question_answer

Why was the British government forced to abolish the Corn laws? After they were scrapped, how was agriculture in Britain affected? OR Mention any three problems faced by the Indian cotton weavers by the end of the nineteenth century. OR Explain how the London Underground Railway became a huge success.                   (3)  

Answer:

Due to the Corn laws, food prices were high. Unhappy with the high food prices, the industrialists and urban dwellers forced the abolition of the laws. After the laws were scrapped, food could be imported into Britain cheaper than it could be produced within the country. Thus British agriculture was unable to compete with imports. Vast areas of land were left uncultivated and thousands were people were thrown out of work. They migrated to the cities or went overseas. OR The problems faced by the Indian cotton weavers by the end of the nineteenth century were (i) Their export market collapsed and the local market shrank due to competition from cheaper machine made cloth from Britain. (ii) Due to the American Civil War, supply of cheap raw cotton from USA stopped. Cotton began to be exported from India to Britain, starving the weavers for raw material and increasing the prices, threatening their survival. (iii) Factories in India started producing machine made cloth which was cheaper, causing the weavers hardships. OR The Underground Railway became a huge success by the twentieth century, as most large metropolises. could not do without their well-functioning transit systems.   The population in the city became more dispersed due to the availability and convenience of the Underground Railway. Better-planned suburbs and a good railway network enabled a large population to live outside central London and travel to work there.