Peasants and Farmers......................Part I

SUMMARY OF THE TOPICS  ON WHICH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ARE GIVEN:

The Coming of Modern Agriculture in England
Bread Basket and Dust Bowl
The Indian Farmer and Opium Production

Introduction  
Peasants and Farmers, this topic is focused on three different countries:-
The small cottagers in England, 
The wheat farmers of the USA,
The opium producers of Bengal. 
You will learn what happens to different rural groups with the coming of modern agriculture; what happens when different regions of the world are integrated with the capitalist world market. 


I. Answer the following questions : 

Q1. Who was Captain Swing?

1. Captain Swing was a mythic name used in the threatening letters received by the farmers urging them to stop using threshing machines that deprived workmen of their livelihood.

Q2. How was the land distributed or allocated to the farmers in England during 18th century?

1. During 18th century in  England the countryside was open.
2. Peasants cultivated on strips of land around the village they lived in. 
3. At the beginning of each year, at a public meeting, each villager was allocated a number of strips to cultivate. 
4. These strips were of varying quality and  located in different places, not next to each other. 
5. The main effort was to ensure that everyone had a mix of good and bad land.

Q3. What do you understand by Land of Commons? How was it essential for the poor?

1. Beyond the strips of cultivation lay the common land. 
2. All villagers had access to the commons. 
3. They pastured their cows and grazed their sheep, 
4. They collected fuel wood for fire and berries and fruit for food.
   They fished in the rivers and ponds, and hunted rabbit in common forests. 
5. For the poor the common land was essential for survival because it supplemented their meagre income, sustained their cattle, and helped them during bad times when crops failed.

Q4. Explain briefly the factors which led to the enclosures in England during 16th century?

1. During the sixteenth century the economy of open fields and common lands changed because the price of wool went up in the world market. 
2. The rich farmers wanted to expand wool production to earn
   profits. 
3. They wanted to improve their sheep breeds and ensure good feed for them. 
4. They were keen on controlling large areas of land in compact blocks to allow improved breeding. 
5. Therefore they began dividing and enclosing common land and building hedges around their holdings to separate their property from that of others. 
6. They drove out villagers who had small cottages on the commons, and  prevented the poor from entering the enclosed fields.

Q5.Explain the factors which led to the enclosures in England during 18th century? How was the new enclosures  different from the old.

1. The land was enclosed in the late eighteenth century :-
2. For grain production to fulfill the demand,due to increased English population which expanded rapidly between 1750 and 1900 from 7 million  to 30 million in 1900.
3. Britain was industrialising as a result men from rural areas migrated to towns in search of jobs and had to buy food grains in the market.
4. this increased demand resulted in the price rise of  food grains. 
5. France was at war with England which disrupted trade and the import of food grains from Europe thereby the prices of food grains in England sky rocketed.
6. This encouraged landowners to enclose lands and enlarge the area under grain cultivation. 

The differences are:-

1. The early enclosures were  created by individual landlords. 
2. They were not supported by the state or the church.
3. In the 18th century the rich landowners pressurised the Parliament to pass the Enclosure Acts.

Q6. Describe any five effects of the enclosure's on the poor farmers?

When the enclosed land became  property of landowners.

1. The poor could no longer collect their firewood from the forests or graze their cattle on the commons. 
2. They could no longer collect apples and berries, or hunt small animals for meat. 
3. They could not gather the stalks that lay on the fields after the crops were cut. 
4. Everything belonged to the landlords and everything had a price which the poor could not afford to pay.
5. The poor were displaced from the land. 
6. They found their customary rights gradually disappearing.
7. Deprived of their rights and driven off the land, they tramped in search of work. 
8. From the Midlands, they moved to the southern counties of England. 

Q7. Why were threshing machines opposed by the poor in England?

1. During the Napoleonic Wars, prices of food grains were high and farmers expanded production. 
2. Fearing a shortage of labour, they bought  threshing machines as they complained about labourers drinking habits, and the difficulty of making them work. 
3. The machines, they thought, would help them reduce their dependence on labourers.
4. After the Napoleonic Wars had ended, thousands of soldiers returned to the villages. 
5. They needed alternative jobs to survive. But this was a time when grain from Europe began flowing into England, prices declined, and an Agricultural Depression had set in.
6. The landowners began reducing the area they cultivated and demanded that the imports of crops be stopped. 
7. They tried to cut wages and the number of workmen they employed. 
8. The unemployedpoor tramped from village to village, and those with uncertain jobs lived in fear of a loss of their livelihood.
9. The Captain Swing riots spread in the countryside at this time. 
10. For the poor the threshing machines had become a sign of bad times and thus they opposed threshing machines