CBSE Class 10 Social Science History Revision Notes Chapter 4

Class 10 Social Science India and Its Contemporary World – II Chapter 4 Revision Notes 

CBSE Class 10 Social Science India and Its Contemporary World – II Chapter 4 Notes – The Age of Industrialisation

The age of industrialisation in Europe signalled the start of modernisation. In tandem with industrialisation, factories were built, resulting in mass production of products and global trade. This process was sped up by new discoveries and technological advancements. Chapter 4 of Class 10 Social Science History will concentrate on the history of Britain, the first industrialised country, followed by India, where colonial rule influenced the pattern of industrial change.

Extramarks provides authentic Class 10 Social Science Chapter 4 Notes that students can easily access from the website. 

CBSE Class 10 Social Science History Revision Notes for the Year 2022-23

Sign Up and get complete access to CBSE Class 10 History Chapterwise Revision Notes for the following chapters:

The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 Social Science India and Its Contemporary World – II Chapter 4 Notes 

Class 10 Social Science Chapter 4 – The Age of Industrialisation Notes

Highlights

Chapter 4 Social Science Class 10 Notes begins with explaining the scenario before the Industrial Revolution and how it changed over time in terms of labour, setting up of factories, etc. Some of the other topics explained in the chapter are industrialisation in the colonies, industrial growth, market for goods, workers life, etc. 

The Dawn of Industrialisation in England:

By the 1730s, England had its first factories. But the growth of factories didn’t begin until the latter half of the eighteenth century.

Cotton served as the first emblem of the new era. The late nineteenth century saw a surge in its manufacture. To support its cotton industry, Britain imported 2.5 million pounds of raw cotton in 1760. This import increased to 22 million pounds by 1787. This rise was attributed to several modifications made to the production process.

Factors that Led to the Industrial Revolution:

The efficiency of each stage of the production process was improved by a number of inventions in the eighteenth century (carding, twisting, spinning, and rolling). They made it feasible to manufacture stronger threads and yarn by increasing the output per worker, allowing each worker to produce more. 

Early in the nineteenth century, factories began to blend seamlessly into the English landscape. Contemporaries were astounded by how obvious the massive new mills were and how magical it looked that modern technology could do so much. They almost forgot about the bylanes and the workshops where manufacturing was still going on as they focused all of their attention on the mills. 

Richard Arkwright and His Contributions:

Richard Arkwright invented the cotton mill. Expensive new equipment could be bought, installed, and maintained in the mill. All the processes were centralised under one roof and administration within the mill. This made it possible to regulate labour, keep an eye on quality, and more carefully monitor the production process—all things that had been challenging to do while production took place in the rural. 

Industrial Revolution Did Not Come with a Bang:

First, it was obvious that cotton and metals are the two most dynamic industries in Britain. Cotton was the dominant industry in the early stages of industrialisation up until the 1840s, expanding quickly. The iron and steel sector took the lead after that. The demand for iron and steel increased by ₤ 77 million, or treble the value of its cotton export, with the development of railways in England starting in the 1840s and the colonies starting in the 1860s. 

Second, existing industries could not be quickly replaced by the new ones. Less than 20% of the overall labour force was employed in industrial sectors with advanced technology even at the end of the nineteenth century. Although the textile industry was one that was constantly evolving, a significant amount of its output was created outside of factories, in residential units. 

Thirdly, while the steam-powered cotton and metal industries did not drive the pace of change in the “conventional” industries, neither did they completely stagnate either. Many non-mechanized industries, including food processing, building, pottery, glass work, tanning, furniture manufacturing, and tool production, have grown as a result of seemingly unexceptional and minor breakthroughs. 

Fourth, technological advancements were gradual. They did not significantly spread throughout the industrial landscape. Because new technology was pricey, merchants and industrialists were hesitant to use it. The equipment frequently needed repairs, which were expensive. They did not work as well as its designers and producers claimed. 

James Watt made improvements to the steam engine built by Newcomen, and the new engine was patented in 1781. Mathew Boulton, a friend and industrialist, created the new model. The other industries didn’t start using steam engines until much later in the century. 

The Plight of the Workers:

The oversupply of labour in the market has an impact on the lives of the workers. At order to find employment, workers in a manufacturing need already have networks of friends and family. Finding a job was challenging up until the middle of the nineteenth century. Wages rose at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Employee resistance to the adoption of new technologies was fuelled by fear of losing their jobs. 

James Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny in 1764, which was adopted by the woollen industry. Construction activity in cities increased after the 1840s, creating more employment prospects. Roads were widened, new railroad stations were built, rail lines were extended, tunnels were dug, drainage and sewer lines were installed, and rivers were embanked. 

Industrialisation in Pre-Colonised India:

Before the advent of machine industries, India controlled the global textile market with its silk and cotton products. While finer variations frequently came from India, coarser varieties were developed in a wide range of nations. The products were transported from Punjab to Afghanistan, eastern Persia, and Central Asia by Armenian and Persian traders. Bales of excellent textiles were transported on camelback via the northwest frontier, mountain passes, and deserts. The major pre-colonial ports saw active sea trade. Masulipatam on the Coromandel Coast and Hoogly in Bengal had commercial connections with Southeast Asian ports, while Surat on the coast of Gujarat connected India to the Gulf and Red Sea Ports.

In this network of export trade, a wide range of Indian merchants and bankers participated by providing funding for production, transporting goods, and supplying exporters. The inland areas were connected to the port towns through supply merchants. They transported the materials to the ports, provided advances to weavers, and purchased the woven fabric from weaving communities. Large shippers and exporters had brokers at the port who negotiated prices and purchased items from supply merchants operating inland. 

The Happy Days Ended when the British Came:

This network, run by Indian traders, was disintegrating by the 1750s.

The European businesses rapidly increased their authority, initially obtaining a number of concessions from regional courts before obtaining trading monopolies. The historic ports of Surat and Hooghly, where local merchants had conducted business, suffered as a result. Exports from these ports experienced a sharp decline, the financing that had previously supported the earlier trade started to dry up, and local bankers gradually went bankrupt. The whole value of trade passing through Surat in the final years of the seventeenth century had reached Rs. 16 million. It had fallen to Rs. 3 million by the 1740s. 

The Industrial Forefathers:

The history of trade dates back to the late eighteenth century, when British in India started shipping tea from China to England and exporting opium to China. Some of the businessmen engaged in these activities had plans to build industrial businesses in India. Dwarkanath Tagore became wealthy in Bengal through the China trade. In Bombay, Parsis like Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata and Dinshaw Petit established enormous industrial empires in India. 

In 1917, a Marwari trader named Seth Hukumchand opened the first jute mill in India in Calcutta. Industries offered new investment prospects, and several of them built factories. However, because of colonial authority, Indians were unable to trade in manufactured goods with Europe and were forced to export mostly raw resources and food grains, such as the indigo, raw cotton, opium, wheat, and opium that the British needed. Bird Heiglers & Co., Andrew Yule, and Jardine Skinner & Co. are three of the largest European managing firms that helped raise money, form joint-stock corporations, and manage them.

Luck Favoured the Indian Industrialists:

A number of modifications have an impact on the industrialisation pattern. Nationalists shunned Western clothing when the Swadeshi movement gained traction. Due to the oversupply of Chinese and Japanese mills’ products in the Chinese market starting in 1906, India’s yarn shipments to China started to fall. The pace of industrial expansion was modest until the end of World War One. The war significantly altered the situation, and Indian mills benefited from it. They had a sizable market to meet the demands of the war: jute bags, material for army uniforms, tents, leather boots, saddles for horses and mules, and a variety of other goods. Over time, industrial production increased, and after the war, Manchester was never able to regain its previous dominance in the Indian market. 

Important Question and Answers:

Some of the important questions from Chapter 4 of Class 10 Social Science are given below: 

Q1. What is Spinning Jenny? Discuss why the majority of the employees are against using the Spinning Jenny. 

Q2. Describe the purpose of fly shuttle.

Q3. Describe how colonial control affected the Indian textile sector.

Q4. Briefly explain the idea of the orient.

Q5. Describe the Swadeshi Movement.

Q6. Explain the Industrial Revolution. Elucidate three causes of the Industrial Revolution.

The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 Notes 

The Class 10 Social Science Chapter 4 Notes are easily accessible on Extramarks. Students can refer to these notes while they study this chapter. These notes were written by subject matter experts using the most recent CBSE standards. It is one of the best study resources for students to utilise as they prepare for their CBSE examinations.

Proto-Industrialisation

We often link the expansion of the factory industry with industrialisation. For example, Industrial production is the term used to describe work done in factories. The establishment of the first factories is a common starting point for histories of industrialisation. However, there was extensive industrial output for a global market long before factories started to appear all across England and Europe. The term “proto-industrialisation” is frequently used to describe this stage of industrialisation.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, European traders migrated to the countryside, giving money to farmers and craftspeople and asking them to make goods for a global market. Because kings allowed various guilds the exclusive right to create and trade in particular goods, merchants were unable to increase their output within towns. Poor peasants and artisans happily consented in the countryside so that they may stay in the rural and carry on cultivating their meagre plots. Thus, the Proto-industrial system was a component of a network of market exchanges that were managed by traders.

Hand Labour and Steam Power

Human labour was in plentiful supply in Victorian Britain. Industrialists were unaffected by the labour shortage or the high cost of living. Industrialists required a significant capital expenditure as opposed to using machines. In many businesses, there was a seasonal demand for labour. Industrialists typically preferred hand labour, hiring people for the season, in all such businesses where productivity varied with the season.

Factory Set-Up

The first cotton mill in Bombay was established in 1854 and began operating two years later. Four further mills were built by 1862, and Bengal also saw the development of jute mills at the same time. The first jute mill was built in 1855, and a second one was built in 1862, seven years later. The Kanpur Elgin Mill, Ahmedabad’s first cotton mill, was established in North India in the 1860s. The first Madras spinning and weaving factory started operating in 1874.

Market for Goods

The necessity for advertisements arose with the desire for more and more things, and these commercials assisted businesses in marketing their goods and making them seem useful and attractive. Advertisements made an effort to mould viewers’ thoughts and contribute to the development of new wants. These commercials are all around us nowadays; they may be seen in newspapers, magazines, televisions, hoardings, and even on the walls of the streets. Advertisements have been a major factor in the growth of product markets and even in the development of the new consumer culture since the dawn of the Industrial age. 

The Peculiarities of Industrial Growth

Products like tea and coffee piqued the interest of European managing agencies. In addition to starting tea and coffee plantations, they also made investments in mining, indigo, and jute. Only export uses are made of these items. Indian businesses started establishing industries in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Weavers of handlooms in India and China both used the yarn made in Indian spinning mills. A number of modifications have an impact on the industrialisation pattern. Nationalists shunned Western clothing when the Swadeshi movement gained traction. Since Chinese and Japanese mills were flooding the Chinese market with their goods starting in 1906, Indian yarn shipments to China decreased. The pace of industrial expansion was modest until the end of World War I. 

The rest of the nation was still dominated by small-scale enterprises. Only a small part of the entire industrial labour force was employed in factories that were registered. The remainder toiled in modest workshops and domestic settings. The twentieth century saw an increase in the creation of crafts. The manufacture of handloom textiles increased in the 20th century. It came as a result of technological advancements because they began implementing new technology, which enabled them to increase production without significantly raising expenses. 

Some weaver communities had a better chance than others of surviving the competition from mill industries. While some of the weavers made coarse cloth, others specialised in weaving finer fabrics. Weavers and other artisans who increased their output over the 20th century did not always flourish. All of the women and kids worked a lot of long hours. However, they weren’t just relics from the industrial era. Their way of life and labour was essential to the industrialisation process. 

Conclusion

Extramarks’ Class 10 Chapter 4 Social Science Notes outlines the chapter’s major elements. By going through the notes, you will acquire a better command on the chapter. So, use these notes and perform your best!