27 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) on Peasants and Farmers of Medieval Times

1. Agricultural Revolution first occurred in

(a) England

(b) France

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(c) USA

(d) India

2. Captain Swing was a

(a) farmer

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(b) army chief

(c) mythical name

(d) labourer

3. Before late 18th century English countryside was

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(a) open fields

(b) enclosed

(c) partitioned

(d) common land

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4. Which of the following was not a feature of strip cultivation?

(a) Cultivable land around villages was divided into strips.

(b) Beginning of each year villagers were allocated a number of strips to cultivate.

(c) Strips were a mix of good and bad land.

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(d) Common land was divided into strips.

5. Strip cultivation was practiced by

(a) peasants in England

(b) tribals

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(c) nomadic pastoralists

(d) shifting cultivators

6. Which of the following was not a feature of Common Land?

(a) All villagers had access to the commons

(b) Commons helped sustain the meagre income of the poor

(c) Here the poor fished in ponds, collected fuel, food and fodder

(d) Villagers cultivated land and shared the produce

7. 16th century enclosures were driven by

(a) land grab

(b) parliamentary legislation

(c) desire to increase grain production

(d) to improve breeding and expand wool production

8. Unlike 16th century enclosures those in the 18th century were undertaken to

(a) increase grain production

(b) created by individuals

(c) lacked state support

(d) result of pressure from landowners

9. Factor in increased food grain production in post-1780 Britain was

(a) radical innovations in technology

(b) population expansion

(c) urbanisation

(d) simple innovations and new lands under cultivation

10. Cultivation of which crops improved fertility of soil

(a) wheat and maize

(b) fodder crops

(c) turnip and potatoes

(d) turnip and clover

11. Due to enclosures

(a) poor lost their customary rights

(b) demand for agricultural labourers decreased

(c) poor found gainful employment

(d) work and income became stable

12. Who amongst the following gained most from enclosures?

(a) Rich landowners

(b) Traders

(c) State

(d) The poor

13. Which of the following was a important factor in farmers investing in threshing machines?

(a) Labour shortage

(b) Insolence of labourers

(c) High wages demanded by labour

(d) To reduce dependence on labour

14. To which of the following is Agrarian expansion in the USA closely connected?

(а) American War of Independence (1775-1783)

(b) Slave trade

(c) Westward movement

(d) Fertility of the soil

15. Which of the following was not a factor in America being a land of promise?

(а) Wildness could be turned into cultivated fields

(b) Forest timber exploited for export

(c) Animals hunted for skin and mountains mined for gold and minerals

(d) American-Indians could be used as labour

16. During which of the following period did dramatic expansion of wheat production take place in the USA?

(a) 1775-1830

(b) 1830-1850

(c) 1850-1910

(d) 1910-1920

17. Who of the following said these words “Plant more wheat, wheat will win the war”?

(a) President Thomas Jefferson

(b) President Rousavelt

(c) President George Bush

(d) President Wilson

18. For poorer farmers machines brought misery because of

(a) displacement

(b) banks refused loans

(c) banks gave loans

(d) indebtedness

19. Why in the 1930’s America’s dream of land of plenty turned into a nightmare?

(a) Because unsold stocks piled up

(b) Wheat prices fell rapidly after World War I

(c) Collapse of exports

(d) Terrifying dust storms

20. Two major commercial crops of early 19th century India

(a) indigo and opium

(b) tea and coffee

(c) rubber and cotton

(d) sugarcane and jute

21. Opium production in India was linked with British trade in

(a) France

(b) Africa

(c) Middle east

(d) China

22. Opium in early 16th century China was introduced by

(a) the Dutch

(b) the British

(c) the Protuguese

(d) the French

23. In the mid-18th century trade in opium with China was

(a) legal

(b) illegal

(c) permit based

(d) sanctioned by the English Parliament

24. The first Opium War took place between

(a) China and France (1837-1842)

(b) Britain and China (1837-1842)

(c) China and European powers (1837-1842)

(d) Britain and China (1817-1837)

25. In India the British encouraged cultivation of opium in

(a) Central India

(b) Rajasthan

(c) Bengal

(d) Madras

26. Indian farmer was goaded into cultivation of opium by

(a) promise of high prices

(b) system of advances

(c) the village headman

(d) revenue concessions

27. What was a factor in British confiscation of opium produced in Central India and Rajasthan?

(a) In order to retain British government’s monopoly rights to trade in opium

(b) Opium produced was of inferior quality

(c) Many cultivators sold off their crop to local traders

(d) Peasants refused to sell after taking advances.

Answers:

1. (a)

2. (c)

3. (a)

4. (d)

5. (a)

6. (d)

7. (d)

8. (a)

9. (d)

10. (d)

11. (a)

12. (a)

13. (d)

14. (c)

15. (d)

16. (d)

17. (d)

18. (d)

19. (d)

20. (a)

21. (d)

22. (c)

23. (b)

24. (b)

25. (c)

26. (b)

27. (a)