Work Life and Leisure Class 10 History Notes

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Cities in the Contemporary World

In the late nineteenth century there were all problems everywhere. On one side there were wealth, luxury and opportunities while on the other side there were problems like poverty, dirt and disappointments.

Durgacharan Ray’s Novel:

In 1880, Durgacharan Ray wrote a novel, Debganer Martye Agaman, meaning The Gods Visit Earth. In his novel he stated that Brahma, took a train to Calcutta along with some gods. Varun dev the Rain god, shows them the wonders of the modern city like trains, large ships, factories releasing smoke, bridges and monuments and shops selling wide range of products. They were so fascinated with the liveliness of the cities that they decided to build a museum and a High Court in Heaven! During that time the Calcutta city had huge opportunities for trade, commerce, education and work.

What did Varun dev showed to Brahma and other Gods while travelling to calcutta via train in Durgacharan Ray’s Novel Debganer Martye Agaman

He then explained other aspects of life in cities. Cheats and thieveries were common cases, there was poverty everywhere, the quality of housing was worst for many people. Brahma himself got tricked while buying pair of cheap glasses. Shopkeepers were taunting one another hearing which Brahma was confused. There were discrimination based on caste, religion, gender all over in the city.

Shaping of the modern cities.

  • Modern cities were developed in last two centuries. Their shaping was based on three historical processes: First, The rise of Industrial Capitalism, Second, Colonisation of large part of the world, and Third, the democratic ideals of development.

Characteristics of the City

Characteristics:

    • Population and Location:  Usually Cities and Towns have large population than the Villages. Most of the times cities and towns are formed near rivers. e.g. Ur, Nippur and Mohenjo Daro had larger population than other places.
    • Plenty of Food: The food was equally needed for Food Producers as well as for non-food producers. In Cities plenty of food available to eat. 
  • As a Center: Cities are often centers of Political Power, Administrative Network, Trade & Industries, Religious Institutions, and Intellectual Activities. 
  • Home of Different Social Groups: Cities has different social groups in the cities such as Artisans, Merchants and Priests.
  • Size and Complexity: Cities of greater size and more complex referred to as Metropolises, cities with small size and rare population are Urban Centers. There are more economic and political functions in metropolises but these are somewhat low in urban centers.

Industrialisation and the Rise of Modern City in England

  • Industrialisation caused the cities to become more crowded with the increasing job opportunities.
  • In cities like Leeds and Manchester, Cotton Mills attracted many people from rural areas to migrate to the cities. In 1750s almost one from every nine people live in London, and the Population was about 675,000. Over years the population of London was excessively increased.  In 1810 to 1880 the population was increased from 1 Million to 4 Million.
  • Historian, Gareth Stedman Jones, said that “London was a city of clerks and shopkeepers, of casual labourers, street sellers, and beggars”.
  • There were five major employers in London apart from London dockyards these were Clothing & Footwear, wood and furniture, Metals and Engineering, Printing & Stationery, and precision products such as Surgical Instruments, Watches, Jewellery etc. London started manufacturing Motor Cars and electrical products during first world war.

 Marginal Groups

  • Marginal groups suggests groups of poor people. Since there was no source of income thus Criminal activities increased

Criminal Activities:

  • With the growth of London, criminal activities in the city also increased. Many people were worried about the Society. Police were worried about Law and Order. Philanthropists i.e. people who work for Social upliftment were also worried about Public morality(show stealing wrong, helping right) , Industrialists wanted hard working and disciplined Labours.
  • To reduce the criminal activities, population of criminals was counted and their activities were watched so as to know their way of living. In Mid-nineteenth century, Henry Mayhew prepared a List of criminals. He noticed that many criminals were very poor. They live by stealing Lead from roofs, Food from shops, Coal from the heap of coal, cloths kept for drying. Some Skilled criminals do Practices such as Cheating, Pickpocketing in the streets of the London. As a measure, Authorities forced high penalties for crime and offered work for extremely poor people.

Changing work for Women

  • Initially, during late eighteenth and early nineteenth century women were employed in large numbers but with Technological advancements now only males were allowed to work thus women were shifted to work in houses only. Many women use their homes for getting extra income e.g. they offer home for rent, and do activities such as Tailoring, Washing or Matchbox making. Again during Wartime, women were allowed to work in Wartime industries.

Forced Child labour:

  • Many times children were forced to work on low paid jobs. Maximum times their parent force them to work. In the book “The Bitter Cry of Outcast London” by Andrew Mearns written that “A child Seven years old is easily known to make 10 shillings 6 pence a week from Thieving… to earn the same amount a Worker of the same age has to produce 56 gross of matchboxes a week, i.e. 1296 matchboxes per day.
  • Compulsory Elementary Education Act was made in 1870, and Factory Acts were made in 1902 to kept children Out of work.

Housing

  • With industrial revolution, cities like London became crowded with public. Factory and workshop owners did not provide house to their workers so these people had to live in tenements provided by landlords. These tenements were cheaper but unsafe.

Poverty:

  • Poverty was spread in countryside as well as in cities but in cities it was more severe. i.e. in countryside people at least got their homes but in cities people had to live on streets. In 1887, Charles Booth who was a Liverpool shipowner conducted first social survey of low skilled London workers in East End of London. He found that about 1 million people which was one-fifth part of the city population were extremely poor and were expected to live only upto average age of 29. Compared to this people of upper classes and middle classes were expected to live till average age of 55. The extremely poor people were likely to die while working, or in hospitals or in mental hospitals. With his observations he concluded the need of building at least 400,000 rooms for the poor people.

Workers’ Mass Housing Scheme:

  • Initially, the upper class wanted to clear the slum i.e. poor people. But later, people started recognising the needs of these poor people. there are three reasons for this change.
  • Health problem: many people live in one room houses thus there was serious threat of health problems.
  • Overcrowding: These places were usually overcrowded, there was no ventilation and sanitation.
  • Fear of Social Disorder: After Russian Revolution in 1917, upper class fear about the possibility of uprising by the lower class.
  • Thus the authorities planned to provide housing to poor people under Workers’ Mass Housing Scheme.

 Cleaning London:

  • After the problem of housing next question raised was problem of Cleaning. Thus to clean London variety of steps were taken. Localities were Decongested, Greenery was spread everywhere, Measures were taken to Reduce Pollution and city building was started in planned manner.
  • Rent Control: Apartments were made similar to those in Berlin and New York. Rent control was introduced to so that people could get houses at lower rent. With Rent control now landlords could not exceed the maximum limit of rent thus poor could get homes on rent.
  • Reducing Congestion: To reduce the congestion, ideas such as Green Belt around London were implemented. By which upper class people started owning home in Countryside Regions.
  • Idea of Garden City: Architect and Planner Ebenezer Howard developed the idea of garden city. In which there were Plants and Trees people Work and Live in the garden cities. According to the idea, Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker developed the Garden City of  New Earswick. But the problem was houses in these cities were affordable to upper class people only.
  • Building Houses: After the two World Wars British Government accepted to build houses for working class and accordingly about one million houses were made. Most of the houses were One-Family Cottages.

 Transport in the City

  • With the expansion of the city it became difficult for the workers to travel to workplace. so transportation services became necessary for the city.
  • Underground Railways: Houses were build but these were at farther places from the workplaces. So London underground railway come into existence and solved the problem partly.
    • In London, the first underground railway was started between stations Paddington and Farringdon Street on 10 January 1863 and Carried 10000 Passengers. Trains were running back to back after 10 minutes.
    • Initially people were afraid to travel via underground trains. But by 1880 the train was carrying 40 Million Passengers a Year.
  • Massive Displacement: During the two world wars people were massive displaced while laying the railway lines. For two miles of railway lines about 900 Houses were Destroyed.
  • But still the Underground Railways were Successful. People could now live away from cities still able to connect with it with the help of these lines.

 Social Change in the City

State of Family

  • With the formation of city, the bond between the working class family members started Loosening. Among the working classes the conditions reached to breaking of marriages. On the other hand, in case of upper class families life of women was Improved as all the works such as Cooking, Cleaning, and Caring young children was done by Maids but still these were facing the problem of Isolation. The life of women who work for wages was likely to improve but some Social Reformers felt that women has to be pushed back in homes to preserve Family tradition.

Men, Women and Family in the City

  • The spirit of Individualism i.e. being self dependent was developed in men and women in the city. But as women lost their industrial jobs and they were blamed for being present in public spaces these started moving inside the houses again. Thus by now public places were for males while women are mostly suitable inside the homes.
  • Men organised political movements such as “Chartism” i.e. movement for demanding right of vote to only adult males, “10-Hour Movement” i.e. movement for limiting number of hours of work in the factories united large number of men.
  • Women’s participation in political movement was observed after a long time. These movements were raised for demand for right of vote to women and for married women’s right for property.
  • Due to war the as women of Urban families also involved in War activities so now the families also became smaller.

Leisure and Consumption

  • Wealthy Britishers: For wealthy people in Britain, programmes such as Cultural events, Opera, Theater and Classical music performances were arranged for entertainment. “London Season” is an Example.
  • Working Classes: In case of Working classes they Enjoy the holidays by getting Drunk in pubs, Exchanging news and sometimes meet for political actions.
  • Common People: For common people Libraries, Art galleries and Museums were established to present the history to the people. In museums just 15000 visitors were visiting the museum but when the entry was made free the number of visitors jumped to 127,643 in 1824-25 and then to 825,901 by 1846. Lower classes prefer to go for Music halls or Cinemas.
  • British Industrial Workers: On Holidays, British industrial workers were advised to visit sea for experiencing the beauty of sun and Fresh air. In 1883 about 1 million people went to seaside at Blackpool. the number of visitors was raised to 7 million by the year 1939.
  • What was the advice to British Industrial Workers to do on holidays

  Politics in the City  

  • In 1886: In 1886, because of severe winter it was not possible to work outside the home thus London’s poor started violent riot, demanding relief from the poverty. Nearly about 10,000 poor started going to London from Deptford. Seeing this violent riot, shopkeepers closed their shops. Later the march was dispersed by police.
  • In 1887: In 1887: similar such riot was occurred but this time the riot was rudely suppressed by the police. The day was remembered as “Bloody Sunday Of November 1887”.
  • In 1889: Again thousands of London’s dockworkers went on strike and showed demonstrations in the city. The motive of the strike was to gain legal rights for forming dockworkers’ union. This time the protesters were calm. they did not committed any violent activity. One writer wrote that “ thousands of the strikers had marched through the city without a pocket being picked or a window being broken…’.
  • Political movement demands mass support: With these examples it became clear that massive population could be involved in the political causes in the city. This also signifies that having large population could be both opportunity as well as threat. To reduce the possibility of rebellion the State Authorities have made greater enhancement in the city as well as life of people, ‘Paris’ is an example.

 The City in Colonial India

    • In India, under the British Rule, the pace of urbanisation was slow. During the beginning of twentieth century just just 11% Population live in cities. Out of which most people live in Presidency Cities.
    • Presidency Cities:
      • British administrative regions were known as Presidencies and their capitals were known as Presidency cities.
        • For Bombay Presidency, Bombay was Presidency City.
        • Similarly for Bengal Presidency, Calcutta was presidency city.
        • and for Madras Presidency Madras was presidency city.
      • These cities perform multiple functions e.g. cities had Major Ports, Warehouses, Homes and Offices. It also has Army Camps, Educational Institutions, Museums and Libraries. 
  • Bombay: The Prime City of India? 
    • In the seventeenth century, Bombay was under Portuguese Control. The control was passed to British hands when Britain’s King Charles Ⅱ married to Portuguese princess in 1661. The East India Company then shifted its base from Surat to Bombay.
    • Initially, Bombay was useful for exporting cotton goods, came from Gujarat. During Late nineteenth century, it became important port for exporting raw materials such as cotton and opium. Later, it became presidency region in western India. By the end of nineteenth century, it emerged as major Industrial Center.
    • The population which was 644,405 in 1872 was raised to 1,500,000 in 1941.
  • Work In the City:
    • After Anglo-Maratha War and defeat of Maratha, Bombay was declared as capital of Bombay presidency.
    • With the growth of trade in cotton and opium, large number of Traders, bankers, Artisans and shopkeepers came and settled in Bombay. The population also expanded with the growth in cotton mills.
    • The First Textile Mill in Bombay was established in 1854. The number of cotton mills expanded to 85 in 1921 which employed about 146,000 Workers. Most of the workers came from nearby districts like Ratnagiri.
    • From 1919 to 1926, out of the total mill workers population, about 23% were women. But after 1926 the number of women were reduced to just 10% as their jobs were taken over by machines and men.
    • The railways also encouraged the migration of people to Bombay. e.g. the Famin i.e. food scarcity in Kutch led to migration of large population in Bombay in 1888 to 89. Due to Plague Epidemic of 1898 when people started migrating to Bombay then the worried authorities sent about 30000 People to their native places. 
  • Housing and Neighbourhood 
    • Area per person: Compared to London, Bombay was a crowded city. During 1840s, in London each person had at an average 155 square yards space but in case of Bombay it was just 9.5 square yards.
    • Persons per house: In London, in 1872, at an average, 8 persons live in a house but in case of Bombay at an average about 20 persons live in a house.
    • Infrastructure Planning: there was no planned growth of Bombay city. The center of the city was ‘Bombay Fort’ which was divided based on races, into two parts. Indians were lived in ‘Native’ part and Britishers were lived in ‘White’ part. The European suburb and industrial zone was developed in north of Bombay Fort.
    • Other Problems: During mid 1850s, problems such as crisis for housing, water supply shortages were became common.
    • Europeans, richer Parsi, Muslim, Upper-caste traders and industrialists were lived in wide and spacious bungalows. About 70% of working class people lived in chawls of Bombay. Most of the millworkers were lived in Girangaon which was a ‘Mill Village’.
    • Chawl: Chawl was a multi-storeyed building in the native part of the city. These were owned by private individual. Chawl had separate rooms i.e. tenements but had common toilet. Maximum population of working class lives in one room tenements. At an average each room had 4 to 5 members. Because of high rents workers often share their room. They keep their windows closed because of bad smell coming from gutters, toilets, buffalo stables etc. Water was scarce, so people quarrel with each other while standing in the line for water.
    • As the homes were small so activities such as cooking, washing and sleeping was done in the streets and neighbourhood. At Empty places people place shops and akharas. Sometimes these spaces were used for leisure activities such as magic shows, monkey acts  or acrobat arts.
    • Chawls were also helpful in exchanging information about jobs, strikes, riots or demonstrations.
    • Leader: Groups in the mill neighbourhood always had a leader. Many times the jobber in the mills was the leader. He settle disputes, organise food supplies, arrange informal credit and inform about the political developments.
    • Depressed Classes: it was not easy for depressed class people to find houses. Hence they had to stay in shelters made of corrugated sheets, leaves or bamboo poles.
    • Town Planning in Bombay: town planning in Bombay was based on fear from plague epidemic.The City of Bombay Improvement Trust was established in 1898 for the purpose of clearing the poorer homes which was present in city center. By the year 1918, because of the trust about 64000 people lost their homes and only 14000 were given houses. With the passing of Rent Act, landlords started refusing to present homes on rent which led to housing crisis.

 The City in Colonial India

Land Reclamation in Bombay

  • Bombay was formed by joining of seven islands these were Isle of Bombay, Colaba, Little Colaba, Mahim, Mazgaon, Parel, Worli
  • Land reclamation suggests development of land. Bombay City was developed with the massive land reclamation projects.
  • In 1784: The first project began in 1784. Governor William Hornby permitted to build great sea wall so as to prevent flooding conditions. Since then Government and Private institutions facilitated several land reclamation projects.
  • In 1864 the Back Bay Reclamation company won the right to reclaim the western foreshore from Malabar Hill to end of Colaba. Many times the hills were levelled through the reclamation projects.
  • Till 1870s, the city area was expanded to 22 square miles even if most of the private companies were closed.
  • Bombay Port trust successfully built a dry dock between 1914 and 1918. The trust used excavated earth and created 22-acre Ballard Estate and also developed the famous Marine Drive of Bombay.

Bombay as a City of Dreams: The World of Cinema and Culture

  • Even if Bombay is overcrowded and have difficult living conditions but still it is ‘Mayapuri’ i.e. a city of Dreams for its people.
  • Most of the films in Bombay were based on arrival of new migrants and their problems in daily life. Many songs and dialogues speak the contradictory aspects of the city. e.g. In the film CID released in 1956 the song was ‘Ai dil hai mushkil jeena yahan; zara hatke, zara bachke, ye hai Bambai meri jaan’
  • Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatwadekar captured a scene of wrestling match in Bombay’s Hanging Garden which became India’s first movie in 1896. Soon afte this Dadasaheb Phalke produced Raja Harishchandra in 1913. By 1925, Bombay became India’s film capital.
  • In 1947 the about 756 million rupees were invested in film industry. The industry emplyed about 520000 people by 1987.
  • Most of the people in film industry were migrated from Lahore, Calcutta, Madras and contributed to the film industry. People from Lahore and Punjab were important for contribution in Hindi film industry. Famous writers like Ismat Chughtai and Saadat Hasan Manto were worked for Hindi Film industry.

Cities and the Challenge of the Environment 

  • The city development led to Adverse Environment Effects. Natural features such as hills were cleared to meed the demand of land for factories, housing, and other purposes.
  • Because of large waste produced in the city, air and water got polluted. Excessive noise in the cities made life miserable.
  • Pollution in England: There were large number of factories in Leeds, Bradford and Manchester emitting large quantity of smoke into the sky. Because of which color of sky appears gray and the leaves of the trees appears black. There were black fog everywhere in the nearby areas which led to bad temper, Smoke-Related Illness and dirty clothes. At first people started campaign against this factories. They tried to take the help of Legislative Bodies but it was not possible as factory owners and steam engine owners did not want to spend on Machine Improvements. By the year 1940s, laws were made to stop the pollution due to smoke particularly in few towns such as Derby, Leeds and Manchester. But the smoke production did not stopped. One such law was Smoke Abatement Acts of 1847 and 1853.
  • Pollution in Calcutta: Maximum population of Calcutta were dependent on cow dung and wood for their energy demands. Moreover factories to produce large smoke. because of which the environment becomes polluted. Since the city was built on the Marshy Land thus the fog combines with the smoke and thus there is black smog everywhere.
    • the Colonial Government, at first started to clean the places of harmful vapour. Then Railway Lines in 1855 brought ‘Coal’ a new pollutant in the city.
    • In 1863 Calcutta became the first city of India where Smoke Nuisance Legislation was implemented.
    • In 1920 the factories near Tollygunge started burning Rice Husk instead of coal because of which nearby people faced the problem of black soot. Finally the Inspectors of Bengal Smoke  Nuisance Commission established control over industrial smoke.