Class 9 NCERT - Solved Question Answers Documents

 Page 1


 (iv) Tractors and machines that had 
ploughed the earth and harvested the 
wheat in the 1920s were now clogged 
with dust, damaged beyond repair.
 Q7. What was opium primarily known for? 
How were the Chinese made addicted 
to it?
 Ans. Opium was primarily known for its 
medicinal properties and was used in 
miniscule quantities for certain types 
of medicines. The Chinese were well 
aware of the dangers of its addiction, 
and the Emperor had, therefore, 
forbidden its production and sale 
except for medicinal purposes. But 
western merchants in the mid-18th 
century began an illegal trade in 
opium. It was unloaded in a number 
of seaports of south-eastern China 
and carried by local agents to the 
interiors. By the early 1820s, about 
1,000 crates were being annually 
smuggled into China. Fifteen years 
later, over 35,000 crates were being 
unloaded every year. This meant 
that the Chinese became addicted 
to opium. People of all classes took 
to the drug — shopkeepers and 
peddlers, officials and army men, 
aristocrats and paupers. In 1839, it 
was estimated that 4 million Chinese 
had become opium smokers. Thus, 
China became a country of opium 
addicts.
 Q8. How did the British government 
persuade the unwilling cultivators to 
grow opium? [HOTS]
Or
  How were the unwilling cultivators 
made to produce opium?
 Ans.(i) Indian cultivators were not ready 
to grow opium because it was an 
unprofitable business for them. 
Seeing their unwillingness, the British 
government started a system of 
advances.
 (ii) In the normal areas of Bengal and 
Bihar, there were a large numbers of 
poor peasants. They never had enough 
to survive. From the 1780s, such 
peasants found their village headmen 
giving them money advances to grow 
opium.
 (iii) The innocent peasants did not 
understand that it was the government 
opium agents who were advancing the 
money to the headmen, who in turn 
gave to them.
 (iv) When offered a loan, the cultivators 
were tempted to accept, hoping to 
meet their immediate needs and pay 
back the loan at a later stage. Thus, it 
was the system of advances that made 
the unwilling cultivators grow opium.
 Q9. How did the system of advances tie the 
peasants to the British government?
Or
  “After accepting money advances, the 
cultivators had no option but to grow 
opium.” Explain. [HOTS]
 Ans.(i) When the British government 
started the system of advances, many 
cultivators became ready to grow 
opium. They thought that they would 
fulfil their immediate needs with the 
loan and would pay back it at a later 
stage.
 (ii) But the loan tied the peasants to 
the government. By taking the loan, 
they were forced to grow opium on a 
specified area of land and hand over 
the produce to the agents once crop 
had been harvested.
 (iii) They had no option of planting the 
field with a crop of his choice or of 
selling their produce to anyone but 
the government agent. And they were 
bound to accept the low price offered 
for the produce.
 Q10. What is meant by ‘Triangular Trade’? 
What led to its development?  [HOTS]
 Ans. The triangular trade refers to the trade 
between England, India and China in 
the eighteenth century.
 (i) The British East India Company was 
buying tea and silk from China for 
Page 2


 (iv) Tractors and machines that had 
ploughed the earth and harvested the 
wheat in the 1920s were now clogged 
with dust, damaged beyond repair.
 Q7. What was opium primarily known for? 
How were the Chinese made addicted 
to it?
 Ans. Opium was primarily known for its 
medicinal properties and was used in 
miniscule quantities for certain types 
of medicines. The Chinese were well 
aware of the dangers of its addiction, 
and the Emperor had, therefore, 
forbidden its production and sale 
except for medicinal purposes. But 
western merchants in the mid-18th 
century began an illegal trade in 
opium. It was unloaded in a number 
of seaports of south-eastern China 
and carried by local agents to the 
interiors. By the early 1820s, about 
1,000 crates were being annually 
smuggled into China. Fifteen years 
later, over 35,000 crates were being 
unloaded every year. This meant 
that the Chinese became addicted 
to opium. People of all classes took 
to the drug — shopkeepers and 
peddlers, officials and army men, 
aristocrats and paupers. In 1839, it 
was estimated that 4 million Chinese 
had become opium smokers. Thus, 
China became a country of opium 
addicts.
 Q8. How did the British government 
persuade the unwilling cultivators to 
grow opium? [HOTS]
Or
  How were the unwilling cultivators 
made to produce opium?
 Ans.(i) Indian cultivators were not ready 
to grow opium because it was an 
unprofitable business for them. 
Seeing their unwillingness, the British 
government started a system of 
advances.
 (ii) In the normal areas of Bengal and 
Bihar, there were a large numbers of 
poor peasants. They never had enough 
to survive. From the 1780s, such 
peasants found their village headmen 
giving them money advances to grow 
opium.
 (iii) The innocent peasants did not 
understand that it was the government 
opium agents who were advancing the 
money to the headmen, who in turn 
gave to them.
 (iv) When offered a loan, the cultivators 
were tempted to accept, hoping to 
meet their immediate needs and pay 
back the loan at a later stage. Thus, it 
was the system of advances that made 
the unwilling cultivators grow opium.
 Q9. How did the system of advances tie the 
peasants to the British government?
Or
  “After accepting money advances, the 
cultivators had no option but to grow 
opium.” Explain. [HOTS]
 Ans.(i) When the British government 
started the system of advances, many 
cultivators became ready to grow 
opium. They thought that they would 
fulfil their immediate needs with the 
loan and would pay back it at a later 
stage.
 (ii) But the loan tied the peasants to 
the government. By taking the loan, 
they were forced to grow opium on a 
specified area of land and hand over 
the produce to the agents once crop 
had been harvested.
 (iii) They had no option of planting the 
field with a crop of his choice or of 
selling their produce to anyone but 
the government agent. And they were 
bound to accept the low price offered 
for the produce.
 Q10. What is meant by ‘Triangular Trade’? 
What led to its development?  [HOTS]
 Ans. The triangular trade refers to the trade 
between England, India and China in 
the eighteenth century.
 (i) The British East India Company was 
buying tea and silk from China for 
sale in England. As tea became a 
popular English drink, the tea trade 
became more and more important. 
 (ii) England at this time produced nothing 
that could be easily sold in China. The 
western merchants did not have a way 
to finance the tea trade.
  They could buy tea only by paying in 
silver coins or bullion. This meant an 
outflow of treasure from England. 
  At last it was decided that opium would 
be grown in India and transported to 
China in exchange of tea.
 Q11. How did the westward expansion of 
settlers in the USA lead to a total 
destruction of American Indians? 
   [HOTS]
 Ans.(i) In 1800, Thomas Jefferson became 
President of the USA. The American 
War of Independence had been fought 
from 1775 to 1783 and the formation 
of the United States of America made 
it seem like a land of promise from the 
East Coast.
 (ii) It was during this time that the 
700,000 White settlers began to move 
westward on to the Appalachian 
Plateau through the passes. The 
westward expansion of settlers in the 
USA led to a complete destruction of 
American Indians who were pushed 
westwards, down the Mississippi 
river, and then further west.
 (iii) They fought back, but were defeated. 
Numerous wars were waged in which 
Indians were massacred. Their villages 
were burnt and cattle destroyed.
 Q12. What led to a dramatic expansion of 
wheat-production in the USA?
 Ans.(i) From the late nineteenth century, 
there was a dramatic expansion of  
wheat-production in the USA and the 
export market became bigger.
 (ii) During the First World War, the world 
market boomed. Russian supplies of 
wheat were cut off and the USA had 
to feed Europe.
 (iii) US President Wilson encouraged 
American farmers to produce more 
wheat. In 1910, about 45 million acres 
of land in the USA was under wheat 
and nine years later it expanded to 74 
million acres, an increase of about 65 
per cent. 
 Q13. When did the British government in 
Bengal establish a monopoly to trade 
in opium? How did people react to 
it and what steps were taken by the 
British government to control it?
 Ans.(i) By 1773, the British government 
in Bengal established a monopoly to 
trade in opium. No one else was legally 
permitted to trade in the product.
 (ii) The government wanted to produce 
opium at a cheap rate and sell it at a 
high price to opium agents in Calcutta 
(now Kolkata), who then shipped it 
to China. But the prices given to the 
peasants were so low that by the early 
eighteenth century, angry peasants 
began agitating for higher prices and 
refused to take advances. In regions 
around Benaras, cultivators began 
giving up opium cultivation.
 (iii) To control the situation, the British 
instructed its agents posted in the 
princely states to take away all opium 
and destroy the crops. This conflict 
between the British government, 
peasants and local traders continued 
as long as opium production lasted.
 Q14. Why did the whole region of the Great 
Plains become a dust bowl?
 Ans.(i) 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.
 (ii) The whole region had become a 
dust bowl. In the 1930s, terrifying 
dust-storms began to blow over the 
southern plains of America.
 (iii) Black blizzard rolled in, very often 
7,000 to 8,000 feet high, rising like 
Page 3


 (iv) Tractors and machines that had 
ploughed the earth and harvested the 
wheat in the 1920s were now clogged 
with dust, damaged beyond repair.
 Q7. What was opium primarily known for? 
How were the Chinese made addicted 
to it?
 Ans. Opium was primarily known for its 
medicinal properties and was used in 
miniscule quantities for certain types 
of medicines. The Chinese were well 
aware of the dangers of its addiction, 
and the Emperor had, therefore, 
forbidden its production and sale 
except for medicinal purposes. But 
western merchants in the mid-18th 
century began an illegal trade in 
opium. It was unloaded in a number 
of seaports of south-eastern China 
and carried by local agents to the 
interiors. By the early 1820s, about 
1,000 crates were being annually 
smuggled into China. Fifteen years 
later, over 35,000 crates were being 
unloaded every year. This meant 
that the Chinese became addicted 
to opium. People of all classes took 
to the drug — shopkeepers and 
peddlers, officials and army men, 
aristocrats and paupers. In 1839, it 
was estimated that 4 million Chinese 
had become opium smokers. Thus, 
China became a country of opium 
addicts.
 Q8. How did the British government 
persuade the unwilling cultivators to 
grow opium? [HOTS]
Or
  How were the unwilling cultivators 
made to produce opium?
 Ans.(i) Indian cultivators were not ready 
to grow opium because it was an 
unprofitable business for them. 
Seeing their unwillingness, the British 
government started a system of 
advances.
 (ii) In the normal areas of Bengal and 
Bihar, there were a large numbers of 
poor peasants. They never had enough 
to survive. From the 1780s, such 
peasants found their village headmen 
giving them money advances to grow 
opium.
 (iii) The innocent peasants did not 
understand that it was the government 
opium agents who were advancing the 
money to the headmen, who in turn 
gave to them.
 (iv) When offered a loan, the cultivators 
were tempted to accept, hoping to 
meet their immediate needs and pay 
back the loan at a later stage. Thus, it 
was the system of advances that made 
the unwilling cultivators grow opium.
 Q9. How did the system of advances tie the 
peasants to the British government?
Or
  “After accepting money advances, the 
cultivators had no option but to grow 
opium.” Explain. [HOTS]
 Ans.(i) When the British government 
started the system of advances, many 
cultivators became ready to grow 
opium. They thought that they would 
fulfil their immediate needs with the 
loan and would pay back it at a later 
stage.
 (ii) But the loan tied the peasants to 
the government. By taking the loan, 
they were forced to grow opium on a 
specified area of land and hand over 
the produce to the agents once crop 
had been harvested.
 (iii) They had no option of planting the 
field with a crop of his choice or of 
selling their produce to anyone but 
the government agent. And they were 
bound to accept the low price offered 
for the produce.
 Q10. What is meant by ‘Triangular Trade’? 
What led to its development?  [HOTS]
 Ans. The triangular trade refers to the trade 
between England, India and China in 
the eighteenth century.
 (i) The British East India Company was 
buying tea and silk from China for 
sale in England. As tea became a 
popular English drink, the tea trade 
became more and more important. 
 (ii) England at this time produced nothing 
that could be easily sold in China. The 
western merchants did not have a way 
to finance the tea trade.
  They could buy tea only by paying in 
silver coins or bullion. This meant an 
outflow of treasure from England. 
  At last it was decided that opium would 
be grown in India and transported to 
China in exchange of tea.
 Q11. How did the westward expansion of 
settlers in the USA lead to a total 
destruction of American Indians? 
   [HOTS]
 Ans.(i) In 1800, Thomas Jefferson became 
President of the USA. The American 
War of Independence had been fought 
from 1775 to 1783 and the formation 
of the United States of America made 
it seem like a land of promise from the 
East Coast.
 (ii) It was during this time that the 
700,000 White settlers began to move 
westward on to the Appalachian 
Plateau through the passes. The 
westward expansion of settlers in the 
USA led to a complete destruction of 
American Indians who were pushed 
westwards, down the Mississippi 
river, and then further west.
 (iii) They fought back, but were defeated. 
Numerous wars were waged in which 
Indians were massacred. Their villages 
were burnt and cattle destroyed.
 Q12. What led to a dramatic expansion of 
wheat-production in the USA?
 Ans.(i) From the late nineteenth century, 
there was a dramatic expansion of  
wheat-production in the USA and the 
export market became bigger.
 (ii) During the First World War, the world 
market boomed. Russian supplies of 
wheat were cut off and the USA had 
to feed Europe.
 (iii) US President Wilson encouraged 
American farmers to produce more 
wheat. In 1910, about 45 million acres 
of land in the USA was under wheat 
and nine years later it expanded to 74 
million acres, an increase of about 65 
per cent. 
 Q13. When did the British government in 
Bengal establish a monopoly to trade 
in opium? How did people react to 
it and what steps were taken by the 
British government to control it?
 Ans.(i) By 1773, the British government 
in Bengal established a monopoly to 
trade in opium. No one else was legally 
permitted to trade in the product.
 (ii) The government wanted to produce 
opium at a cheap rate and sell it at a 
high price to opium agents in Calcutta 
(now Kolkata), who then shipped it 
to China. But the prices given to the 
peasants were so low that by the early 
eighteenth century, angry peasants 
began agitating for higher prices and 
refused to take advances. In regions 
around Benaras, cultivators began 
giving up opium cultivation.
 (iii) To control the situation, the British 
instructed its agents posted in the 
princely states to take away all opium 
and destroy the crops. This conflict 
between the British government, 
peasants and local traders continued 
as long as opium production lasted.
 Q14. Why did the whole region of the Great 
Plains become a dust bowl?
 Ans.(i) 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.
 (ii) The whole region had become a 
dust bowl. In the 1930s, terrifying 
dust-storms began to blow over the 
southern plains of America.
 (iii) Black blizzard rolled in, very often 
7,000 to 8,000 feet high, rising like 
monstrous waves of muddy water. 
The American dream of a land of 
plenty had turned into a nightmare.
 IV.  Long Answer Type Questions
 Q1. “The coming of new technology 
proved to be a boon for the expansion 
of wheat cultivation in the USA.” 
Explain. [HOTS]
Or
  What role did the new technology play 
in the expansion of wheat cultivation 
in USA?
 Ans.(i) The expansion of wheat cultivation 
in the USA was made possible by 
new technology. Through the 19th 
century, as the White settlers moved 
into new habitats and new lands, they 
modified their implements to meet 
their requirements.
 (ii) When they entered the mid-western 
prairie, the simple ploughs the farmers 
had used in the eastern coastal areas 
of the USA proved ineffective. The 
prairie was covered with a thick mat 
of grass with tough roots. To break the 
sod and turn the soil over, a variety of 
new ploughs were devised locally.
 (iii) By the early 20th century, farmers 
in the great plains were breaking 
the ground with tractors and disc 
ploughs, clearing vast stretches for 
wheat cultivation.
 (iv) Before the 1830s, the grain used to 
be harvested with a cradle or sickle. 
At harvest time, hundreds of men and 
women could be seen cutting the crop. 
In 1831, Cyrus McCormic 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.
 (v) By the early 20th century, most 
farmers were using combined 
harvestors to cut grain. With one of 
these machines, 500 acres of wheat 
could be harvested in two weeks.
 (vi) Thus, the new machines enabled 
the farmers to rapidly clear large 
tracts, break up the soil, remove 
the grass and prepare the ground 
for cultivation. With power-driven 
machinery, four men could plough, 
seed and harvest 2,000 to 4,000 acres 
of wheat in a season.
 Q2. How did the USA become the bread 
basket of the world? How did it turn 
into a dust bowl? [HOTS]
Or
  “The American dream of a land of 
plenty had pushed into a nightmare.” 
Explain.
 Ans.(i) The USA became the bread basket 
of the world by developing modern 
agriculture. After the American Cars 
of Independence from 1775 to 1783 
and the formation of the United States 
of America, the White Americans 
began to move westward.
 (ii) By the time Thomas Jefferson became 
President of the USA in 1800, over 
700,000 White settlers had moved 
on to Appalachian Plateau through 
the passes. Seen from the east coast, 
America seemed to be a land of 
promise.
 (iii) By the first decade of the 18th century, 
they settled on the Appalachian 
Plateau and then moved into the 
Mississippi valley between 1820 
and 1850. They made the land for 
cultivation and sowed corn and 
wheat.
 (iv) In the early years, the fertile soil 
produced good crops. When the soil 
became impoverished in one place, 
the migrants would move further west 
to raise new crops.
 (v) It was, however, only after the 1860s 
that settlers swept into the Great 
Plains across the river Mississippi. 
In subsequent decades, the region 
became a major wheat-producing area 
of America.
 (vi) From the late 19th century, there 
was a dramatic expansion of wheat-
production in the USA. The urban 
population in the USA was growing 
Page 4


 (iv) Tractors and machines that had 
ploughed the earth and harvested the 
wheat in the 1920s were now clogged 
with dust, damaged beyond repair.
 Q7. What was opium primarily known for? 
How were the Chinese made addicted 
to it?
 Ans. Opium was primarily known for its 
medicinal properties and was used in 
miniscule quantities for certain types 
of medicines. The Chinese were well 
aware of the dangers of its addiction, 
and the Emperor had, therefore, 
forbidden its production and sale 
except for medicinal purposes. But 
western merchants in the mid-18th 
century began an illegal trade in 
opium. It was unloaded in a number 
of seaports of south-eastern China 
and carried by local agents to the 
interiors. By the early 1820s, about 
1,000 crates were being annually 
smuggled into China. Fifteen years 
later, over 35,000 crates were being 
unloaded every year. This meant 
that the Chinese became addicted 
to opium. People of all classes took 
to the drug — shopkeepers and 
peddlers, officials and army men, 
aristocrats and paupers. In 1839, it 
was estimated that 4 million Chinese 
had become opium smokers. Thus, 
China became a country of opium 
addicts.
 Q8. How did the British government 
persuade the unwilling cultivators to 
grow opium? [HOTS]
Or
  How were the unwilling cultivators 
made to produce opium?
 Ans.(i) Indian cultivators were not ready 
to grow opium because it was an 
unprofitable business for them. 
Seeing their unwillingness, the British 
government started a system of 
advances.
 (ii) In the normal areas of Bengal and 
Bihar, there were a large numbers of 
poor peasants. They never had enough 
to survive. From the 1780s, such 
peasants found their village headmen 
giving them money advances to grow 
opium.
 (iii) The innocent peasants did not 
understand that it was the government 
opium agents who were advancing the 
money to the headmen, who in turn 
gave to them.
 (iv) When offered a loan, the cultivators 
were tempted to accept, hoping to 
meet their immediate needs and pay 
back the loan at a later stage. Thus, it 
was the system of advances that made 
the unwilling cultivators grow opium.
 Q9. How did the system of advances tie the 
peasants to the British government?
Or
  “After accepting money advances, the 
cultivators had no option but to grow 
opium.” Explain. [HOTS]
 Ans.(i) When the British government 
started the system of advances, many 
cultivators became ready to grow 
opium. They thought that they would 
fulfil their immediate needs with the 
loan and would pay back it at a later 
stage.
 (ii) But the loan tied the peasants to 
the government. By taking the loan, 
they were forced to grow opium on a 
specified area of land and hand over 
the produce to the agents once crop 
had been harvested.
 (iii) They had no option of planting the 
field with a crop of his choice or of 
selling their produce to anyone but 
the government agent. And they were 
bound to accept the low price offered 
for the produce.
 Q10. What is meant by ‘Triangular Trade’? 
What led to its development?  [HOTS]
 Ans. The triangular trade refers to the trade 
between England, India and China in 
the eighteenth century.
 (i) The British East India Company was 
buying tea and silk from China for 
sale in England. As tea became a 
popular English drink, the tea trade 
became more and more important. 
 (ii) England at this time produced nothing 
that could be easily sold in China. The 
western merchants did not have a way 
to finance the tea trade.
  They could buy tea only by paying in 
silver coins or bullion. This meant an 
outflow of treasure from England. 
  At last it was decided that opium would 
be grown in India and transported to 
China in exchange of tea.
 Q11. How did the westward expansion of 
settlers in the USA lead to a total 
destruction of American Indians? 
   [HOTS]
 Ans.(i) In 1800, Thomas Jefferson became 
President of the USA. The American 
War of Independence had been fought 
from 1775 to 1783 and the formation 
of the United States of America made 
it seem like a land of promise from the 
East Coast.
 (ii) It was during this time that the 
700,000 White settlers began to move 
westward on to the Appalachian 
Plateau through the passes. The 
westward expansion of settlers in the 
USA led to a complete destruction of 
American Indians who were pushed 
westwards, down the Mississippi 
river, and then further west.
 (iii) They fought back, but were defeated. 
Numerous wars were waged in which 
Indians were massacred. Their villages 
were burnt and cattle destroyed.
 Q12. What led to a dramatic expansion of 
wheat-production in the USA?
 Ans.(i) From the late nineteenth century, 
there was a dramatic expansion of  
wheat-production in the USA and the 
export market became bigger.
 (ii) During the First World War, the world 
market boomed. Russian supplies of 
wheat were cut off and the USA had 
to feed Europe.
 (iii) US President Wilson encouraged 
American farmers to produce more 
wheat. In 1910, about 45 million acres 
of land in the USA was under wheat 
and nine years later it expanded to 74 
million acres, an increase of about 65 
per cent. 
 Q13. When did the British government in 
Bengal establish a monopoly to trade 
in opium? How did people react to 
it and what steps were taken by the 
British government to control it?
 Ans.(i) By 1773, the British government 
in Bengal established a monopoly to 
trade in opium. No one else was legally 
permitted to trade in the product.
 (ii) The government wanted to produce 
opium at a cheap rate and sell it at a 
high price to opium agents in Calcutta 
(now Kolkata), who then shipped it 
to China. But the prices given to the 
peasants were so low that by the early 
eighteenth century, angry peasants 
began agitating for higher prices and 
refused to take advances. In regions 
around Benaras, cultivators began 
giving up opium cultivation.
 (iii) To control the situation, the British 
instructed its agents posted in the 
princely states to take away all opium 
and destroy the crops. This conflict 
between the British government, 
peasants and local traders continued 
as long as opium production lasted.
 Q14. Why did the whole region of the Great 
Plains become a dust bowl?
 Ans.(i) 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.
 (ii) The whole region had become a 
dust bowl. In the 1930s, terrifying 
dust-storms began to blow over the 
southern plains of America.
 (iii) Black blizzard rolled in, very often 
7,000 to 8,000 feet high, rising like 
monstrous waves of muddy water. 
The American dream of a land of 
plenty had turned into a nightmare.
 IV.  Long Answer Type Questions
 Q1. “The coming of new technology 
proved to be a boon for the expansion 
of wheat cultivation in the USA.” 
Explain. [HOTS]
Or
  What role did the new technology play 
in the expansion of wheat cultivation 
in USA?
 Ans.(i) The expansion of wheat cultivation 
in the USA was made possible by 
new technology. Through the 19th 
century, as the White settlers moved 
into new habitats and new lands, they 
modified their implements to meet 
their requirements.
 (ii) When they entered the mid-western 
prairie, the simple ploughs the farmers 
had used in the eastern coastal areas 
of the USA proved ineffective. The 
prairie was covered with a thick mat 
of grass with tough roots. To break the 
sod and turn the soil over, a variety of 
new ploughs were devised locally.
 (iii) By the early 20th century, farmers 
in the great plains were breaking 
the ground with tractors and disc 
ploughs, clearing vast stretches for 
wheat cultivation.
 (iv) Before the 1830s, the grain used to 
be harvested with a cradle or sickle. 
At harvest time, hundreds of men and 
women could be seen cutting the crop. 
In 1831, Cyrus McCormic 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.
 (v) By the early 20th century, most 
farmers were using combined 
harvestors to cut grain. With one of 
these machines, 500 acres of wheat 
could be harvested in two weeks.
 (vi) Thus, the new machines enabled 
the farmers to rapidly clear large 
tracts, break up the soil, remove 
the grass and prepare the ground 
for cultivation. With power-driven 
machinery, four men could plough, 
seed and harvest 2,000 to 4,000 acres 
of wheat in a season.
 Q2. How did the USA become the bread 
basket of the world? How did it turn 
into a dust bowl? [HOTS]
Or
  “The American dream of a land of 
plenty had pushed into a nightmare.” 
Explain.
 Ans.(i) The USA became the bread basket 
of the world by developing modern 
agriculture. After the American Cars 
of Independence from 1775 to 1783 
and the formation of the United States 
of America, the White Americans 
began to move westward.
 (ii) By the time Thomas Jefferson became 
President of the USA in 1800, over 
700,000 White settlers had moved 
on to Appalachian Plateau through 
the passes. Seen from the east coast, 
America seemed to be a land of 
promise.
 (iii) By the first decade of the 18th century, 
they settled on the Appalachian 
Plateau and then moved into the 
Mississippi valley between 1820 
and 1850. They made the land for 
cultivation and sowed corn and 
wheat.
 (iv) In the early years, the fertile soil 
produced good crops. When the soil 
became impoverished in one place, 
the migrants would move further west 
to raise new crops.
 (v) It was, however, only after the 1860s 
that settlers swept into the Great 
Plains across the river Mississippi. 
In subsequent decades, the region 
became a major wheat-producing area 
of America.
 (vi) From the late 19th century, there 
was a dramatic expansion of wheat-
production in the USA. The urban 
population in the USA was growing 
and the export market was becoming 
ever bigger.
 (vii) As the demand increased, wheat 
prices rose encouraging farmers to 
grow more and more wheat.
 (viii) In 1910, about 45 million acre of land 
in the USA was under wheat. Nine 
years later, the area had expanded to 
74 million acres. Now, the USA began 
to be called the ‘bread basket of the 
world’.
 (ix) But it could not maintain this image 
for a long period. The expansion of 
wheat production in the Great Plains 
created severe problems.
 (x) In the 1930s, terrifying dust-storms 
began to blow over the Southern 
Plains. Black blizzards rolled in very 
often 7,000 to 8,000 feet high, rising 
like monstrous waves of muddy water.
 (xi) They came day after day, year after 
year, through the 1930s as the skies 
darkened and the dust swept in, 
people were blinded and choked.
 (xii) Cattle were suffocated to death, their 
lungs choked with dust and wind. 
Dead bodies of birds and animals 
were scattered all over the landscape.
 (xiii) Tractors and machines, that had 
ploughed the earth and harvested the 
wheat in the 1920s, were now clogged 
with dust, damaged beyond repair. 
The whole region had become a dust 
bowl. The American dream of a land 
of plenty had turned into a nightmare.
 Q3. Write an account on dramatic 
expansion of wheat-production in 
the USA and what were the results of 
expansion of wheat agriculture in the 
Great Plains? [HOTS]
 Ans. From the late nineteenth century, 
there was a dramatic expansion of  
wheat-production in the USA and 
the export market became bigger. 
During the First World War, the world 
market boomed. Russian supplies of 
wheat were cut off and the USA had 
to feed Europe. US President Wilson 
encouraged American farmers to 
produces more wheat. In 1910, about 
45 million acres of land in the USA 
was under wheat and nine years later 
it expanded to 74 million acres, an 
increase of about 65 per cent.
  The expansion of wheat agriculture led 
to terrifying dust-storms in the 1930s. 
Terrifying dust-storms began to blow 
over the southern plains of America. It 
came to be known as ‘Black blizzards’. 
The dust-storms rose 7,000 to 8,000 
feet high. They appeared as monstrous 
waves of muddy water. They came day 
after day, year after year, through the 
1930s.
  As skies darkened, and the dust swept 
in, people were blinded and choked. 
Cattle were suffocated to death, their 
lungs caked with dust and mud. Sand 
buried fences, covered fields and 
coated the surfaces of rivers till the 
fish died. Dead bodies of birds and 
animals were scattered all over the 
landscape. Tractors and machines 
clogged with dust and damaged 
beyond repair.
 Q4. Discuss the system of advances 
introduced by the colonial state. How 
did the system tie the poor farmers to 
the government?  [HOTS]
 Ans. In the rural areas of Bengal and 
Bihar, there were large numbers of 
poor peasants. It was difficult for 
them to pay rent to the landlord 
or to buy food and clothing. From 
1780s, such peasants found their 
village headmen giving them money 
advances to produce opium. When 
offered a loan, the cultivators were 
tempted to accept, hoping to meet 
their immediate needs and pay back 
the loan at a later stage.
  Note: Also see the answer to Q9 (Short 
Answer Type Questions)
 Q5. What did the enclosure imply? Why 
was the land enclosed in the 18th 
century in England? [HOTS]
 Ans.(i) The land enclosure in England 
implied a big piece of land which was 
enclosed from all sides and there were 
hedges built around it to separate it 
from the lands of others.