The spread of the railways made it easy to transport the grain from the wheat growing regions to the eastern coast for export. (iv) During the World War, the world market boomed. Russian wheat supply was cut-off and US had to feed Europe. (v) US President rightly said, "Plant more wheat, wheat will win the war."  

68) What happened to the poor farmers after the use of new technology?

Answer:(i) For the poorer farmers, machines brought misery.
(ii) They got loans from banks to buy these machines.
(iii) Those who borrowed found it difficult to repay their debts.
(iv) Many of them deserted their farms and looked for jobs elsewhere.
(v) But jobs were difficult to find as mechanisation had reduced the need for labour.
(vi) Production had expanded so rapidly during the war and post-war years that there was surplus.
(vii) Wheat prices fell due to overproduction and export markets collapsed. This created the ground for the Great Agrarian Depression of the 1930s that ruined wheat farmers everywhere.  

69) What were the causes of the formation of Dust Bowls?

Answer: (i) They occurred because of the persistent droughts in that area.
(ii) The rains failed year after year and temperatures soared. The wind blew with ferocious speed.
(iii) But ordinary dust storms became black blizzards only because the entire landscape had been ploughed over and the grass was ruined which could hold soil.
(iv) When wheat cultivation had expanded dramatically in the early 19th century, zealous farmers had recklessly uprooted all vegetation, and tractors had turned the soil over and broken the sod into dust. The whole region had become a Dust Bowl.  

70)   Why did the British increase the land for cultivation in India?

Answer: (i) British rule was gradually established in India after the Battle of Plassey (1757).
(ii) During the period of colonial rule, the rural landscape was transformed.
(iii) The British found land revenue as a major source of government income. 

(iv) Efforts were made to impose a regular system of land revenue, increase revenue rates and expand the area under cultivation. 

71) How did the British make the Chinese addicted to opium?

Answer:(i) The Portuguese had introduced opium into China where it was used for medical purposes in very small quantity.
(ii) The Chinese were aware of the danger of opium addiction and the Emperor had forbidden its production and sale except for medicinal purposes.
(iii) But the English began an illegal trade in opium.
(iv) It was unloaded in a number of seaports of south-eastern China and carried by local agents to the interiors.
(v) While the English cultivated a taste for Chinese tea, the Chinese became addicted to opium. 

(vi) People of all classes took to the drug?shopkeepers and peddlers officials and army men, aristocrats and also the poor. As China became a country of opium addicts, British trade in tea flourished.  

72)   Why were Indian cultivators unwilling to grow opium?

Answer:(i) The crop had to be grown on the best land, on fields that lay near villages and were well manured. On this land, villagers usually produced pulses. If they planted opium on this land, pulses could not be grown there.
(ii) Many cultivators owned no land. To cultivate, they had to pay rent to the landlord for the lease land. And the rent charged on good land near the villages was very high.
(iii) The cultivation of opium was a difficult process. The plant was delicate and the cultivators had to spend long hours in nurturing it.
(iv) The price government paid to the cultivators for opium was very low. It was unprofitable for cultivators to grow opium at that price.  

73) How were the unwilling cultivators made to produce opium? Or Why were Indian farmers reluctant to grow opium?

Answer:(i) In the rural areas of Bengal and Bihar, there were large number of poor peasants. They were given advance money to produce opium by their village headmen.
(ii) When offered loan, the cultivators were tempted to accept it, hoping to meet their immediate need and pay back the loan later.
(iii) But the loan tied the peasant to the headmen and through them to the     government. (iv) The government opium agents were advancing money to headmen, who in turn gave it to the cultivator.
(v) By taking the loan, the cultivator was forced to grow opium on a specific area of land and hand over the produce to the agents.
(vi) He had no choice of planting the field with the crop of his choice or selling his produce to anyone else but the government agent. And he had to accept the low price offered for the produce. 

74) How did the British establish their monopoly over opium trade?

Answer:(i) By 1773, the British government in Bengal had established a monopoly over opium trade. (ii) No one else was legally permitted to trade in opium.
(iii) By the 1820s, the British found that opium production in their territories was rapidly declining and outside its territories, the production was increasing.
(iv) It was produced in the princely states where local traders were offering much higher prices to peasants and exporting opium to China.
(v) To the British, this trade was illegal  it was smuggling and it had to be stopped. Government monopoly had to be retained.
(vi) It therefore, instructed its agents posted in the princely states to confiscate all opium and destroy the crops.  

75)   Why were the farmers of Bihar and Bengal unwilling to grow opium?

Answer:The farmers of Bihar and Bengal were unwilling to grow opium because
(i) Opium had to be grown on the lands where pulses were grown.
(ii) Farmers were poor, didn't own land to cultivate opium. They had to pay rent.
(iii) The cultivation of opium was difficult as the plant was delicate and spend hours in nurturing it.
(iv) The price paid to cultivators for the opium was very low.  

76)   How did Agricultural Depression lead to job insecurity?

Answer:(i) After the Napoleonic wars had ended, thousands of soldiers returned to their villages. They needed alternative jobs to survive.
(ii) But this was time when grain from Europe began flowing into England, prices declined and an Agricultural Depression set in.
(iii) Anxious landowners began reducing the area they cultivated and demanded that the imports of crops be stopped.
(iv) They tried to cut wages and reduce the number of workmen they employed.
(v) The unemployed poor tramped from village to village, and those with uncertain jobs lived in fear of a loss of their livelihood.  

77) What role was played by the mechanical reaper in the harvest?

Answer: (i) Once the crop had ripened, it had to be harvested. Before the 1830s, the grain used to be harvested with a cradle or sickle. (ii) At harvest time, hundreds of men and women could be seen in the fields cutting the crop. (iii) In 1831, Cyrus McCormick invented the first mechanical reaper which could cut in one day as much as five men could cut with cradles and 16 men with sickles. (iv) By the early 20th century most farmers were using combined harvesters to cut the crop. (v) With one of these machines, 500 acres of wheat could be harvested in two weeks.  

78) How was the great Agrarian Depression set? Or What was the impact of the westward expansion of settlers in USA?

Answer: (i) For the poorer farmers, machinery brought misery. Many of them deserted their farms and looked for jobs elsewhere.
(ii) But jobs were difficult to be found. Mechanisation had reduced the need for labour. (iii) The boom of the late 19th century seemed to have come to an end by the mid-1920s. (iv) After that, most farmers faced trouble. Production had expanded so rapidly during the war and post-war years that there was a large surplus.
(v) Unsold stocks piled up, structures overflowed with grain and vast amounts of corn and wheat were turned into animal feed.
(vi) Wheat prices fell and export workers collapsed. This created the grounds for the great Agrarian Depression of the 1930s that ruined wheat farmers everywhere. 

79)   How did the tea trade start between Chinese and British?

Answer: (i) In the late 18th century, the English East India Company was buying tea and silk from China for sale in England.
(ii) As tea became a popular English drink, the tea trade became more and  more important.
(iii) In 1785, about 15 million pounds of tea was being imported into England.
(iv) By 1830, the figure had jumped over 30 million pounds.
(v) In fact, the profits of the East India Company began to depend on the tea trade.  

80)   How did the British start exporting opium to China? 

Answer:(i) When the British conquered Bengal, they made a determined effort to produce opium in the lands under their control.
(ii) As the market for opium expanded in China, larger volumes of opium flowed out of Bengal ports.
(iii) Before 1767, no more than 500 chests of tea were being exported from India.
(iv) Within four years, the quantity tripled.
(v) A hundred years later, in 1870, the government was exporting about 50,000 chests annually.  

81) Captain Swing was a (a) labourer in East Kent (b) an imaginary name in threatening letters (c) leader of an armed band (d) revolutionary leader

Answer:B  

82) Who created the early enclosures on land? (a) Rich farmers (b) Individual landlords (c) Small farmers (d) Group of farmers

Answer:B  

83) The Captain Swing riots spread in the countryside due to (a) enclosure movement (b) threshing machines (c) agricultural depression (d) none of these

Answer:B  

84) Who said, "Plant more wheat, wheat will win the war"? (a) President Thomas Jefferson (b) President Wilson (c) President Bush (d) President Truman

Answer:B  

85) Who introduced opium in China in early 16th century? (a) Dutch (b) British (c) Portuguese (d) French 

Answer:C    

86) Why did the peasants protest against the threshing machines in the 19th century?

Answer:The machines deprived the workers of their livelihood, thus the peasants protested against these machines.  

87) When was the land enclosed for food production in England?

Answer: In the 18th century, the land was enclosed for food production in England.  

88) Name a crop which improved the fertility of the soil.

Answer:Turnip crop could improve the fertility of the soil.  

89) When did the American Indian settle on the Appalachian plateau?

Answer:The American Indian settled on the Appalachian Plateau by the first decade of the 18th century.  

90) How much land that wheat barons possess individually?

Answer: The wheat barons individually possess between 2000-3000 acres land.  

91)   Which country came to be known as the Bread Basket of the World?

Answer: The USA came to be known as the Bread Basket of the World.  

92)   Why was the land enclosed in the 16th century?

Answer:The land was enclosed in the l6th century to provide more area for sheep breeding. 

93) Why the enclosure of land was opposed by the poor people?

Answer: The enclosure of land deprived the poor of their common land, which was essential for their survival,  so they opposed it.  

94) When the dramatic expansion of wheat production developed in the USA?

Answer: From the late 19th century, there was a dramatic wheat production in the USA.  

95) Name the Depression which ruined wheat farmers everywhere.

Answer:The Great Agrarian Depression of the 1930s ruined wheat farmers everywhere.  

96) Who was the inventor of the first mechanical reaper in the USA?

Answer:Cyrus McCormick was the inventor of the first mechanical reaper in the USA.  

97) Who had introduced opium into China in the early l6th century?

Answer: The Portuguese had introduced opium into China in the early 16th century.  

98) Rulers of which country did not allow the British traders to trade in opium with their country?

Answer: The rulers of China did not allow the British traders to trade in opium with their country.  

99) What were the two major commercial crops in the early 19th century?

Answer: Indigo and opium were the two major commercial crops in the early 19th century.  

100) Which of the princely states of India were the major producers of opium under the colonial era?

Answer: The princely states of the Central India and Rajasthan were the major producers of opium under the colonial era.