COMING UP OF FACTORIES:
The earliest factories in England came up by 1730s but the number of factories multiplied in the late 18th c.
COTTON FACTORY- Cotton textile was the main industry at that time and its production boomed in late 19thc, this increase was linked to number of changes in the production process as
— series of inventions increased the efficacy of each step of production process and also enhanced the output per worker, enabling the workers to produce more.
— Richard Arkwright is credited to create the cotton Mill.
— MILL — the costly machines could be purchased, setup and maintained in the Mill. Within the mill, all the processes were brought together under one roof and management. This allowed a more careful supervision; watch over quality and regulation of labour, all of which was otherwise not possible in case of production in the countryside.
The pace of Industrial Change
1. Cotton and metals were the most dynamic industries in Britain. During the first phase of industrialization (upto 1840s), cotton was the leading sector. The iron and steel industries grew rapidly with the expansion of railways. The railways expanded in England from the 1840s and in the colonies from 1860s. By 1873, the export of iron and steel from Britain doubled the value of cotton export.
2. Change in traditional industries: (a) The traditional industry could not be displaced by the new industries. At the end of 19thc, only 20% of total workforce was employed in technologically advanced industrial sector. Historians say that the typical worker in mid 19thC was not machine operator but the traditional craft person & labourer.
— (b) Textile was a dynamic sector but a large portion was being produced in the domestic units.
3. (c) The cotton or metal industries could not set the change of pace in the traditional industries. But the traditional industries experienced many changes which were brought by small and apparently ordinary innovations. Food processing, building, pottery, glasswork, tanning, furniture making and production of implements were such industries.
4. The new technology took a long time to spread across the industrial landscape. Technological changes were slow because:
— New technology was expensive & merchants were cautious of using it.
— machines often broke down and repair was costly.
— they were not as effective as were claimed.
5. Change in technology: James Watt improved the steam engine, produced by Newcomen and patented the new engine in 1781. Mathew Boulton manufactured the new model of steam engine. But this product was not easily accepted by the industrialists. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were only 321 steam engines all over England. Of these, 80 were in cotton industries, nine in wool industries, and the rest in mining, canal works and iron works.
Industrialists reason behind using human Labour instead of Steam Power or machines?
1. In Britain, there was no shortage of human labour. Poor peasants and vagrants(person who has no home or job, especially one who begs) moved to the cities in large numbers in search of jobs.
2. Supply of workers was more than the demand, so workers were available at low wages. Moreover, industrialists did not want to introduce machines that got rid of human labour and also required large capital investment.
3. In many industries, the demand for labour was seasonal. E.g., gas works and breweries, book binding and printing, ship repairing, etc. required seasonal labour. In all such industries where production fluctuated with the season, industrialists usually preferred hand labour, employing workers for the season.
4. Preference for handmade products: A range of products could be produced only with hand labour. These required human skills and not mechanical technology. Machines were oriented to producing uniforms, standardised goods for a mass market. But the demand in the market was often for goods with intricate designs and specific shapes.
5. In Britain, the upper classes – the aristocrats and the bourgeoisie (middle class with its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes) – preferred things produced by hand.
— handmade products came to symbolize refinement and class.
— Handmade products were better finished and carefully designed and were mainly for export.
6. In the countries with shortage of labour, industrialist were keen on using mechanical power so that the need for human labour can be minimized.
LIFE OF WORKERS: (Negative effects of industrialization)
1) The abundance of the labour affected the lives of workers.
2) The news of jobs led many workers to travel to the cities but the actual possibility of jobs depended upon the existing network of friendship and kin relations. But not everyone had connections, and they had to wait for weeks, spending nights under bridges or in the ‘Night Refuges’ set up by private individuals and at ‘Casual Wards’ maintained by poor law authorities.
3) Seasonality of work in many industries was another big problem. Seasonality of work meant prolonged period without work. After a busy season was over, labourers looked for even odd jobs which were till the mid-19th century were difficult to find.
4) Though, the wages were increased in the early 19th century, but this increase was balanced by an increase in the price of the commodities.
–Income of the workers depended also on the number of days of their work.
–Till the mid-19th century, about 10% of the population was extremely poor.
Technology and Employment: Fear of unemployment made workers unfriendly to the introduction of new technology. Spinning Jenny was devised by James Hargreaves in 1764. This machine speeded up the spinning process and reduced labour demand. By turning one single wheel a worker could set in motion a number of spindles and spin several threads at the same time. When the Spinning Jenny was introduced in the woolen industry, women who survived on hand spinning began attacking the new machines.
Positive results of industrialization:
1. Building activities intensified in the cities, opening up greater opportunities of employment.
2. Roads, railways, tunnel, drainage systems, rivers embanked, etc were developing which needed large-scale employment.
Industrialisation in the Colonies – India
— Silk and cotton products of India dominated the international market in Textiles before the age of industrialization(machine industries).
— Finer varieties of cotton were produced in India.
— Bales of fine textiles were carried on camel back via the north-west frontier, through mountain passes and across deserts to Persia and Armenia.
— A vibrant sea trade operated through the main pre-colonial ports- Surat, Masulipatam and Hoogly with Southeast Asia.
— A variety of Indian merchants and bankers were involved in this network of export trade – financing production, carrying goods and supplying exporters. Supply merchants linked the port towns’ to the inland regions. By 1750 this network was breaking down
Arrival OF European Companies:
By the 1750’s, with the arrival of the European companies, the Indians started losing their control over the trade.
1. The European companies gradually gained power – first securing a variety of concessions from local courts then the monopoly rights to trade with India.
2. This resulted in a decline of the old ports of Surat, Masulipatnam and Hoogly through which local merchants had operated. Slowly, the local bankers went bankrupt.
3. Trade through the new ports- Calcutta, Bombay and Madras came to be controlled by European companies, and were carried in European ships. This change was an indication of the growth of colonial power.
— Those who wanted to survive had to now operate within the network shaped by European trading companies.
Situation of the Weavers:
1. INITIALLY THE INDIAN INDUSTRIES DID NOT DECLINE as the Britishers cotton industries had not yet expanded and Indian fine textiles were in great demand. So the company was keen on expanding the textile exports from India.
2. Before establishing political power in India-Bengal & Carnatic in 1760s&1770s, the Company found it difficult to ensure a regular supply of goods for export.
3. The French, Dutch, English, Portuguese and local traders competed in the market to secure woven cloth. So, the weavers could bargain and try selling the produce to the best buyer.
3. Once the East India Company established its political power, it started to eliminate its competitors and tried to assert a monopoly right to trade.
The Series of Steps taken by the East India Company:
1) Elimination of existing traders and brokers: To eliminate the existing traders and brokers connected with cloth trade and to establish a direct control over the weavers, it appointed GOMASTHA, i.e., paid servants to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth.
2) Prevention of company weavers from dealing with buyers: It prevented the weavers from dealing with other buyers. This was done through the system of advances. Under this system, once the order was placed, the weavers were given loans to purchase the raw material for their production. Those who took loans had to hand over their cloth to Gomsthas.
The new system of advances created many problems for the weavers’ like –
i ) As the loans flowed the demand for the fine textile expanded and weavers eagerly took advances, hoping to earn more.
ii) Many weavers had small plots of land which they had earlier cultivated along with weaving; the produce from this took care of their family needs. Now they had to lease out the land and devote all the family members ’time to weaving which required engagement of complete family.
iii) In many weaving villages, there were reports of clashes between the weavers and Gomasthas. This was because earlier the traditional merchants were from the villages only and were concerned about the weavers and their welfare, but now the new gomasthas were outsiders, with no long-term social link with the village. They acted arrogantly, marched into villages with sepoys and peons, and punished weavers who could not meet the deadline.
iv) The weavers lost their space to bargain for prices and to sell to different buyers. The price they received from the company was miserably low and the loans they accepted tied them to the company.
v) The system of advances resulted in many weavers falling in debt trap. In many place in Carnatic and Bengal, weavers deserted villages and migrated to other villages to set up looms.
vi) At some place weavers along with the traders revolted opposing the company officials and many weavers over the time began refusing loans and started closing their workshops and took to agriculture.