Question

What was the effect of the American Civil War of the 1860s on the fate of the cotton textile industry in India?
(A) The prices of raw cotton declined
(B) The prices of raw cotton shooted up
(C) The cotton weaving became profitable
(D) There was a huge surplus of raw cotton

Answer 1

Hint: The American Civil War is also remembered by the peoples as War between States. It is estimated that approximately 8,50,000 soldiers lost their lives during the war. The war was fought under the presidentship of Abraham Lincoln.

Complete answer:
The American Civil War was fought between the Northern States and the Southern States from the year 1861 to 1865. The eleven Southern countries that participated in the War were Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. After the American Civil War, the cotton textile industry in India started growing.

The demand for raw cotton increased in the cotton industry of India. As when the war broke out in America, the supply of cotton was cut off from America, so bigger countries like Britain, turned toward India for completing their demands. Since then, India has exported cotton and other fabrics to Europe. We can see a major increase in the cotton industry of India after 1860. In 1880, there were 58 cotton mills but in 1883, the number of industries rose to 79, which further increased up to 193 in 1900 and then to 251 by 1910.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: Coimbatore is known as the “Manchester of South” India. It is situated in the state of Tamil Naidu and it is also popularly known as Kovai. It is known as Manchester of South India because of a larger number of the textile industry and cotton production in the city.