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The Age of Industrialisation
Why did some industrialists in nineteenth century Europe prefer hand labour over machines?
The reasons:
(i)When there is plenty of labour, wages are low. So industrialists had no problem of labour shortage or high wage costs. They did not want to introduce machines that got rid of human labour and required large capital investment.
(ii)In many industries the demand for labour was seasonal. Gas works and breweries were especially busy through the cold months. So they needed more workers to meet their peak demand. Bookbinders and printers, catering to Christmas demand, too needed extra hands before December.
(iii)At the waterfront, winter was the time that ships were repaired and spruced up. In all such industries where production fluctuated with the season, industrialists usually preferred hand labour, employing workers for the season.
(iv)A range of products could be produced only with hand labour. Machines were oriented to producing uniforms, standardised goods for a mass market. But the demand in the market was often for goods with intricate designs and specific shapes.These required human skill, not mechanical technology.
(v)In Victorian Britain, the upper classes – the aristocrats and the bourgeoisie – preferred things produced by hand. Handmade products came to symbolise refinement and class. They were better finished, individually produced, and carefully designed.
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Explain what is meant by proto-industrialisation.
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 encyclopaedia 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?
Select any one industry in your region and find out its history. How has the technology changed? Where do the workers come from? How are the products advertised and marketed? Try and talk to the employers and some workers to get their views about the industry's history.
Which was the first modern industrial nation of the world?
Industrial Revolution referred to
Why could not the merchants expand production within towns in Britain?
The early phase of industrialisation, in which large scale production was carried out for industrial market, not at factories but in decentralised production unit, was referred to as:
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