AI-generated practice question — model-generated for extra practice, not a previous-year CBSE board question.
Focusing only on the rise of factories gives a distorted picture of English industrialisation because most production and workers remained outside them.
Traditional industries continued to dominate. Even at the end of the nineteenth century, less than 20% of the workforce was employed in technologically advanced industrial sectors. A large portion of textile output was produced in domestic units, not factories.
New technology spread slowly. Machines were expensive and often broke down. At the start of the nineteenth century, there were only 321 steam engines in all of England. Merchants and industrialists were cautious about adopting costly new technology.
Non-mechanised sectors drove growth. Industries like food processing, furniture making, pottery, glass work, and tanning grew through small innovations, not steam power.
The typical mid-nineteenth-century worker was a traditional craftsperson or labourer, not a machine operator.
Source: Chapter 4, Section 1.2 – The Pace of Industrial Change
---
The examiner expects you to use specific evidence from the chapter — percentages, examples of industries, the steam engine data — rather than vague generalisations. Four well-supported points are enough for 5 marks. Avoid writing about India (that's a different section); stay focused on the English economy. The key argument is: factories were visible and impressive, but they were NOT representative of how most of the economy actually worked.