Cotton Industry Analysis

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In the mid-1800’s, industrialization swept Europe, allowing new ideas, business’s, and commercial production to flourish. Imperialistic industrialized nations, such as Britain, led to the spread of industry into its colonies’, which had an abundance of raw materials but different characteristics that shaped industry. This can be seen in the similarities and differences in the mechanization of the cotton industry between 1880 – 1930 in Japan and India. Similarities were seen in the rapid increase of textile production and the direct decline of the conditions of factory workers, who in both countries were mainly peasant farmers, while differences were seen in the dramatic difference in the gender that made up the majority of the labor force.…show more content…
This dramatic increase in production can be seen in both documents 1 and 2. Document one is a chart of data compiled by British colonial authorities in India from 1884 - 1914, making it very trustworthy in its accuracy and truthfulness. The chart shows a huge increase in machine-spun thread and cloth, coinciding with a dramatic decrease in hand-spun thread and a slowing of the production of hand-woven cloth. This shows how industry made production easier and more efficient in India compared to old-fashioned hand-made textiles. Document 2 is also a chart showing cotton yarn production in the same years as document 1, but in Japan. It was also gathered by a government power, making it trustworthy as well. As in document 1, it shows a huge increase in machine-spun yarn production, jumping from 5 million to 666 million pounds per year in 30 years. This shows how Japan also had a huge increase in production of cotton materials starting in 1884. Document 6 restates the idea in document 1 of the increase in machine textiles and the decrease of hand-weavers due to unmatchable competition with industry. Thus document is also believable because it was written by an Indian economist after industry had already taken hold in 1916. Although these documents support the idea, a document showing the impact on hand-woven cloth production in Japan would have been helpful as it…show more content…
Documents 7, 8, and 10 display this idea well. Document 7 is a chart that shows the percentage of female workers in factories between 1909 and 1934 in Japan in India. India only has around 20% of workers being females throughout the time period. Japan, however, consistently has 80% of workers as females. This shows a drastic difference in gender majority in factory workers in India and Japan. Document is a picture of workers in a textile mill in Japan in the 1920’s. This is very trustworthy as it is a first-person documentation of factory life in the time period. It shows almost all of the workers as women. Document 10 is also a picture, but taken in a factory in India. It shows all the workers as men. Both of these pictures support the chart and the gender difference in cotton factories in Japan and India, showing a major difference in the mechanization of the cotton industry in the 1800’s to 1900’s. Although these documents are very specific and trustworthy, a document explaining the reason for gender difference in workers in Japan and India would be
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