Work, Life and Leisure

  • Question 1
    CBSEENSS10016741

    Give two reasons why the population of London expanded from the middle of the eighteenth century.

     

    Explain any three reasons for which the population of London city expanded during the nineteenth century.

     

    Solution
    The three reasons which caused the population of London city to expand during the nineteenth century:

    (i)The city of London was a powerful magnet for migrant populations, even though it did not have large factories. ‘Nineteenth century London,’ according to the historian Gareth Stedman Jones, ‘was a city of clerks and shopkeepers, of small masters and skilled artisans, of a growing number of semi skilled and sweated outworkers, of soldiers and servants, of casual labourers, street sellers, and beggars.’

    (ii)Apart from the London dockyards, five major types of industries employed large numbers: clothing and footwear, wood and furniture, metals and engineering, printing and stationery, and precision products such as surgical instruments, watches, and objects of precious metal.

    (iii)During the First World War (1914-18) London began manufacturing motor cars and electrical goods, and the number of large factories increased until they accounted for nearly one-third of all jobs in the city.
    Question 2
    CBSEENSS10016742

    What were the changes in the kind of work available to women in London between the nineteenth and the twentieth century? Explain the factors which led to this change.

     

    How did the condition of women workers change from 19th to 20th centuries in London?

    Solution

    The kind of work available to women in London between the nineteenth and the twentieth century were of domestic maids who cooked, cleaned and cared for young children on low wages.

    The factors which led to this change:

    (i)Ties between members of households loosened, and among the working class the institution of marriage tended to break down.

    (i)Women of the upper and middle classes in Britain, on the other hand, faced increasingly higher levels of isolation.

    Question 3
    CBSEENSS10016743

    How does the existence of a large urban population affect each of the following? Illustrate with historical examples.

    (a) A private landlord.

    (b) A Police Superintendent in charge of law and order.

    (c) A leader of a political party.

    Solution

    (a) A private landlord: Factory or workshop owners did not house the migrant workers. Instead, individual landowners put up cheap, and usually unsafe, tenements for the new arrivals.

    (b)A Police Superintendent: For a Police Superintendent, crime became an object of widespread concern. So the population of criminals was counted, their activities were watched, and their ways of life were investigated. They attempted to discipline the population, imposed high penalties for crime and offered work to those who were considered the ‘deserving poor’.

    (c)A leader of a political party: Large masses of people could be drawn into political causes in the city. A large city population was thus both a threat and an opportunity. State authorities went to great lengths to reduce the possibility of rebellion and enhance urban aesthetics, as the example of Paris shows.

    Question 4
    CBSEENSS10016744

    Give explanations for the following:

    Why well-off Londoners supported the need to build housing for the poor in the nineteenth century?



    Solution
    The well-off Londoners supported the need to build housing for the poor in the nineteenth century:

    (i)First, the vast mass of one-room houses occupied by the poor were seen as a serious threat to public health: they were overcrowded, badly ventilated, and lacked sanitation.

    (ii)Second, there were worries about fire hazards created by poor housing.

    (iii)Third, there was a widespread fear of social disorder, especially after the Russian Revolution in 1917.

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