Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Indian cotton weavers faced a dramatic decline across the nineteenth century due to three distinct pressures:

1. Collapse of export markets (early 19th century): British industrial groups pressurised their government to impose import duties on Indian textiles, shutting Indian cloth out of British markets. India's share of piece-goods exports fell from 33% (1811–12) to just 3% (1850–51).

2. Flooding of local markets with cheap Manchester imports: British manufacturers used the East India Company to push machine-made cloth into India. By 1870, cotton piece-goods formed over 50% of Indian imports. Weavers like the Koshtis could not compete and were forced to migrate as day labourers.

3. Raw cotton shortage (1860s): The American Civil War cut off Britain's cotton supply. Britain turned to India, causing raw cotton prices to rise sharply. Indian weavers were starved of raw material and forced to buy at exorbitant prices, making weaving unviable.

Source: Chapter 4, Section 3.3

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• The examiner expects three clearly labelled, distinct pressures — each from a different cause (trade policy, market competition, raw material crisis). Mixing them loses marks.
• Each point should name the cause, the effect on weavers, and ideally a fact or figure from the passage (percentages, the Civil War, Koshtis example) — this signals you used the source.
• Avoid vague phrases like "they suffered a lot." Use precise economic terms: export market, import duty, machine-made goods, raw cotton prices.
• 5 marks = roughly 3 developed points + brief intro/linking — not bullet points alone, but not an essay either.