Class 9 History Previous Year Questions - Peasants and Farmers (Deducted from CBSE 2021-22 examination)

Q.1. Define the following:
 (a) Agriculture
 (b) Enclosure
 (c) Commons

Ans.

Agriculture : It is the science or practice of farming, i.e. cultivating land for growing crops; keeping animals.
Enclosure : Enclosing land by building hedges around their holdings to separate their land-holdings from that of others is called Enclosure. This deprived poor farmers of using the commons.
Commons : It was land which belonged to the villagers as a whole. Here they pastured their cows and grazed their sheep, collected fuelwood, fruit and berries. They fished in the rivers and ponds and hunted rabbits in the common forests.

Q.2. Why were the poor farmers of England against the threshing machines? What was the Captain Swing Movement?

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. The poor farmers felt the threshing machines would replace people, would deprive them of their livelihood and render them jobless. Captain Swing was a mythical name used in threatening letters, written by workmen against the use of threshing machines by rich farmers.

Q.3. Why were the Manchus unwilling to allow the entry of foreign goods into China?

Ans. The Confucian rulers of China were suspicious of all foreign merchants. They felt that these foreigners would meddle in local politics and disrupt their authority.

Q.4. ‘Over the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the English countryside changed dramatically.’ Explain.

Ans. Over the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the English countryside changed dramatically.  Before this time, in large parts of England the countryside was open. It was not partitioned into enclosed lands privately owned by landlords. It was all open fields and common lands.
After the mid-eighteenth century the Enclosure Movement swept through the countryside, changing the English landscape forever. Between 1750 and 1850, 6 million acres of land was enclosed.

Q.5. Explain three factors which led to the Enclosure Movement in England after the mid-eighteenth century.
 OR
 Explain any three causes which led to the enclosure movement in England.

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. The factors which led to the Enclosure Movement in England were :

(1) Rapid expansion of population from 7 million in 1750 to 21 million in 1850 and 30 million in 1900.

(2) Increased demand for foodgrains to feed the growing population.

(3) War with France disrupted trade and import of foodgrains from Europe. Prices in England skyrocketed, encouraging landowners to enclose lands and enlarge the area under grain cultivation. Profits flowed in and landowners pressurised the parliament to pass the Enclosure Acts.

Q.6. Discuss why the British Parliament passed the Enclosure Acts. 

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. Till the middle of the eighteenth century the Enclosure Movement proceeded very slowly. The early enclosures were usually created by individual landlords. They were not supported by the state or the Church. After the mid-eighteenth century, however, the Enclosure Movement swept through the countryside, changing the English landscape forever. Between 1750 and 1850, 6 million acres of land was enclosed. The British Parliament no longer watched this progress from a distance. It passed 4,000 Acts legalising these Enclosures.

Q.7. What was the effect of Enclosure Movement on landlords of England? 

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. The Enclosure Movement was instrumental in making the rich landlords richer by filling. Due to it, the landlords brought various changes in agricultural methods and technology. The richer farmers expanded grain production, sold this grain in the world market, made profits and became powerful. The poor farmers sold their small land pieces to richer farmers. They left the villages.

Q.8. Enclosure filled the pockets of landlords. What happened to the poor persons who depended on the commons for their survival?

Ans. Enclosures filled the pockets of the rich landlords. When fences came up the enclosed land become the property of one landowner. The poor could no longer collect apples and berries or hunt small animals for meat, nor could they gather the stalkes that lay on the fields after the crop was cut. Everything belonged to the landlord, everything had a price which the poor could not afford to pay. The poor were displaced from the land. They tramped in search of work. From Midlands they moved to the southern countries of England.

Q.9. Explain three reasons for Captain Swing riots in English countryside.

Ans. Modern agriculture in England: Use of threshing machines deprived workmen of their livelihood.
Enclosures : These deprived the poor of the use of the commons which was essential for their survival. The Enclosures barred them from pasturising their cows, collecting fruits and berries, fuel wood, hunting small animals for food etc., cutting of wages by landlords and cutting down of workmen. All these factors prompted/induced the poor to start the Captain Swing riots.

Q.10. Discuss the effect of Agricultural Revolution on different sections of people in English countryside.

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. The coming of modern agriculture in England led to many different changes. The open fields disappeared, and the customary rights of peasants were undermined. The richer farmers expanded grain production, sold this grain in the world market, made profits, and became powerful. The poor left their villages in large numbers. Some went from Midlands to the southern countries where jobs were available, others to the cities. The income of labourers became unstable, their jobs insecure, their livelihoods precarious.

Q.11. Which innovations helped farmers to increase agricultural production in England?
 

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. First new lands were brought under cultivation landlords sliced up pasture lands, carved up open fields, cut up forests, took over marshes. The farmers started growing turnips and clover as they discovered that these crops improved the soil and made it more fertile. Turnip was also good fodder for the cattle. So they became part of cropping system. They also realised that nitrogen was important for crop growth. Turnip and clover restored the nitrogen and made the soil fertile again.

Q.12. Describe how the Chinese became addicted to opium in the 19th century. (CBSE 2010)

Ans. The Portuguese had introduced opium into China in the early 16th century. It was known for its medical properties and minimal quantities were used for certain type of medicines. The Chinese were aware of the dangers of opium addiction and the emperor had forbidden its production and sale except for medicinal purposes. But western merchants began an illegal trade in opium in the mid-18th century. They unloaded it in a number of seaports of southeastern China. By the 1820s, about 10,000 crates were being annually smuggled into China, 35,000 crates unloaded every year after 15 years. Thus, the Chinese became addicted to opium.

Q.13. Explain one main difference between the Enclosure Movement of the late 18th century and the earlier one? What factors led the British Parliament to pass the Enclosure Acts?
 

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. Refer to Answer 6, Short Answer Type Questions.

Q.14. Why did the British smuggle opium into China? Explain briefly. (CBSE 2010)

Ans. The British had developed a taste for Chinese tea, and the Chinese had become addicted to opium. In 1839 there were 4 million opium smokers in China. As opium trade was banned in China, the British smuggled opium to China. In 1870, they were exporting 50,000 chests of opium annually and the return from opium sale financed the purchase of tea in China.

 Q.15. Coming of modern agriculture in England meant many changes. Discuss. (CBSE 2010)

Ans. Refer to Question 10, Short Answer Type Questions.

 Q.16. State the factors responsible for rapid increase of foodgrain production in 19th century in England. 

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. Refer to Answer 11, Short Answer Type Questions.

 Q.17. Explain two methods adopted by the British farmers to meet the demand of the rapidly growing population of the 19th century? 

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. Refer to Answer 11, Short Answer Type Questions.

Q.18. Explain any two reasons for enclosure of land in the 18th century in England.
 

(CBSE 2010)

Ans. Refer to Answer 6, Short Answer Type Questions.

Q.19. Explain how two technological innovations transformed the USA into the bread basket of the world. 

(CBSE 2010)

Ans.

(i) The innovation of using tractors a disk ploughs to clear vast stretches for wheat cultivation.

(ii) In 1831, Cyrus McCormic invented the mechanical reaper which could cut in one day as much as five men could cut with cradles and 16 men with sickles. By early 19th century, farmers were using combined harvesters to cut grain – 500 acres of wheat could be harvested in two weeks by these machines.