Lesson test: The cotton machines

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The cotton machines

1.[3p]
Put these cotton machines in the order they were introduced.

Crompton's mule
Roberts' self-acting mule
Arkwright's water frame
Hargreaves' spinning jenny
Kay's flying shuttle

Show the answer

a, b, c, d, e

2.[2p]
What did Arkwright's water frame do that the jenny could not?

Produce yarn strong enough to be used as warp, making all-cotton cloth possible

Correct

Spin more than one thread at a time

The answer is: Produce yarn strong enough to be used as warp, making all-cotton cloth possible

Work without any external source of power

The answer is: Produce yarn strong enough to be used as warp, making all-cotton cloth possible

Spin wool as well as cotton

The answer is: Produce yarn strong enough to be used as warp, making all-cotton cloth possible

3.[2p]
Hand spinning took about 50,000 hours per 100 pounds of cotton and Roberts' self-acting mule about 135. By what factor did productivity rise?

CorrectNot quite: 370

4.[2p]
Why did the flying shuttle make the shortage of spinners worse?

It roughly doubled weaving speed while doing nothing to spinning

Correct

It used twice as much yarn per yard of cloth

The answer is: It roughly doubled weaving speed while doing nothing to spinning

It required spinners to move into factories

The answer is: It roughly doubled weaving speed while doing nothing to spinning

It made handloom cloth wider and therefore weaker

The answer is: It roughly doubled weaving speed while doing nothing to spinning

5.[2p]
Almost all of the fall in the price of fine cotton yarn between 1786 and the 1830s came from a fall in the price of raw cotton.

True

The answer is: False

False

Correct

6.[3p]
British raw cotton imports rose from about 6.8 million pounds in 1780 to about 1,391 million in 1860. What is the annual growth rate, in per cent?

CorrectNot quite: 6.9

7.[3p]
Why did handloom weaving expand before it collapsed?

Spinning was mechanised decades before the power loom worked, so cheap yarn had to be woven by hand

Correct

Parliament subsidised handloom weaving until 1834

The answer is: Spinning was mechanised decades before the power loom worked, so cheap yarn had to be woven by hand

Power looms were banned in Lancashire until the 1820s

The answer is: Spinning was mechanised decades before the power loom worked, so cheap yarn had to be woven by hand

Handloom cloth was of higher quality and always commanded a premium

The answer is: Spinning was mechanised decades before the power loom worked, so cheap yarn had to be woven by hand

8.[2p]
What was the immediate motive for building the self-acting mule?

To remove the skilled judgement of organised mule spinners who were repeatedly on strike

Correct

A shortage of workers willing to operate mules at any wage

The answer is: To remove the skilled judgement of organised mule spinners who were repeatedly on strike

A government prize offered for automatic spinning

The answer is: To remove the skilled judgement of organised mule spinners who were repeatedly on strike

To reduce the coal burned per pound of yarn

The answer is: To remove the skilled judgement of organised mule spinners who were repeatedly on strike

9.[3p]
Which of these were advantages cotton had over wool as a British industry?

Select all that apply

Its raw material was imported, so it competed for no British land

Correct

It had no ancient guild or protective regulation defending existing practice

Correct

The Calico Acts had created a protected home market for British-made cotton cloth

Correct

Its fibres were longer and easier to spin than wool

The answer is: Its raw material was imported, so it competed for no British land, It had no ancient guild or protective regulation defending existing practice, The Calico Acts had created a protected home market for British-made cotton cloth

1.[3p] Put these cotton machines in the order they were introduced.

2.[2p] What did Arkwright's water frame do that the jenny could not?

3.[2p] Hand spinning took about 50,000 hours per 100 pounds of cotton and Roberts' self-acting mule about 135. By what factor did productivity rise?

4.[2p] Why did the flying shuttle make the shortage of spinners worse?

5.[2p] Almost all of the fall in the price of fine cotton yarn between 1786 and the 1830s came from a fall in the price of raw cotton.

6.[3p] British raw cotton imports rose from about 6.8 million pounds in 1780 to about 1,391 million in 1860. What is the annual growth rate, in per cent?

7.[3p] Why did handloom weaving expand before it collapsed?

8.[2p] What was the immediate motive for building the self-acting mule?

9.[3p] Which of these were advantages cotton had over wool as a British industry?

1.[3p]
Put these cotton machines in the order they were introduced.

2.[2p]
What did Arkwright's water frame do that the jenny could not?

3.[2p]
Hand spinning took about 50,000 hours per 100 pounds of cotton and Roberts' self-acting mule about 135. By what factor did productivity rise?

4.[2p]
Why did the flying shuttle make the shortage of spinners worse?

5.[2p]
Almost all of the fall in the price of fine cotton yarn between 1786 and the 1830s came from a fall in the price of raw cotton.

6.[3p]
British raw cotton imports rose from about 6.8 million pounds in 1780 to about 1,391 million in 1860. What is the annual growth rate, in per cent?

7.[3p]
Why did handloom weaving expand before it collapsed?

8.[2p]
What was the immediate motive for building the self-acting mule?

9.[3p]
Which of these were advantages cotton had over wool as a British industry?