NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science History Chapter 4 - Age of Industrialisation

The fourth chapter of Class 10 History begins with a discussion on proto-industrialisation. Industrialisation is defined as the age of factories when goods were produced mostly in factories through machines. However, the production of goods happened even before what we know as industrialisation. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries saw the expansion of trade and acquisition of foreign lands. During this period, trade guilds were formed consisting of craftsmen and traders. A close-knit network was built between suppliers, manufacturers, and traders during this time which came to be labeled as proto-industrialisation.

After the 1730s, people witnessed the growth of factories. One of the first factories that were set up was cotton factories. Several types of research were conducted to invent new procedures that would increase the efficiency of the factories. While the attention of the masses was shifting to the enormous factories, the small workshops of the earlier era still continued to operate quietly.

There are several phases of industrialisation. The first phase lasted up to the 1840s, which was dominated by cotton production. Later, it was followed by iron and steel since railways had been set up in almost all colonies. The age of industrialisation saw the increasing use of machinery. However, human labor still remained an essential part of the production. Even during the Victorian era of Britain, production remained reliant on human labour.

The gradual shift to machines caused worry among labourers. When the ‘Spinning Jenny’ was invented, women workers were worried that they would lose their jobs since initially wool was spun by hand, which took a long time. However, the machine could finish the same amount of work within a shorter time.

This chapter gives an insight into the colonies of Britain, such as India. India was the primary source of labour and raw materials for British industries, and much obviously, most factories were set up in India. Additionally, British industries aimed to dominate the Indian market. However, they could not dominate the market when nationalists started spreading the message of using swadeshi products.